Treehugger Babysitting: Cliffhanger Finale

We haven't posted in a
while! To make it up to
you, here's a sleeping
baby sea otter.

Hi everyone! This is GEEKs cofounder Katie M-T, bringing you the long-awaited finale of our summer series "Treehugger Babysitting". I think this story is pretty cute. So is that baby sea otter on the left. Cute enough to make someone click on an environmental education blog, even.

Job Satisfaction
Does anyone know what's cooler than high school and college students working on environmental issues? Eleven-year-olds working on environmental issues. Which is why I was very happy to hear, after the end of my summer nannying job, that my relentless environmental education efforts (which you can read about here: Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3)
had paid off- the kids had decided to organize some friends to do fundraisers for wildlife rescue projects. They call their group "The Animal Club", and I could tell

Treehugger Babysitting: Episode 3- Best Birdfeeders Ever

These birds are actually angry
because you haven't made them a
milk carton bird feeder.

Hi everyone! This is GEEKs cofounder Katie M-T, bringing you the long-awaited third episode of our captivating and ingenious new series, Treehugger Babysitting. These episodes follow my adventures in trying out sneaky environmental education activities on the kids I nanny. Read through this whole post to find out how to use a milk carton, glue and some old magazines to inspire a love of environmental stewardship and creative recycling in young children, or skip to the bottom for a summary of what I learned as well as a picture of Barney the Dinosaur.

Treehugger Babysitting: Episode 2- Urban Gardens

What a well-maintained garden! Good job
kids.

Hi everyone! This is GEEKs cofounder Katie M-T, bringing you the long-awaited, action-packed second episode of our new series, Treehugger Babysitting, which follows my adventures in environmental education with the kids I'm nannying this summer. 

In our first episode, I learned how to get the kids interested and engaged in environmentalism through art. Read through this whole post to see what sneaky education tactics I tried this time, or just skip to the bottom to see what I learned during this episode, summed up this time in haiku form.

Treehugger Babysitting: Episode 1

Let's redirect Calvin's
energy to socially
productive uses

Hi everyone! This is GEEKs cofounder Katie M-T, and I'm bringing you the first episode in our new series "Treehugger Babysitting". This series will follow my adventures in getting unsuspecting children who I'm babysitting interested in environmental stewardship.
As usual, if you don't have time for this whole post, skip to the bottom to see what I learned, summed up in a single uplifting paragraph.
Also, if you have a story related to this post to share, please let us know! Send us an email at get.geeky28@gmail.com, or leave a post on our Facebook page here.

Join Us: GEEKs Collaborative Art Project!

A collage submitted by
10-year-old Eliza

We Need You!
Are you looking for a way to express yourself, relieve stress, entertain those energetic kids you're babysitting over the summer, unleash your creative potential, kill a few minutes of free time, or get involved in a nationwide intergenerational art project? Then you are the perfect participant for our first GEEKs Collaborative Art Project!


What is the GEEKs Art Project?
The goal of the project is to build an online collection of art created by people of all ages and art skill levels. The collection will show artists' answers to this question: What does an environmentally sustainable world look like to you?    

Action Opportunity St. Paul: Volunteer with the Youth Farm and Market Project!

Students working on a new farm project in Whittier

St. Paul GEEKs! Looking for some fun volunteer hours over the summer? The Youth Farm and Market project (website here), is looking for young volunteers all summer, all across the city. The Project's mission is "Growing Food to Develop Youth", and that's exactly what they're doing- you get leadership experience and a good excuse to get outside and play in the dirt. Skim through for whatever place and time you're available! Without further ado, here's their official notice for volunteers:


The Youth Farm and Market Project is gearing up for our summer program, and we are looking for volunteers!  YFMP has lots of exciting new volunteer opportunities this

Lesson Plan: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

Age Group: 5-7

Materials: Owl Moon, Brown construction paper, scissors, markers, feathers, string, glue, pictures of
owls.

Book: The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Age Group: 4-7

Materials: The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest by Stan and Jan Berenstain; optionsal: cotton balls,
shredded paper, plastic bags or rubber bouncy balls; squares of fabric; rubber bands; markers, glitter,
googly eyes, etc; string.

Lesson Plan: The Best Nest by P. D. Eastman

Materials: The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman, pictures of different bird’s nests. Craft Option 1: wooden
birdhouses, paint, markers, glitter, etc. Craft Option 2: construction paper, glue, scissors, twigs, string,
straws, glitter, yarn, markers, other craft items of choice.

Ages: 3-7

Lesson Plan: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Book: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Materials: The Snowy Day, a large area of snow to play in (preferably with trees!), hot chocolate, cups.

Age Group: 3-5

Green Video!

Green Hip-Hop

Reading is great, especially when it's reading environmental education blogs. But when so many of our activities are fueled by the internet and new technology, and attention spans are so short, another great way to get even more people engaged, interested and informed is video. 

One organization that's working on this is Green For All, which supports environmental justice campaigns. One way they're involving people of all ages and backgrounds across the country is by featuring music videos covering environmental issues on their site. It's not lame, I promise! Many of the videos are done by young people with real skill. Check out their website at www.greenforall.org.

Or, if you have one of those short attention spans I was talking about, skip right to the really cool music videos- which can be found on a playlist of their youtube channel here. Seriously, do it. Or just skip to my personal favorite- a song called Wheat Grass, by DJ Cavem:

What YOU Can Do With It

Even without the musical skills, we can all get in on the green video scene. This has been my most recent project at my school- taking video of people sharing their views and stories about environmentalism around my school community. I've been amazed how many people have said really interesting things that I'm glad to have on video. 

Interviewing a student about paper
towel use

A student telling the camera about
cafeteria-related sustainability

Look for an update on that project in the next episode of "I'm Starting an Environmental Club!". In the meantime, see if you can borrow a videocamera from your school library, and go find some students and staff to interview. Or start working on your new hit hip-hop song.

Thank You and GEEKs in Action!

Hi GEEKs Readers! Today we'd like to thank each and every one of you for your loyal readership- because with your help, the GEEKs blog has reached

1000 views!

This accomplishment belongs to all of you readers, who keep clicking our links from facebook, sharing the blog with your friends, and helping to make GEEKs projects happen. So as a thank-you gift that we hope will be meaningful to our readers all over the world, we give you...
puppies.

puppies

In a second celebration of 1000 Views Day, slightly less cute but also enjoyable is our new page, GEEKs in Action! The new page will be frequently updated and includes pictures and stories from projects that GEEKs members are doing or have done. It also features links to the organizations that are helping make those GEEKs projects happen.
To check out GEEKs in Action, click the tab on our home page or follow the link here.
If you have a story you'd like to share on GEEKs in Action, or in a blog post, let us know at our email get.geeky28@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone and keep in touch!

I'm Starting an Environmental Club! Episode 3: We are Yoda

Us versus gross chemicals:
this is what it looks like

GEEKs is back, with a brand-new episode of our series I'm Starting an Environmental Club! In this episode, the RAMS environmental club wages an epic battle against gross chemicals. Who will win? Find out below, or else skip to the bottom to see why this episode is called "We are Yoda". Thanks for reading!

Gross chemicals

Gross Chemicals

School buildings can be disgusting places sometimes, with every desk being used by half a dozen kids every day. To fend off germs, many schools use all-purpose cleaners with long ingredients lists of chemicals that can be hazardous to people as well as to ecosystems. To remove this grossness from the RAMS school environment, we decided that our first official action as the RAMS Earth Group would be...

The Green Cleaners Project

Our project turned out to be very straightforward and went pretty much exactly according to plan. To simplify things, here's what we did:

1) Ask teachers for donations of their EMPTY cleaner spray bottles

We left a box for donated bottles in the group advisor's classroom, then sent out an email and a paper notice to all the teachers to advertise our project. The teachers were very supportive, and the box filled up quickly with empty bottles. It's important that they're empty because we don't want to be dumping chemicals down the drain- it's much better for them to be used.

Our beautiful labels

2) Follow OSHA labeling rules

It turns out that cleaners used in a school must be correctly labeled with ingredients for safety purposes. We peeled off the bottles' old labels and replaced them with new ones designed by the group, which advertised the Earth Group and listed ingredients. 

3) Fill the bottles with nicer cleaners

We based our cleaning product loosely on Alice's Wonder Spray cleaner, which is pretty much vinegar and water. Check out the full recipe here. Our group is lucky to be based in a science classroom, so we had funnels and beakers handy and felt like real chemical engineers or something.

Yoda also basks in glory
after a battle

4) Redistribute the bottles and bask in glory

We are one step closer to ridding the world of gross chemicals, and the school staff has been really happy with the project. It's great to see other people so happy to be using a healthier and safer cleaning product. We'll continue to refill empty bottles as teachers continue to donate them.

What We Learned

In this episode we learned that even though we're only a small group of students, just starting our Earth Group, we can actually do really useful projects at the middle school. Our green cleaners keep gross chemicals from being used at school, and they also raise awareness and inspire others to replace their household chemicals- now any student stuck cleaning desks for detention will have a good look at our beautiful green cleaner labels and get to use the cleaners themselves. Basically, our group is just like Yoda: we're small, we love green, and we're very powerful. 

Thanks for reading, and check back soon for another action-packed episode of I'm Starting An Environmental Club!

I'm Starting an Environmental Club! (Episode 2)

Hi loyal readers, if this looks boring skip to the bottom to see what I learned! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy this next action-packed installment of the new hit series, I'm Starting an Environmental Club!

The awesome poster we put up all over
the school

I Try My Hand at Advertising
In the past few weeks, my big job for getting the club started was publicity. This turned out to be much simpler than I expected with my limited art skills.
I designed a flyer that got posted around the school, emphasizing how the club is led by high school students and is focused on action- we figured those elements would be better at attracting middle schoolers than a scary statistic about global warming or landfills. The well-placed clip art was a nice touch too, in my humble opinion.
We also passed out announcements on slips of paper for all the homeroom teachers to read to their classes. To try to get more student involvement, we also encouraged the classes to brainstorm ecofriendly action ideas for Earth Day and write them on the back of the announcement paper.


If at First You Don't Succeed... Be More Organized
I wish I could say all my work was immediately successful, but in reality our first two attempts at club meetings fell apart because of a series of unfortunate circumstances involving school bus traffic, illness, and some disorganization on my part.

With help from a technological genius
student, we put this image on a SmartBoard
to trace onto our posters. 

The silver lining was that I truly learned the meaning of that famous Woody Allen quote- "Ninety percent of life is just showing up."When I showed up for the third meeting attempt, with another high school volunteer I'd recruited, there was finally a successful meeting of the Roseville Area Middle School Earth Group- complete with middle school participation. We spent the meeting making some huge green posters with lots of help from a young graphic design genius who had attended. It's cheesy, but for me and the other volunteer, it was really inspiring to see that middle schooler putting his time and talent to work to help his school community.


People Help Me Out
It's cool to see my old teachers at the middle school, but what's been really impressive to me is how supportive they are of the new club- announcing it to their classes, encouraging kids to join, and donating their classroom cleaning spray bottles for the green cleaners project the club plans to do. Several also returned the announcement slips with suggestions from their students about Earth Group activities.
I'm also amazed at the enthusiasm of the high school students who I recruit to help out with the meetings.  It's been really surprising and encouraging to see how many of my peers are willing to volunteer.

Not what you want to see when you're leading a meeting
in four minutes...

What I Learned
In this episode of "I'm Starting An Environmental Club!", I experienced some obstacles when my first two attempts at meetings didn't work out. But when the third attempt at a club meeting actually worked, I learned that persistance can pay off. Especially when it comes to organizing environmental clubs.
On a more specific note, I had some trouble getting from the high school to the middle school in time for the meeting, given that the schools let out at the same time and are at least five minutes apart when traffic isn't slowed by millions of school buses. Therefore, don't get stuck behind a huge line of school buses when you need to be somewhere on time. Learn from my mistakes... just leave class a few minutes early to beat the buses.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time on "I'm Starting An Environmental Club!"

MPIRG/YEA! MN Lobby Day: Youth at the Capitol!

So much environmentalism, so little time! If you don't have time to read this whole post, check out this quick video about the event, made by the Will Steger Foundation:

Lobby Day Video! 

This energetic team of YEA! MN high school leaders
helped organize the event and created a paper-mache sun
to support solar power.

Becoming a Lobbyist

The Minnesota State Capitol building is a big place where important things happen, so I’ll admit that I was a little nervous when I headed to St. Paul on Tuesday to take part in the 2012 Youth Lobby Day at the capitol. Politics looks pretty intimidating when you’re just a high school Junior with a bunch of opinions. But now I’m really happy that I went anyway- besides clearing up my initial fears about the capitol, I got to meet an incredible group of young people just as passionate about environmentalism as me.

I joined this small group session to learn about the benefits
of solar power.

The event was organized by two student groups: the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG), run by college and university students, and the high school group Youth Environmental Activists of Minnesota (YEA! MN). They organized the day with the goal of supporting solar power, recycling, and voting rights legislation by letting legislators hear the youth voice.
Our day started with a session where we learned how to be effective lobbyists: basically, don't be scared, know what you're talking about, and if you can't answer a question don't be afraid to say "I don't know." That was reassuring, but the coolest thing that session made me realize was that my legislators were hired to represent me. No matter my age or experience, my legislators need to hear what I have to say- especially about environmental issues that will effect mine and future generations.

I joined a group of other young lobbyists to talk with
my Senator, Mary Jo Mcguire.

Meeting our Senator

I joined a group of a dozen or so other students from Hamline University and Great River School to meet with my Senator, Mary Jo Mcguire. Everyone seemed a little nervous, but the meeting turned out to be an empowering experience. Senator Mcguire was very welcoming as we all sat down in a conference room and introduced ourselves individually. We told her about the recycling, solar power, and voting rights bills that we'd come to lobby on, and she agreed with us enthusiastically on every issue and told us how happy she was to see youth voicing their opinions at the capitol. We left the meeting smiling, after shaking hands and taking some pictures.  

Representative Kate Knuth
 tells the group about her experiences with
youth and environmentalism in politics

Kate Knuth
Representative Kate Knuth appeared in the afternoon to share her experiences in environmentalism and youth in politics. We really enjoyed hearing her speak, since her story of being first elected in her mid-twenties was inspiring to a crowd of young political activists.
Representative Knuth also stuck around to be interviewed and to hear a few high school students perform a rap song for her about the dangers of fracking.

Students from Great River School tell
 Representative Knuth about the
 dangers of fracking.

The Beatles Become Solar Power Advocates
One of my favorite parts of the day was in the afternoon, when we gathered on the steps into the capitol rotunda to sing about solar power to the tune of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun". We got some funny looks, but also a lot of wide smiles, from the bystanders, who I'm sure learned a lot about solar panels during the song's nine verses. It's also very satisfying to know that our voices were literally heard at the capitol.


The Coolest Part
The entire day was amazing, especially spent with some really hardworking people who have genuine passion for the issues. But one of the best moments for me was walking through a big marble hallway in the Capitol building and noticing two important-

Serenading our legislators about solar power, to the
tune of "Here Comes the Sun"

looking women in business suits walk by me and the group of skinny-jean clad high schoolers I was with. As we passed them, I heard one of the women say how glad she was to have youth coming to the capitol to share their perspective. It was a great moment for me to not only be at the capitol to express my opinion, but also to know that people appreciate it when young people like us make the effort to participate in politics.

I'm Starting an Environmental Club! (Episode 1)

Hugging trees is almost
as fun as
environmental education.

Hi everyone, this is GEEKs cofounder Katie M-T, bringing you the first post in the "I'm Starting an Environmental Club!" series! These posts will follow my adventures over the next few months as I start an Earth Group at my local middle school. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be telling you all about how wildly successful the group is, but for now I'm just in the planning stages.

Before I start, you should know that if you don't have the time to read the whole story, you can always skip to the bottom of the post to find out what I've learned so far!

Why I'm Doing This

My class at Conserve School

So, it all started last fall when I went to Conserve School, an environmentally-focused semester boarding school in Wisconsin. The students and teachers there were really enthusiastic about sharing their love for the outdoors and educating others about environmental stewardship. Their stories inspired me to get into environmental education myself when I went back home to Minnesota.

Roseville Area Middle School

Finding a Location
When I got back I wanted to start a project right away, but I have to admit it seemed a little overwhelming. Fortunately, I had really helpful guidance from a lot of other people- my high school Earth Group, Conserve School, and other environmental educators I know. For a few weeks I looked at several possible strategies and locations for a club before deciding on Roseville Area Middle School, where I'd been a student for two years.

Not all meetings are like this!

Planning
To start the ball rolling I emailed one of the science teachers at RAMS who ran an environmental club a few years ago. It was great to have someone eager to help with both planning the club and advising it. She got approval for the club from the activities director at the school, and we had a meeting to start planning. Meetings get a bad rap- this one was really helpful. In just a few minutes one afternoon we figured out the start date, what activities the club would do (we'll start with making green cleaning supplies and doing a simple energy audit), and what needed to be done to make everything work.

If I had a megaphone,
I would use it a lot

Making Everything Work
That's what I'm doing right now- making things work. It turns out that there's a lot to do before the club's first meeting at the end of February. Most importantly, I'm writing flyers and announcements to advertise the club at RAMS. I'm also recruiting volunteers from the high school to help out- the best strategy for that is reminding them of how good volunteer hours look on college applications. There is also planning what the club's first project will be, what events the club might attend, what organizations might want to support the club, and how to get more students interested in joining after the club starts. Fortunately, the fact that I'm starting an environmental club is exciting enough to make all the tasks fun and worthwhile.

What I Learned

It's okay to rely on
other people!

What did I learn in this first installment of "I'm Starting an Environmental Club"? Drumroll, please... I learned that I don't need to know everything myself! 
I've never started a club before, and I don't even know all that much about environmental education. But fortunately, there are a lot of people who actually do know what they're talking about. All I need to do is find those people, send a few emails, put in some simple work, and show up. I'm not going to say it's easy, but I know that anybody can do it!


Thanks for reading, and check back soon for another action-packed story from "I'm Starting an Environmental Club!"

Get Kids Involved in Citizen Science!

What better way is there to get kids interested in environmental science than to let them participate in real environmental science projects? There are lots of surprisingly simple and easy ways to get kids- or yourself- involved.

The National Wildlife Federation promotes some great opportunities on their Citizen Science Programs page here, with projects on topics including frogs, birds, astrology, fireflies and flowers.

The National Phenology Network lets ordinary people participate in a nationwide science program. The founders of GEEKs participated in the NPN project while at Conserve School, and it was a great experience to be part of such a big project just by spending some extra time outside. People of all ages can participate by recording simple observations about their local environments (we recorded things like how many squirrels we saw), and the NPN collects and organizes the observations. The data the NPN collects helps citizens and scientists alike understand how plant and animal behavior is affected by environmental change, and how to make environmentally responsible decisions. Find the NPN website here!

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. The 2012 event will be February 17-20. No experience is required- it's an easy and fun project that also helps the birds, and anyone can participate. Check out their website here, and click "How to Participate" to get involved!

Lesson Plan: "Snowflake Bentley" by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Objective of lesson plan: Teach kids about some interesting properties of snow and help them to connect with the book.

Target age group: 5-9

Great Turnout for the WAEE Winter Workshop!

Me, enjoying the
Northwoods!

Hi GEEKs, this is cofounder Katie M-T. I had the opportunity to spend last weekend at the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education Winter Workshop, which was held at the Treehaven facility in the beautiful Wisconsin Northwoods. Check out WAEE on their Facebook page here. There was a great turnout this year of families, students of all ages, and professional educators. Everyone had inspiring stories to tell and it was such a great experience for me that I have to share it with you.

Planetwalker John Francis

The first session I attended was the keynote address, a thoughtful talk by "Planetwalker" John Francis.  Starting and finishing his story with some banjo-playing, Francis told his audience about how and why   he gave up all motor transportation for 22 years, with 17 of those years spent under a vow of silence. He ended his silence in order to share with the world what he had learned: that environmental problems should not be looked at as purely scientific, but instead as a reflection of the way we as humans treat each other. It was a moving, well-told speech and I was amazed that I had never looked at it that way before.

Children learning fire
 building skills

One of the other sessions was an account of a college student's study-abroad semester in Germany, where environmental education is heavily supported by the government. There was also a lesson about working with teen volunteers from a woman who had started a summer program that lets teens volunteer at a nature center every week. Finally, I participated in an "outdoor inquiry" session where we learned how activities like sledding and making jello could be used to teach science.

The workshop allowed plenty
of time for conversation

All in all, the workshop was a valuable experience for me and definitely worth the drive. It was especially helpful for me to meet the many knowledgeable educators and students who were eager to support the GEEKs program. Thanks for reading and I hope to see some more GEEKs at next year's workshop!

Climate Change Education

Many people are still confused about climate change- how it works, and how we can help stop it. We can fix this by educating people of all ages with the help of new resources like the National Center for Science Education's Climate Change Education initiative. The initiative's goal is to "defend and support the teaching of climate change".
Check it out here!


The site provides information on climate change, advice for teaching about it, and ways to take action in your own life. Especially helpful for the GEEK team is the Resources for Teachers page.

WAEE Winter Workshop!

The Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education is hosting their annual Winter Workshop January 27-29, in the beautiful Treehaven facility of Tomahawk, Wisconsin. All ages are welcome- entertainment, discussions, and a wide range of outdoor activities will be provided along with the presentations.
Attendees will learn how to teach environmental education as well as how to appreciate the environment themselves.

Click for more information!
WAEE website
presentation schedule
full workshop schedule

Children and Nature Network

The Children and Nature Network is an amazing resource for anyone interested in getting kids outside. Check out their website here:
http://www.childrenandnature.org

The Network provides news and media related to environmental education, helpful resources and toolkits, and a forum for discussion.
Especially for a high school-age crowd of environmental leaders, there are a few things on this site that should really be checked out:

-The network's Movement Directory is just as wonderful as it sounds. Campaigns, clubs, organizations, programs, and people are all listed often with websites and email addresses. Users can even search the listings by state in order to get in touch with movements nearby them.
http://www.childrenandnature.org/directory/ 

-The Natural Leaders Network connects a worldwide group of teenagers interested in educating younger kids. Anyone can register in just a few seconds by clicking the link labeled "Sign Up" on the right side of their page. Registering allows you to download the Natural Leaders Network Tool Kit.
http://www.childrenandnature.org/movement/naturalleaders/

Lesson Plan: "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert

Object of lesson: get kids outside in the fall to enjoy the natural beauty of falling leaves.

 Target age group: 5-9

Lesson Plan: "The Rainforest Grew All Around" by Susan K. Mitchell

Objective of lesson plan: Teach children about different components of ecosystems, and particularly rainforests.

Target Age Group: 5-9

Lesson Plan: "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen

Object of lesson plan: Teach children about using all their senses and observing things in nature

Target age group: 5-9

Lesson Plan: "the Salamander Room" by Anne Mazer

Objective: Teach kids that nature should be respected and that wild animals belong outside. This is also subtly a lesson about ecosystems and what animals need to survive.

Target Age Group: 5-9

Tips for Teaching Young Children

-Each lesson lasts about an hour, but be sure to allow time for set up and cleanup!

-Be relaxed around the kids- you can be both a friend and a teacher, as long as you can keep control of everyone.

-Brush up on your local ecology. Don’t be afraid to point out the names of different trees or animals when you’re outside with kids.

Lesson Plan: "A Stranger in the Woods" by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick

Lesson Objective: Teach kids about recycling and reusing and get them outside

Target age group: 5-9