Environmental Good News

There's a lot going on in the world right now. Especially as we are approaching the 2 year mark of major global impact from the pandemic, (along with climate crisis, racial injustice, and polarized politics). The current events in the Ukraine feel extraordinarily heavy and hard. [In fact, if you and your children are having trouble with that, please check out this article at Very Well Family.]

Given the harshness of the 2020s so far, sounds like we need a heavy dose of "insert good news here."

IPS Positive News Stories does just that. The Inner Picture Stories (IPS) Project was created by Jellis Vaes. The purpose of IPS is to share forward stories connected to the beauty of life, opportunities that surround us, and ways of getting a better handle on healthy mental health. Sharing the good stuff!

In their December 24, 2021 podcast, they bring to light "5 Positive Changes in the Environment." It can be easy to be stuck in the doom and gloom especially when it comes to the environment. So here, they focus on these 5 stories, showcasing a short video for each on their website highlighting more about each one.

1. Search Engine Ecosia, where you can plant trees through clicks. They just planted their 100-millionth tree.

2. Nzambi Matee started her company Gjenge Makers to create bricks from recycled plastic. In addition to being lightweight and low cost, they are 5 to 7 times stronger than concrete.

3. In Oslo, Norway, they launched the Yara Birkeland, the first electric, self-propelled container ship. This cuts 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

4. A study from The Society of Conservation Biology has shown that conservation programs have aided in preventing 48+ animal extinctions during the 27 years between 1993-2020.

5. In Liguria, Italy the Ocean Reef Group launched Nemo's Garden, a first in the area of underwater vegetable gardening.

Image created at canva.com

How the Internet Works

In my quest for videos about the Hour of Code, I ran across this video "The Internet: How Search Works."  I found it fascinating, both as an educator, an #edtech-ian, and a learner. Given that, it warranted a post of its own!

I've heard reports that by 2028, ten years from now, half of the jobs out there will be ones that don't even exist here and today.  The reason: the growth in technology. Exponential growth! Given that, it's probably good for all of us to know such things as this... sharpening our tech and innovation skills along the way!

 

As an aside, here's a pretty cool "gifographic" (an animated step up from an infographic!) and kid-friendly information page on the concept as well from Mocomi.com. (You'll find a wealth of other information also at Mocomi's learning portal!)

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVV_93mBfSU, gifographic from http://mocomi.com/how-the-internet-works/; Image from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIUGO-cnLLg

T = Thinkport #GETABC

T is for Thinkport

(From the GTG #GETABC Series = #Green, #Education, #Technology*)


Thinkport is another total treasure trove of information for educators--perhaps more than you can ever want. Great stuff galore lives at Thinkport. When you have Maryland Public Television (MPT) and Johns Hopkins University Center for Technology in Education (CTE),working together, how can you have anything less?

Thinkport's mission is to assist teachers, serve as student inspiration, connect home and school--all through technology while supporting the Maryland educational state standards. Professional development opportunities also abound!

Thinkport has 4 main venues or channels in which to enter their portal:
--Think Classroom
--Think Career
--Think Technology
--Think Family & Community

Here are some great places to investigate in a "GET" (Green, Education, Tech) sort of way:

EnivroHealth Connections

"Explore the relationship between the environment & human health"

Think Earth Day
Programming links for the current year, and a slew of internet links both on Thinkport and beyond.

Think Chesapeake Bay
Lesson plans including Bayville Online Field Trip, MPT programming connections, and video clips.

Think Environmental Health
Lesson plans galore, activities, video clips, tech tours, and the EnviroMystery online field trip

Think Ocean & Bay
Online Clips, Bayville Online Field Trip, ITV, & lesson plans

Theme Think Weather
Covering Climate, Severe Weather, Lightning, Hurricanes, & Tornadoes

INTERACTIVE MEDIA: 

--Changing the Balance (Effects of Global Warming)

--Plastic Fork Diaries (Nutrition & Food Choices)

--Bayville & EnviroMystery (mentioned above)

--Baytrippers (Animals & plants of the Chesapeake Bay)

--Plus tons more with Maryland History, math and more...including a great decision making activity on Slavery.

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg...there is so much to Thinkport--it truly is a portal worth investigating.


T pic from http://emmi10.wikis.birmingham.k12.mi.us/Trotting+Lions+Capstone+Project+C4
Thinkport pic from their webpage.

Note:  In an attempt to meld my pursuits of green, education, and technology, "GET" and this ABC series began...as did my twitter thread #GETABC.  To see the inception of #GETABC and give yourself a tidbit of background, go to GTG's True Confessions & Whirling Dervishes.

S = Sweet Search #GETABC

S is for 
SweetSearch

(GTG's #GETABC Series = Green, Education,  & Tech*)

A super sweet summer find that's as student-friendly as they come is the SweetSearch.  This is a search engine geared solely for students, with every one of the 35,000+ websites listed having been researched by their expert staff.  So it becomes a super safe search engines--I think we have all had that situation where we were Googling or Bing-ing or Yahoo-ing something, and then all of a sudden we find ourself somewhere we definitely never intended!

You have some levels with SweetSearch, depending on what you are wanting your search to find:

--SweetSearch Web Research Tutorial = for a focused place to hone you/your students' research skills.

--SweetSearch4Me = the SS search engine for the younger computer set out there, just beginning to learn how to use a search engine.

--SweetSearch2Day = a place to go to learn something new every day.

--SweetSearch Biographies = for biography searches, with over 1,000 noteable people

--SweetSearch Social Studies = a SS search engine for SS

Letter S pic from http://www.printactivities.com/Mazes/LetterMazes/Letter_s_Small.html, "Sweet Search" logo from their website.
Note:  In an attempt to meld my pursuits of green, education, and technology, "GET" and this ABC series began...as did my twitter thread #GETABC.  To see the inception of #GETABC and give yourself a tidbit of background, go to GTG's True Confessions & Whirling Dervishes.

G = Google #GETABC

G is for Google
(GTG's  #GETABC Series = Green, Education, & Tech*)

Holy guacomole...It's a jungle out there!  Or rather, a Google out there.

Google's become a known noun AND verb in our dictionary, thanks to the wonders of cyberspace and everyone's knowledge of Google.  "Google" is well-named because "googol" is a mathematical term than mean a number that starts with 1 and is followed by 100 zeroes...which sometimes feels like what's out there when you do a Google search!

There are a gazillion goodies galore out there on the Internet...and tons having to do with teaching with Google alone.  It is far more than a mere search engine! 
To educate yourself, Richard Byrne (our favorite tech-master & Google Certified teacher over at the FreeTech4Teachers site) has some great online google eBooks he has created.  There's a wealth here, and this is where you need to start your Google education:

• Google For Teachers
• Google For Teachers II
• Beyond Google

Also, here's a great resource (complete with lesson plans): Google Apps for Teachers

In pouring over the googol of Google items, some of my favorites include:

• Using Google Maps for their "Math Maps" (where they have maps layered with color-coded questions for different grade levels--granted, more math than "eco" but very cool!).  I also love that you can use the maps to place mark certain sites & embed YouTube videos (which will be perfect when my 3rd graders study "Rivers & Bridges").  You can also use them to investigate their climate change data.
• You can also build customizable, kid-friendly searches--check out Byrne's Beyond Google for details on that!
• You can use Google Docs to create flashcards, word games, word clouds, quizzes, surveys, and more!

G pic from http://www.petitbliss.com, Google pic from http://www.google.com of course

*Note:  In an attempt to meld my pursuits of green, education, and technology, "GET" and this ABC series began...as did my twitter thread #GETABC.  To see the inception of #GETABC and give yourself a tidbit of background, go to GTG's True Confessions & Whirling Dervishes.

Search, and You Shall Find

Check out this YouTube video to learn about the newest search engine on the block: Ecosia.  Add in, it's an eco-friendly one at that. Ecosia is backed by Yahoo, Bing and the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF).  It functions like any other search engine out there, however some major twists:

1.  80% of it's advertising moola goes to protect the rain forest (with the help of WWF--the current rain forest program is helping Brazil's Juruena National Park, near the Amazon River).

2.  They operate under green electricity, eliminating the CO2 emissions that other engines use.

3.  It's an active way to tackle deforestation, both on the part of Ecosia & you!

If you're going to look "it" up (whatever "it" is)....might be worth clicking the title above or going to http://ecosia.org/ to try out Ecosia!  Most certainly, watch the video!! 

Picture from http://ecosia.org/        Video  Ecosia: The Eco-friendly Search Engine  from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxca_daRFeM