By PLT Staff

Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation Grants
Deadline: March 31, 2010
The Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation funds environmental education programs that show evidence that the creator thinks "outside the box." The quality, innovation, thoughtfulness, and effectiveness of the project are all considered in determining the winners of this grant. Grant amounts may range from $500 to $30,000.  Visit the Foundation Website to review the grant guidelines and submit an application.

EE Online Courses
Summer 2010 course dates: June 1 - August 6, 2010
Deadline to Register: May 1, 2010
The following online courses will be offered this summer through the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Scholarships are available.
Fundamentals of Environmental Education
A 12-week online course about the fundamentals of environmental education is appropriate for both classroom teachers and for non-formal educators who work with students and/or teachers
Making EE Relevant for Culturally Diverse Audiences
This 10-week on-line course is designed to provide participants with the basic knowledge and skills needed to make EE relevant to culturally diverse audiences.
 
Green Teens Social Network
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “I’d Like to Visit a Place Where” and “Improve Your Place” and PLT's GreenWorks! and GreenSchools! programs)
Teens for Planet Earth is now a social networking website to help teens and adults who work with them carry out environmental service-learning projects.  At www.teensforplanetearth.org, members can post photos and videos of their projects; start or comment on a blog, share and seek advice on service-learning projects, and find out about grants to fund their efforts and the latest environmental news. 

Tropical Rainforest Primer
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Tropical Treehouse,” “Habitat Pen Pals” and PLT's “Forests of the World” secondary module)
Visit the Blue Planet Biomes website to learn all about the plants, animals, and climate conditions found in tropical rainforests.  This website was created with help by middle school students from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.  Other world biomes to explore at the site include tundra, grasslands, desert, savannah, and more.

Plant Talking Points
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Every Tree for Itself,” “How Plants Grow,” “To Be a Tree” and more)
The Botanical Society of American designed Plant Talking Points as a classroom tool for sharing ideas and concepts highlighting the role plants play in daily life.  Educators can use it to get students thinking about and exploring plant-related topics. 

Fuel Our Future
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “In the Driver’s Seat,” “Energy Sleuths,” PLT's Energy & Society Kit and PLT's GreenSchools! program)
Explore alternative fuels and the science of engineering using Fuel Our Future.  The website offers teacher resources, videos, and activity suggestions for K-12 educators as well as material for parents.  Topics covered include energy efficiency, alternative fuels, and advanced vehicle design.

EPA Data Finder
(resource for PLT's GreenSchools! program)
EPA recently launched Data Finder, a single place to find EPA's data sources so people can better access and understand environmental information. Environmental datasets are organized into the following six categories: air, climate change, health risks, pollutants and contaminants, waste, and water. Visit the site, suggest new content, and comment on its functionality.

Project Budburst
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Bursting Buds,” “Signs of Fall,” “Looking at Leaves,” “Adopt a Tree,” “The Closer You Look,” “Have Seeds, Will Travel” and more)
Join thousands of others in gathering valuable environmental and climate change information from across the country. Project BudBurst engages the public in making careful observations of the phenophases, such as first leafing, first flower, and first fruit ripening of a diversity of local trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses. Get students outside and making seasonal observations with Project BudBurst. 

Schoolyard Habitat Guide
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Schoolyard Safari” and “Trees as Habitats,” as well as PLT's GreenWorks! and GreenSchools! program)
This guide provides the basic steps needed to restore and/or create wildlife habitat. It is designed so that students complete several tasks that will lead to establishing a forest, meadow, or wetland on school grounds. The projects can range in size from a small 20’ by 20’ area to an acre or more. These steps were developed from the experiences of several schools that have completed similar projects. The process incorporates critical thinking and decision-making skills while challenging students in reading, writing, science, mathematics, and language arts.  You can download the entire PDF online for free from the US Fish & Wildlife Service Website.
 
Firewise Generation
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Forests for the Trees,” “Nothing Succeeds Like Succession,” and “Living with FIre,” as well as PLT's secondary module Forest Ecology: “Understanding Fire” and “Fire Management")
The purpose of Firewise Generation is to help young adults better understand wildfire and help them put Firewise practices to work in and around their homes and local communities.  By visiting the Firewise Generation website, students can understand how wildfire works, assess homes and other buildings for wildfire readiness, know what to do when a wildfire occurs, and lots more.

Junior Energy
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Energy Sleuths,” “Renewable or Not?” and PLT's GreenSchools! program)
Junior Energy's mission is to work in classrooms and schools to help children discover how they can positively impact the planet by engaging their parents, family, friends and neighbors in small, simple actions.  With separate sections for students and parents, visit the Junior Energy Website to learn about simple actions you can take at home to reduce energy consumption.  There is also a section where students can submit success stories and their own unique ideas for saving energy.

Thinkgreen.com
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Renewable or Not?”, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” and PLT’s GreenSchools! program)
Sponsored by Waste Management and Discovery Education, this website contains k-12 lessons, videos and interactive tools to help students rethink what they know about waste. The site also provides downloadable posters promoting recycling ideas.

U.S Environmental Protection Agency – Plant Protectors Club for Kids
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Renewable or Not?”, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” and PLT’s GreenSchools! program)
As a Planet Protector, your mission is to improve the world around you by making less trash. Planet Protectors also help others learn to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Targeted for K-5 students, this website features interactive games and activity booklets for informing students about reducing waste and conserving resources, as well as helping them understand the connection between trash and climate change. Booklets are available in Spanish and English.

The Secret Life of Trees
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Get in Touch with Trees”, “How Plants Grow”, “To be a Tree”, and PLT's new Early Childhood guide)
This animated presentation for students in grades 3-5 explains in detail how an acorn becomes a tree. The audio is available in English and Spanish.

Confessions of a Planet
(resource for PLT’s Billy B Sings About Trees CD)
Flocabulary.com presents creative hip-hop songs for introducing vocabulary, literature, social studies, math, and science topics in an engaging way.

The Mailbox
The MAILBOX® provides resource materials (books, magazines, and other freebies) for preschool–Grade 6 teachers. The Mailbox also sponsors an interactive blog where pK-6 teachers can share grade-specific ideas and activities to help their students.  You can even tell The Mailbox what grades you work with and they will personalize The Mailbox.com for your grade level!

Professor Sneeze: Climate Change Stories for Children
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Waste Watchers,” “In the Driver’s Seat,” “Our Changing World,” and more, as well as PLT’s GreenSchools! and Energy & Society programs)
Professor Sneeze stories were developed by the International Polar Foundation.  The interactive climate stories targeted at ages 5-12 explain ways to save energy; while the stories available for 8-12 year olds explain how energy is produced by wind, sun, and water.  Professor Sneeze’s website also features kids craft ideas and photos from areas affected by climate change.  

Operation: Infinite Potential
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Renewable or Not?,” “Energy Sleuths,” “A Look at Lifestyles,” and more, as well as PLT’s Energy & Society and GreenSchools! programs)
Sponsored by National Geographic, Operation: Infinite Potential has students working alongside leading scientists to explore the challenges of energy generation, storage, and consumption. Through research articles, labs, field assignments, videos, online games and other multimedia, students can investigate and analyze emerging technologies designed to meet the needs of an energy-hungry planet.

Mission Migration
(resource for PLT's PreK-8 activites “Picture This!,” “Trees as Habitats,” “Web of Life,” “Schoolyard Safari,” “Tropical Treehouse,” and more)
In the spring and the fall, many birds fly long distances in search of food, water, shelter and space: the same basic things that humans need to survive. In this interactive online game from Audubon, students help a flock migrate safely by learning how choices you make each day around your home, school, and neighborhood can affect the fate of these migrating birds - in both positive and negative ways. By the time they are done, students will have the skills and knowledge to help birds thrive and survive around their homes.