Summer vacation is here and we are excited to provide you with a list of fun, educational programs students and families can get involved in through the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) Community-Based Partner Hub (the Hub)!
The Hub is a great tool for teachers, parents or guardians, and students to identify local environmental education programs to participate in year-round. From summer camps to internships, the Hub has the information you need to engage with and learn about our diverse and abundant Californian environment this summer.
Visit the Hub today and use the filters to find the right programs for you. Filter by program type, grade level, cost, location, and more! We have highlighted a few programs below that are available this summer for both students and families looking to get outside and learn more about the environment!
Acterra You(th) Be the Change – Grades 6-8, After school, virtual, school-based, Free
The Hub promotes environmental literacy by building educator awareness of environmental education community-based partners and their products and services and fosters educator-partner relationships for increased student enrichment and engagement.
The California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI), led by Ten Strands, works statewide with guidance from a leadership council to create systems change in support of environmental literacy with a focus on access, equity, and cultural relevance for all students.
Ten Strands weaves stakeholders and strategies together into strong, focused education partnerships, with the goal of raising environmental literacy by providing high-quality environment-based learning and hands-on education to all California K–12 students. Ten Strands acts as an incubator and a catalyst to create collaborations, build capacity, and transform systems to increase their impact and sustainability.
Over the month of May, we piloted the Bananas About Bananas K-1 lesson series in 5 school districts across California and gathered feedback on the quality, accessibility, and relevancy for teachers and students. We’re excited to share some of the feedback we gathered from teachers.
Over the month of May, we piloted the Bananas About Bananas K-1 lesson series in 5 school districts across California and gathered feedback on the quality, accessibility, and relevancy for teachers and students. We’re excited to share some of the feedback we gathered from teachers.
Missed last week’s bulletin introducing the lesson series? Check it out here!
For Kindergarten and Grade 1 students. Through readings, activities, and discussions, students trace the journey of a banana from farm to home and beyond, consider its environmental impact, and envision a greener journey.
This is an annual event that gathers people who are passionate about nature, art, science, curiosity, and wonder to share ideas, learn from each other, support each other, inspire each other, and have fun together in nature’s beauty.
This year the Green Schools Conference will convene virtually over two half-days of programming, featuring inspiring keynotes, interactive education sessions, and engaging peer group networking opportunities.
For nearly 30 years, many governments have acknowledged education as an important element in national and global efforts to combat climate change and for setting the stage for a sustainable future.
One in four Australians feels lonely on three or more days a week. Our longitudinal study, just published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
From lab-grown fish to food coatings you can eat; from zero-emissions flying to satellite data to verify reforestation. Here is our pick of some of the most innovative and exciting green-tech pioneers.
Nicknamed the “Green Nobel Prize,” the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize recognizes grassroots activists from six continents who have moved the needle on environmental issues their communities face. This year’s recipients led the charge on.
Ecosystems are being damaged by the human impact on our planet. Global warming and plastic pollution have damaged habitats, putting those living within them at risk. Restoring these ecosystems is vital to restore biodiversity around the world, with added benefits to humans.
A drive from north to south down Vermont Ave in Los Angeles, California, reveals how trees on the city’s streets change with the income level of each neighborhood.
The pilot was completed by 8 teachers from kindergarten and 1st-grade classrooms in 7 different schools across 5 districts stretching from the schools in the San Francisco Bay Area to schools in So Cal. Teachers in the pilot program had access to:
Teacher guides
Family guides in both English and Spanish
3 Lessons including:
Lesson Storybooks
Teacher PowerPoint Slides
Interactive Quizzes
Lesson boardgames for students
Below are some of the key takeaways from the feedback we collected from the pilot teachers.
Teachers are Excited about Environmental Literacy Lessons
We received a positive response from teachers upon completion of the pilot lessons series, with 100% of teachers surveyed saying they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the Bananas About Bananas lesson series.
Teachers Prefer Lessons of Less than 1 Hour
When asked to best describe the amount of time it took to deliver each lesson in the Bananas About Bananas lesson series, 87.5% of teachers responded that the timing for each lesson was “just right,” at an hour or less. With our easy-to-follow teacher guides, we aim to provide lessons for teachers that can introduce environmental literacy to students while being implemented across multiple subjects. Teachers rated the lesson material quality favorably, rating the storybooks, interactive quizzes, and teacher PowerPoints all above a 4-star rating. Teacher PowerPoints had the highest rating, which is indicative of teachers valuing the ready-to-use teaching materials for each lesson.
Teachers Prefer to Teach Environmental Literacy In-Person
Probably not a big surprise. Environment-based education is often most effective when it’s hands-on and exploratory which suits in-person instruction. While teachers piloted the lesson series in person, in a distance-learning setting, as well as in a hybrid setting, most teachers preferred in-person instruction and rated it the best form of delivery for Bananas About Bananas.
Environmental Literacy Needs to Be Accessible
The main goal of the Bananas About Bananas lesson series is to teach valuable content skills in Science and English language arts by integrating important and engaging environmental issues into materials. However, sometimes these environmental issues can be complex and it’s imperative to provide sufficient vocabulary and concept support so that students don’t get bogged down. Teachers also expressed a need for lessons to be covered across multiple days to allow students more time to learn new concepts.
It’s important to note that 75% of teachers who participated in the pilot had over 11 years of teaching experience, with 5 teachers teaching primarily Kindergarten students and 3 teachers teaching 1st grade. Although 2 of the respondents had 5 or fewer years of teaching, we acknowledge the need to ensure that our lessons are suitable for teachers of all experience levels.
Teachers Want Content Relevant to Students
When asked about an additional lesson series teachers would be most interested to teach, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (a project-based lesson series on waste management), and Protecting Animal Habitats (a lesson series on biodiversity and ecology), tied for the most requested!
We are passionate about providing high-quality and accessible lesson materials for teachers across the US, and the data gathered in this pilot will allow us to improve future lesson series in ways that can best benefit the teacher and their students.
In our effort to provide teachers with the content they are asking for, we have already begun production on My Zero Waste Journey, a lesson series on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) that will be released in the upcoming weeks!
Are you a teacher and interested in being a part of the next Green Guardians pilot? Contact us today and become a part of an exciting environmental literacy movement!
This week, we are excited to introduce the first of our environmental literacy lesson series, Bananas About Bananas, complete with teacher guides, interactive quizzes, and board games for students to play!
This week, we are excited to introduce the first of our environmental literacy lesson series, Bananas About Bananas, complete with teacher guides, interactive quizzes, and board games for students to play!
Bananas About Bananas advances environmental literacy through a series of 3 lessons based on English language arts standards. Bananas About Bananas is a lesson best suited for Kindergarten and First-grade learners.
Through readings, games, and discussions, students trace the journey of a banana from the farm to the home and beyond! Students consider the environmental impact of the banana’s journey and envision a greener approach.
Click the link below to sign up and receive access to all three lessons in this series!
In the All About Birds program, students will explore the wide variety of birds typically found in our local neighborhoods. Learn about the unique features of bird beaks, feet, and feathers that help these beautiful animals thrive.
The Hub promotes environmental literacy by building educator awareness of environmental education community-based partners and their products and services and fosters educator-partner relationships for increased student enrichment and engagement.
In the Farm Discovery fields, garden, and animal pens at Live Earth Farm, students from diverse backgrounds learn how to care for the health of those three interconnected systems. Through sustainable farming and hands-on nutrition education, Farm Discovery field trip participants learn how caring for themselves can also support healthy ecosystems, economies, and communities.
Fall Farm to Fork Field Trips: For 1st grade through middle school students, this program helps students to make the important connection between farms and the food on their dinner table. Winter Feeling Fine with Fresh Food Field Spring Science Exploration Field Trips: For 1st through 4th graders, grade-specific themes align with NGSS: (1) Structure and Function/Plant Parts; (2) Pollination; (3) Life Cycles; (4) Structure and Function/Internal Plant Parts Sowing the Seeds of Wonder Field Trips: For PreK/K, this program gives young learners hands-on experiences with the source of their food
The event is open to all and free of charge. Join this exciting series of workshops, webinars, and skill shares that will bring together edible educators from around the world.
This series engages medical and public health professionals in discussions that explore prominent issues affecting marginalized people and presents evidence-based methods for integrating best practices for broad implementation.
Hear from prominent Richmond environmental justice organizations about their work to connect with the land as a form of resistance—educating the public, empowering residents, shaping policy, and more.
Recent research from Friends of the Earth concluded that up to 25 percent of California’s public purchasing may be linked to deforestation in sensitive tropical and boreal forests.
From California to Maine, land is being given back to Native American tribes who are committing to managing it for conservation. Some tribes are using traditional knowledge, from how to support wildlife to the use of prescribed fires, to protect their ancestral grounds.
Record-breaking fires over the past decade suggest the western U.S. has entered a new era of megafires. They are fires that produce massive amounts of smoke that can kill thousands of people prematurely and contribute to climate change.
Returning land to its natural state is essential to boost the quality and quantity of the ecosystems that support plant, bird, wildlife, and insect species.
Schools across the UK are being encouraged to start a conversation on climate change with their students, ahead of the UK hosting global climate summit COP26 later this year.
Green Guardians, Ten Strands, and the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) are excited to announce the launch of the CAELI Community-Based Partner Hub (the Hub) with generous initial funding support from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Morgan Family Foundation.
“Environmental education partners in Santa Clara County are wanting to reach more teachers and schools through collaborative efforts and partnerships, and through [the Hub] they will have the ability to do so.”
Jennifer Mutch, Science Coordinator, Santa Clara County Office of Education
Green Guardians, Ten Strands, and the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) are excited to announce the launch of the CAELI Community-Based Partner Hub (the Hub) with generous initial funding support from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Morgan Family Foundation.
The Hub promotes environmental literacy by building educator awareness of environmental education community-based partners and their products and services and fosters educator-partner relationships for increased student enrichment and engagement. Through the Hub, county offices of education and districts showcase and promote existing environmental education community-based partners in their communities to schools and teachers as well as discover new partners looking to align their offerings to the needs of the K–12 school system.
The Key Themes of the Hub:
Increase Equitable Access to Environmental Education Programs
Support Capacity Building for Administrators and Teachers
Create Connections Between the Formal and Nonformal Education Sectors
Five California county offices of education will have a dedicated presence at the Hub — Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, San Mateo — with more coming online later in the year. San Francisco Unified School District, a district and a county, will also have access to the Hub.
Check out our video highlighting the features and goals of the Hub below:
The Hub promotes environmental literacy by building educator awareness of environmental education community-based partners and their products and services and fosters educator-partner relationships for increased student enrichment and engagement.
The California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI), led by Ten Strands, works statewide with guidance from a leadership council to create systems change in support of environmental literacy with a focus on access, equity, and cultural relevance for all students.
Ten Strands weaves stakeholders and strategies together into strong, focused education partnerships, with the goal of raising environmental literacy by providing high-quality environment-based learning and hands-on education to all California K–12 students. Ten Strands acts as an incubator and a catalyst to create collaborations, build capacity, and transform systems to increase their impact and sustainability.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation works with partners around the world for social, cultural, and environmental change designed to improve the lives of children, families, and communities. Learn more about the Foundation.
The Morgan Family Foundation is a private, family foundation that was established in 1993. The Foundation focuses its giving on youth, education, the environment, and stewardship. Its shared goal is to see a return on its investments measured by lives changed and communities transformed.
San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is the seventh-largest school district in California, educating over 57,000 students every year. San Francisco is both a city and a county; therefore, SFUSD administers both the school district and the San Francisco County Office of Education (COE). This makes SFUSD a “single district county.”
The San Joaquin County Office of Education is a regional agency that provides educational leadership, resources, and customized services to assist school districts. The SJCOE promotes student achievement and accountability, serves San Joaquin County’s most at-risk students, and strives to create an environment in which every student, regardless of circumstances, has an opportunity for a quality education.
The San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) supports local school districts in San Mateo County by providing services that can be done more efficiently and economically at the county level. These include implementing new standards, staff development and training programs, and instructional procedures; designing business and personnel systems; and performing many other services to meet the changing needs of local school districts.
Working collaboratively with school and community partners, the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) is a regional service agency that provides instructional, business, and technology services to the 31 school districts of Santa Clara County. The County Office of Education directly serves students through special education programs, alternative schools, Head Start and State Preschool programs, migrant education, and Opportunity Youth Academy. The SCCOE also provides academic and fiscal oversight and monitoring to districts in addition to the 21 Santa Clara County Board of Education authorized charter schools.
The Santa Cruz County Office of Education provides student programs, supports school districts, and provides curricular and fiscal oversight to schools and students in Santa Cruz County.
The curriculum is based on a 3-month speaker series and certification program developed during the summer of 2020, which featured dozens of leaders in science, art, law, environmental management, education, and Indigenous history.
Apr. 07, 2021, U.S. EPA Office of Environmental Justice
The co-authors of a recent study on the correlation of redlined areas and the location of urban heat islands will discuss their participatory research on the spatial distribution of climate impacts, involving communities in measuring heat in cities.
The report from a body that normally investigates Russia, Myanmar and Afghanistan condemned disproportionate cancer rates in the badly polluted petrochemical corridor.
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Michael Regan as the nation’s 16th Environmental Protection Agency administrator, tasking the former North Carolina regulator with rebuilding a rule-making body that saw scientists and staffers leave by the hundreds under the Trump administration…
The study, published in Nature on Wednesday, endorsed protecting 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030 in order to protect biodiversity, restore fisheries and combat the climate crisis…
Green Guardians, Ten Strands, and the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) are excited to announce the launch of the CAELI Community-Based Partner Hub (The Hub) with generous initial funding support from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Morgan Family Foundation.
Oakland, CA — June 4th, 2021 — Green Guardians, Ten Strands, and the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) are excited to announce the launch of the CAELI Community-Based Partner Hub (The Hub) with generous initial funding support from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Morgan Family Foundation.
The Hub promotes environmental literacy by building educator awareness of environmental education community-based partners and their products and services and fosters educator-partner relationships for increased student enrichment and engagement. Through the Hub, county offices of education and districts showcase and promote existing environmental education community-based partners in their communities to schools and teachers as well as discover new partners looking to align their offerings to the needs of the K–12 school system. Five California county offices of education will have a dedicated presence at the Hub — Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, San Mateo — with more coming online later in the year. San Francisco Unified School District, a district and a county, will also have access to the Hub.
The Key Themes of the Hub:
Increase Equitable Access to Environmental Education Programs
Support Capacity Building for Administrators and Teachers
Create Connections Between the Formal and Nonformal Education Sectors
The goals of The Hub are to increase the visibility and access to environmental education partners and providers and be a reliable central repository for districts, schools, and teachers to identify programs that align with their local needs and meet educational standards.
“The Hub will help with equity efforts by making it apparent which districts/schools/grade levels are receiving services from the CBPs within the county and where access needs to be expanded.”
Dean Reese, Science Coordinator, Outdoor Education, and Environmental Literacy, San Joaquin County Office of Education
County offices of education can enroll in The Hub and create their own county-specific portal. Through their portal, they can provide links to resources, promote services, and most importantly direct users to vetted environmental education providers.
Community-based partners (CBPs) can sign-up directly through the central CAELI site and promote their organization and programs. CBPs will have the opportunity to highlight how their offerings meet K–12 school system needs by connecting them to environmental topics and identifying key links to California’s standards and Environmental Principles & Concepts (EP&Cs).
Districts, schools, and educators can clearly identify providers that offer standards and EP&Cs aligned locally relevant and culturally responsive programs for their students. Utilizing filters such as grades, subjects, topics, standards, and availability, teachers connect with providers and programs that best suit the needs of their students.
About CAELI, Ten Strands, and Green Guardians:
CAELI, a project of Ten Strands, is a public-private partnership that works statewide, with guidance from a leadership council, to create systems change in support of environmental literacy with a focus on access, equity, and cultural relevance for all students.
Ten Strands is a field catalyst for the K–12 school system in California focused on advancing the environmental literacy of students. It partners with state government, local education agencies, providers of environmental education, community members, and funders to make environmental literacy a reality for all California’s K–12 students.
Green Guardians is a new California-based education technology company dedicated to advancing environmental literacy as an activity-based and standards-linked paradigm in K–12 education across the United States and the world.
