The term confluence typically relates to the coming together of two or more streams or rivers. In California’s ever-evolving educational landscape, we can apply it to the coming together and weaving of instructional strategies and priorities that represent an unprecedented opportunity to expand the development of environmental literacy for all California students. This was not […]
What does environmental education look like? Picture it in your mind: You’re likely imagining school children trekking through the woods en route to a team-building exercise, stopping to do leaf rubbings and other nature observations along the way. While this may be the traditional notion of environmental education, it is not representative of the opportunities […]
Walking down the US Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model Pier, third-grade students from Ford Elementary in Richmond, CA, were chatting with anticipation of boarding the boat on a Friday in mid-April. One student pointed to the water, “Look, it’s the ocean!” Soon, she would be seeing and feeling a raised relief map of California, […]
Walking along the shoulder of a busy two-lane thoroughfare called Green Valley Road to Pinto Lake on a sunny morning in Watsonville, CA, bringing up the back of a line of 3rd grade students from Amesti Elementary School, I am reflecting on how aptly the road is named when Juan—everybody calls him ‘Jay’— says, ‘There’s […]
Engaging our sunny, Southern California communities in a critical conversation about the importance of water and water use efficiency is not always easy. For decades, industry professionals have worked tirelessly under the radar, 24 hours a day, holidays and weekends, to provide clean, healthy, safe, and reliable water to the public. The faucet handle is […]
Ten Strands, through the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI), is currently engaged with partners in districts around the state to implement standards- and environment-based learning for all K–12 students. One of these leading-edge exemplar districts is in Alameda County, located in the Northern California Bay Area. Alameda, an island in the San Francisco Bay, is […]
Teachers across the state returned to their classrooms last fall prepared to integrate environmental literacy into their K–12 curriculum, helping students to develop global competence and agency after participating in the California Global Education Project’s (CGEP) professional learning program Teaching for Sustainable Communities: Empowering Eco-Literate Global Citizens. The program begins in the summer with five […]
This year’s annual Green Schools Conference and Expo in St. Paul, Minnesota brought together education leaders, community-based organizations, architects, curriculum-writers, and others under the theme of “Advancing Sustainable Schools for All.” The conference was a mix of inspiration and celebration, and breakout sessions were full of practical ideas for moving forward at the local and […]