Protecting our waters is extremely important for the well-being of the ocean, the marine life that lives there and all of us. Cleaner coastlines and oceans mean we can continue to enjoy our beaches for swimming, fishing and recreation. That's a big win for everyone! So what can you do to help? You can start at home, or at school, just like the kids in the video did!
Reduce the amount of garbage you make. The less garbage we have on land, inevitably means less garbage ends up in the ocean. You can reduce your garbage footprint by recycling and using recycled materials. Cut down on single-use plastics, use a reusable water bottle, canvas grocery bags, skip the disposable forks and spoons and choose paper over plastic when given the option. It doesn't take much effort to make a big dent in the amount of trash you're sending to the landfill. Buy items that come in less packaging. Have you ever purchased something that comes inside a bag inside a box inside a clamshell plastic case wrapped in shrinkwrap? Choosing to buy items free from unnecessary packaging is an effective way to cut down on waste. Also, your support of companies that package items responsibly could encourage other companies to follow suit. Buy or borrow used items when possible. Humans in general should really think twice about buying so many things. Do we really need them? What if the item you're planning on buying could just be borrowed from a neighbor instead? Or challenge your school to have a "Zero Waste Week" and join hundreds of schools around the country working to reduce waste.
You can help take care of a local stream! Garbage that finds its way into a local stream or river will very likely end up in a larger body of water. Taking care of streams and rivers can include picking up waste, removing invasive species of plants and/or planting trees and other plants native to the area. Getting together with a group to work on a project like this can be fun, and can make a big difference for your community and the marine ecosystems even if you don't live near the ocean. Many schools have environmental clubs and you can even become an Ocean Guardian School too!
Make a difference at a beach near you! Even if you're just visiting for a nice day by the water. Pick up trash others have left behind. Be sure to take all of your trash with you when you leave as well! Also, look online for local efforts to clean-up a local waterway. There may already be a group in your area taking care of the local shoreline. If not, what's stopping you from starting your own?
Change doesn't happen overnight. These things take time. But with small steps, big changes can be made in our environment and in our marine ecosystems. This video highlights some small communities that have made great strides in marine conservation and rehabilitation. Talking to your teacher or members of your community is a great way to start to see if they can help with ideas for your school. For more information and resources related to marine conservation, and National Marine Sanctuaries and Monuments, head to Sanctuaries.NOAA.gov and marinesanctuary.org!
Hey, teachers and educators!! Don't forget to check out the advanced overview for some quick-start birding lessons in your classroom plus the lesson plans below.
Did you know that more than 45 million people in the United States are birders? That means one out of seven people you meet enjoy searching for and identifying these important feathery animals.
Why are birds so important you may ask? Well first of all, they help grow and protect many crops that you eat during your mealtimes. Two thousand bird species and other animals help pollinate 90% of plants and 75% of crops around the world. Birds also eat 20 quadrillion plant-eating insects each year that destroy crops like corn, apples, strawberries, and lettuce. Not only do birds help us eat and grow, but their ability to fly at incredible heights, speeds, and distances inspired us to build airplanes. It is no wonder since the peregrine falcon can dive up to 200 miles per hour while the Ruppel’s griffon vulture can fly 37,000 feet off the ground. That is higher than the world’s tallest mountains, the Himalayan Mountains. Lastly, since birds are sensitive to changes in temperature, moisture, and oxygen in their environmental surroundings, birds can be indicators of climate change. Counting the number of species and individual birds in an area assists scientists in gauging the health of the environment. The higher the variety and amount of birds, the better. (of course not in all cases? Could be overpopulation, crowding effects)(scientists may record shifts in nesting or migration behaviors too)
Scientists are now predicting that almost half of our North American birds are at risk of extinction within the next 100 years. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed 90 bird species as endangered, or in other words, near extinction. You may be wondering why so many birds are in trouble. There are multiple reasons accounting for this threat, such as the expansion of cities, pollution, or clearing of forests. However, one of the largest threats to bird survival is habitat loss. Habitats are like your house: they provide food, water, shelter, and space for the bird. And today, birds are losing their homes due to human impacts. For example, humans have converted 290 million acres of native grasslands into agricultural fields within North America. These rolling hills of grasses and flowers are one of the most rapidly disappearing habitats in the western hemisphere and are home to many bird species, such as a “ricebird” called the bobolink. With fewer and fewer grasslands to breed and live in within the last 40 years, our bobolink populations have decreased by 50 percent.
So what can we do to keep or regain habitat for birds? Organizations of people across the country aim to reduce the threat of habitat loss by building sanctuaries or conservancies. These sanctuaries and conservancies are refuges for birds because they protect, manage, and restore habitats that birds depend upon. Thinks of these places as hotels. When birds are in need of a new home, looking for places to find a partner and raise a family, or searching for a place to rest while traveling south for the winter, a bird will ‘check in’ to one of these hotels. Here, a bird may visit family and friends, eat lots of natural food, drink clean water, swim in the pool, and sleep in a safe space. Sounds fun, right?
Additionally, every bird species is unique and requires certain characteristics in their habitat. Therefore, a ‘hotel’ staff must work hard and long to create and maintain a sanctuary or conservancy that provides a vast array of habitats for as many bird and wildlife species as possible. For instance, you may find habitats ranging from tallgrass prairies and oak savannahs to mature hardwood forests and temperate rainforests to open wetlands and coastal beaches in a conservancy or sanctuary.
But sanctuaries and conservancies cannot build themselves. Watch these two videos and learn how avian stewards like you can help sanctuaries and conservancies reach to the skies and create quality habitat for birds.
Our educational partner, American Transmission Company (ATC), supported the video content above. To learn more about their pollinator program, check out the link below. Also, look out for ATC's new bird identification field guide! Book copies may be purchased at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbay, Wisconsin.
How do Polar vortexes, climate change, record storms, extreme weather of all kinds play havoc on our ecosystems and all the species that live there? Discover the answers by watching the four parts of this science show and reading the information below. And to take this learning adventure into your classroom, have your teacher download the free Discussion Guide at the bottom of this page so everyone can share in the fun of this inquiry based learning.
While some species thrive, like record hordes of mosquitoes, others like the loons or whooping cranes struggle to raise their broods when assaulted by record hatches of blood-sucking blackflies. Even though species have had to adapt to various stages of climate change such as glacial advances across the Midwest over the past 2.3 million years, it’s little consolation to some species enduring extreme changes each year that affect their chances of survival. And even with our modern technology, us humans must also develop new strategies to confront the challenges of surviving in the face of record snows, rains, and temperature extremes. While considering this fact, imagine what it must have been like historically for Native Americans.
So all this raises the question, “How do the species that live out in the wild survive these extreme conditions?” The answer is all about extreme survival strategies that different species have evolved over tens of thousands of years. Some strategies are similar between species while others are extremely different. To discover how many species use their unique survival strategies, watch the four segments of this exciting episode. You might even learn that you're not supposed to mess with hibernating bears in their den as they can easily wake up and defend themselves. And for gosh sakes, don't run from that bear!
To take this survival strategy learning to a whole new level, have your teacher download the free discussion guide so your entire classroom can participate while learning a few survival tricks from Mother Nature. If you're an elementary or high school student, download the additional lessons we have provided to use with the discussion guide!
Plus, the educational partner noted below supported the video and lesson content here for all of us to learn from. They also offer other learning opportunities on their website. So click on their logo to discover more!
Did you know that sturgeon have been around since the age of dinosaurs? No kidding - That’s a 150 million years! Discover this and more by watching the four parts of this science show and reading the information below. And to take this learning adventure into your classroom, have your teacher download the free Companion Discussion Guide at the bottom of this page so everyone can share in the fun of this inquiry based learning.
That makes sturgeon one of the rare remaining "living fossils" that still survive on Planet Earth. These huge fish are native to the Great Lakes region and had extensive and large populations in pre-settlement times. However, as settlement took place, people removed more fish than what the population could sustain because they are such a vulnerable fish species that take decades to reach maturity - plus they don’t spawn every year. In the late 1800s, dam construction on the Wolf River prevented the sturgeon from returning back to Menominee Tribal lands. That impacted both the fish and their cultural importance to the Menominee people. To help both the fish and preserve the cultural importance of the sturgeon to the Menominee Tribe, the Wisconsin DNR, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin have collaborated in a cooperative project to restore sturgeon to the upper Wolf River. This Into the Outdoors program and the related Serious Science videos and lesson guides explore the fascinating world of these living fossils and their relationship with us humans.
The four (4) parts to this Sturgeon Conservation episode of Into the Outdoors combined with the Classroom Discussion Guide below, will pack your brain with more fish science than a sturgeon has eggs! Well, almost. Share with your class. Everything here is free, fun and so interesting that you may want to become a scientist!
Plus, the educational partner noted below supported the video and companion lesson content here for all of us to learn from. They also offer other learning opportunities on their website. So click on their logo to discover more!
How has dairy farming changed in the past 200 years? Discover the answers by watching the four parts of this science show and reading the information below. And to take this learning adventure into your classroom, have your teacher download the free Lesson Guides at the bottom of this page so everyone can share in the fun of this inquiry based learning.
Historically, many families had their own dairy. Well, kinda - they had a cow. It was a pretty simple operation back then. The cow ate grass, its udder filled with milk, and the farmer and their family milked the cow by hand – twice a day. As more people started living in cities, dairy farmers began selling their milk in towns. It involved milking more cows by hand, pouring it into barrels then selling it door-to-door from a wagon. That was a lot hard work to make a living. Many of them also began making their own butter and cheese from their cow’s milk. It grew to the point that by 1900, Wisconsin had become the leading state in the nation for producing milk, butter and cheese.
Join our adventure team as they explore the science and technology of today’s dairy farming. Spanning the history of old-time milking to the hi-tech present, the ITO hosts discover how the dairy industry has changed dramatically in the past 100 years from raising cows to milking them.
Plus, the educational partner noted below supported the video and lesson content here for all of us to learn from. They also offer other learning opportunities on their website. Educators are encouraged to evaluate and consider their science sources. Click on their logo to discover more!
Do you want to wade into the murky science of understanding our wetland ecosystems? Discover the answers by watching the four parts of this science show and reading the information below. And to take this learning adventure into your classroom, have your teacher download the free Companion Discussion Guide at the bottom of this page so everyone can share in the fun of this inquiry based learning.
Join our team of explorers discovers how water cycles, wetland ecology, biodiversity, invasive species, and related human influences impact our lives. Historic and modern impacts from society have shaped the vital role that wetlands play in the water cycle. That directly affects the survival challenges faced by the species within the wetlands ecological pyramid. But this study of wetlands ecology also ripples far beyond the waters in the marshes. That’s why understanding how to manage our shrinking wetlands is vital to so many things in our everyday lives.
So encourage your teacher to download some of the free classroom lesson guides below that companion the online videos to help you expand the pools of your Wetlands Wisdom!
Of course water curious students and educators can learn all about the various roles of water in our lives by exploring Project WET's Discover Water. Just follow the link and dive into all the learning there.
As a bonus to high school educators, follow this link to Project Learning Tree's Biodiversity online educational materials.