Fostering A Sense of Wonder

An Early Childhood Educators Workshop Series

Grades  Pre-K-2
4 sessions:
22 contact hours
Friday, October 19, 2001 8:30 - 4:00; Friday, January 11, 2002; 8:30 - 4:00; Saturday, April 13, 2002; 8:30 - 4:00; and Thursday, May 23, 2002, 4:00 - 6:00. 

Location: various locations and tours including DOES, Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, Greenacres, Rumpke Landfill, and more.

Registration: $20. Call Sue Magness to register (513) 946-7736. Deadline is October 12, 2001.

This year-long series offers teachers hands-on activities in the area of resources and conservation from established and newly developed curriculum. The curriculum was developed by Dr. Ruth Wilson, author of “Fostering a Sense of Wonder”. Dr. Wilson presents one day of the series. Other days feature field trips and presentations by Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District, Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services, Greenacres, Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, and Rumpke Landfill.

Major topics and activities include: recycling, reusing, landfills, soils, gardening, environmental/literature based crafts, and make-n-take lesson supplies. The first session will also include an exhibit hall featuring 10-15 local organizations who provide environmental resources, classroom presentations, field trip opportunities, curriculum, and lots of free stuff. Sponsored in part by Environmental Education Council of Ohio.

*Education Workshop Series Details
Series participants will receive:
Substitute reimbursement (on weekday workshop sessions) or stipend ($75 on weekend/$50 after school session), graduate credit - optional up to 3 quarter credit hours (University of Cincinnati; teacher responsible for fee $135/per credit hour to U.C. This is a reduced rate.), certification by Hamilton County Educational Service Center, support through mini-grants and classroom presentations, free transportation for related follow-up student field trips, free curriculum and children's environmental literature books.

Series participants are expected to:
Teach a minimum of three lessons from the new curriculum, bring school district curriculum and sequence planner, modify lessons as needed and to plan implementation considering sequence requirements, attend all sessions (required for both credit and payment of substitute reimbursement or stipend), complete all program evaluation materials, including pre-and post-test of your students.

Solid Waste Inquiry Expedition Series Education Workshop Series*

Grades 3-7
4 sessions:
21 contact hours
Call for new date

Locations: Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services, IMAGO, Gorman Heritage Farm, Rumpke Recycling Center, Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Zoo.

This series considers different points of view by visiting a variety of sites involved in examining and resolving environmental issues. Participants tour and participate in hands-on and inquiry learning. Teachers will exchange ideas about how to apply the new information. Over the year, participants will integrate the curriculum and assess student leaning. Each participant will receive the new curriculum, Windows on Waste, developed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Participants will also explore “Science for Ohio” on the internet. Developed by Miami University, it is hands-on, inquiry-based science activities for children in grades 3-8. Every activity is connected to Ohio Proficiency Learning Outcomes; uses everyday materials; and contains teacher pages, student pages, a family page, related resources and photographs.

The first workshop will be presented by John Farmer and Don Kaufman. John Farmer is the “Science for Ohio” Project co-Director and Adjunct Instructor, Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH and Teacher, Ayer Elementary, Forest Hills School District, Cincinnati, OH. Dr. Kaufman is a member of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).

*Workshop benefits are the same for both series. For more information about stipends, graduate credit and others, see Eduction Workshop Series Details in “Fostering a Sense of Wonder”

Registration: $20. For additional information and registration material, contact Sue Magness, (513) 946-7736 or e-mail her at suzanne.magness@hamilton-co.org.

Project Learning Tree (PLT)

Ohio Facilitator Leadership Workshop

October 26 & 27, 2001
Location: Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati
Grades K-12

Here is your chance to become a PLT-Ohio Facilitator and begin holding your own local PLT workshops, as well as use PLT. Receive PLT’s PreK-8 guides, all Secondary Modules, plus many more environmental education resources. PLT is correlated to Ohio’s Learning Outcomes (4, 6, HS, 12) and the National Science and Social Studies Standards. Graduate credit optional at a reduced rate. Meals will be provided both days. Registration fee: $50. 

For additional information and registration materials contact PLT business office at (740) 862-5722 or send an e-mail to pltoh@computech-online.net or visit http://www.plt.org.

What's Up in the Environment

Half-day, Saturday, February 16, 2002
Middle School Grades

Help your middle school students explore environmental science and career opportunities as they participate in this multimedia program. Choose from one of ten different projects running from February to April 2002 - all accessible via the Web. Each project comes with its own online mentor, related resources, web content for students, accompanying video, and teacher guides. “What’s Up In The Environment?” creates an opportunity for your class to explore pressing environmental issues with the help of experts working in the field. It gives teachers standards-based teaching tools and it exposes students to a broad range of environmental careers. This project is ideal for either one teacher or a group of teachers from one school. There are many opportunities for collaboration and discussions between classrooms of all disciplines.

For further information, contact Krystal Cleaver, Assistant Projects Managers, WCET48 Education and Technology at (513) 381-4033 ext. 359, or e-mail her at krystal_cleaver@wcet.pbs.org