Nature Parks – Here’s the latest information about the National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Awards – and about grant eligibility for Nature Park and Climate Action Awards funding allocations.
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KS2 LEGO – The Natural History Museum and LEGO offer a 5-part course for KS2 students through which they explore human impact on the planet using the example of birds; ie, what the LNHM says are “today’s dinosaurs”. Students are expected to learn that humans have both negative and positive effects on nature and come up with imaginative solutions to real-world challenges. You can read more here.
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Kahoots – WWF says challenge your students’ understanding of species and biodiversity with its quizzes on Kahoot!. From quirky facts to animal adaptations, these quizzes promise to inject an element of fun into lessons while reinforcing key concepts. You can try out its newest quiz Animal Fact or Fiction and see if you can distinguish fact from myth.
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Symbolic Affiliation – In a new blog post, Early Childhood eePRO Group moderator Suzanne Major explores why understanding the concept of “symbolic affiliation” becomes crucial in cultivating confidence in young children. Suzanne begins:
“Efficient communication between young children and adults is both a complex and precise subject; a subject that goes way beyond control and containment. In my last blogs, I have written about the “culture of danger” in early childhood education and education about the environment underlining strategies used by adults and capabilities exercised by young children. Respecting the developmental age of a child and acknowledging that child development is naturally uneven. Observing and documenting young children’s gazes as a base for understanding their individuality. And, as we will see in this blog, developing “symbolic affiliation” and documenting related behaviours, are a few of the strategies used by adults.” You can read more here.
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NOAA – You can catch up with what NOAA is saying about the planet’s condition here:
- NOAA Planet Stewards Website
- NOAA Planet Stewards Upcoming Events
- NOAA Planet Stewards Educational Resources
You can also sign up to receive NOAA Planet Stewards The Watch e-newsletter, and also access its archive collections of past webinars, book club selections, and newsletters.
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SDG Tracker – Our World in Data has launched a new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Tracker, where you can monitor global and country-by-country progress toward the United Nations SDGs. It uses official statistics from the UN and other international organizations. Details here.
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Vision Labs – The Children & Nature Network has launched a process to advance Nature Everywhere in 100 communities by 2025. Selected communities will receive support during a two-year commitment where local teams develop citywide Nature Everywhere visions and implementation plans. The process begins with an in-person Vision Lab that brings together local teams from across the country to learn about successful nature-connection and community engagement strategies. Vision Labs are followed by two years of technical assistance, training, resources, seed grants and opportunities to apply for catalytic implementation grants. Learn more:
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Offset Forests – Julia P G Jones and Neal Hockley, from Bangor University, argue in an article for The Conversation that we need to urgently reform the way forest conservation is measured and promoted as a way to offset emissions. They begin:
“In early 2023, the Guardian published an article suggesting that more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets are worthless. These credits are essentially a promise to protect forests and can be bought as a way to “offset” emissions elsewhere. Verra, the largest certifier of these offset credits, said the claims were “absolutely incorrect” but the story still shook confidence in thebillion-dollar market. Soon after, Verra’s CEO stood down. The claims in the Guardian article rested heavily on analysis which had been published as a preprint (before peer review). Now the research has been fully peer-reviewed and is published in the journal Science. It shows unequivocally that many projects which have sold what are known as REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation) credits have failed to reduce deforestation.”
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Green Links – Planning consent for a new sub-sea “electricity superhighway” between Scotland and England has now been granted by all relevant authorities: three local planning authorities, and by both the Marine Management Organisation in England and Marine Scotland. Eastern Green Link 2 will be the longest high voltage direct current cable in the UK – providing enough capacity to power more than two million homes. Once complete, EGL2 will run from a new converter station and landfall point at Sandford Bay, Peterhead, under the North Sea, to a landfall point at Fraisthorpe, on the East Yorkshire coast, from where it will run underground to a new converter station next to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. Climate Action has the details.
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Yellow Sally – An ’extinct’ stonefly has made a welcome British comeback with Chester Zoo working with Buglife Cymru and the Welsh Dee Trust working to reintroduce the scarce yellow sally stonefly, which was thought to have disappeared three decades ago.
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Rising Temperatures – The UN Secretary General recently said, the planet is boiling. Not everyone thinks that this is an appropriate metaphor for the problems we face.
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Net Gain – The UK government announced additional support to enable the rollout of Biodiversity Net Gain. This was introduced through the Environment Act and is a key part of the government’s commitment to halt species decline by 2030.
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Discount Guides – NHBS has a field guide book sale with up to 30% off prices.