In Protecting Forests, Enhancing Lives two girls examine the perception that clear cutting forests is destroying the natural environment by visiting forests and professionals that work with production forests. What they find surprises them - the apparent destruction of clear cutting the trees is actually a method of forest regeneration and invigoration. They learn about the methods of several career foresters in their inquiry, and observe trees in all stages of growth, harvest, and transformation into wood products.
Learn more on this topic by exploring the links below:
Logging in the Great Lakes States
“Track that Product” lesson plan and kit for teachers from LEAF
Deforestation vs. Forest Management
The information in our video and on this page was made possible by our educational partners.
Discover the challenges scientists face when attempting to reconnect rivers that have been dammed for 100 years.
Because most people can’t see them, doesn’t mean that they’re not ruthless killers swimming beneath the waters of our Great Lakes…
It’s hard to believe that an invasive species, a prehistoric throwback that’s been around for 340 million years with over 100 hooked teeth and a thirst for blood could nearly destroy the biggest freshwater fishery in North America.
It not only could happen, it did happen. To discover how this “predator in paradise” invaded the Great Lakes and why it’s so deadly to fish, watch this video and share the classroom lesson activity with your teacher.
Your idea of an invasive species will never be the same again!
Anyone, anywhere can get started hunting with the right tools and guidance! Hunting anywhere is challenging, especially for an inexperienced hunter. In order to be successful, new hunters need to get certified in hunter education within their state. New hunters can also benefit from the guidance of a mentor, someone to teach, guide and help them as they get started.
You may be interested to know that hunting is also closely tied to sustainability and conservation efforts. Hunters play a huge role in restoring and protecting habitats for animals who live in an ecosystem, and modern hunters work to help balance wildlife populations.
In this Into the Outdoors episode and related Into the Outdoors @Home topic videos, we see that learning a new skill like hunting can lead to an incredible journey of personal discovery. We also learn the ways in which hunting and wildlife conservation efforts go hand in hand.
Find links to the Into the Outdoors @Home topic videos below. These custom learning videos are designed to share with your entire classroom. You’ll also find other educational content, including custom lesson activities that blend peer-driven learning and hands-on activities.
For more information and resources related to hunting and conservation, visit Hunter-ED.com
The information in our video and on this page was made possible by our educational partners.
Maybe it's only natural that us humans rarely think about how our actions today might impact others or the environment 100 years later. That was especially true back in the late 1800s when a fledgling America roared into the 20th Century. We needed lumber, electricity, transportation, and fossil fuels to feed the growth spurt of our young nation.
So we built dams. Lots of dams on lots of rivers, both big and small. We built some to last for centuries, others just using dirt and wood. They generated electricity, created backwaters, and we used the power (weight) of elevated water to drive grain and lumber mills (thus the word "mill pond" - a reservoir of water behind a dam that's used for driving a mill-
Despite all the dam-good intentions, (mostly to make someone money), over time the dams grew older, backwaters filled with silt, they became idle and failed to generate enough power to bake a pizza or grind a loaf of bread. One solution was to simply walk away and let some later generation deal with it. Besides, what harm would it do just leaving it alone?
Sadly, the fact is, nothing lasts forever. And communities began discovering two things about old dams: 1) old dams can become hazardous and fail, endangering property and lives downstream, 2) old dams prevent aquatic and related ecosystems from functioning as they had evolved to do over millennium. In short, dams created a stagnated ecosystem that restricted healthy movement of nutrients and species within a watershed. Not cool!
Well then, let's just blow those old dams and make the world right again! Ooops not so fast, partner. While all the dam building was going on, something else happened as us humans also built new waterways to "help" our expanding society. And in some places, such at the Great Lakes region, we unwittingly allowed invaders to enter those huge ecosystems with devastating results. Watch the video here and read the Learn More section below to get the bigger picture of this invasive species story and its impact on our Great Lakes. To wade into the latest information and research on our Great Lakes and invaders, explore the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's website.
But if you really want to explore the world of invasive species, and wrestle with the challenges of reconnecting rivers around the Great Lakes, have your teacher and classroom download the free lesson activities below and watch the Sea Lamprey and Connectivity Conundrum classroom videos here (thumbnails in the upper right) so you can share in the peer-driven learning about the "de-evolution" of our Great Lakes and how scientists try to restore ecosystems while controlling invasive species.
As you'll see in this television episode, parents like to show how much they know... or what they think they know. We get it. It’s part of being a parent. So watch and learn how to use simple quizzes to test their boating safety savvy while also making them aware of key boating safety points… such as:
Help them build on their knowledge – Parents are supposed to have more life experiences than their kids, that should equate to more safety smarts. So ask them to use that experience to create a Family Float Plan… even if they don’t what a float plan is. Simply ask them to imagine what could go wrong on a boating adventure, then how to minimize those risks with a float plan. Have then write it down... which is part of actually creating a float plan.
Blend boating “fun” with boating “safety” – Once you’re out on the water having fun, boating, fishing or whatever, present a few more quiz competitions (maybe the loser buys ice cream at the end of the day) Consider some of these critical quiz questions:
Want to really "plunge headlong" into getting your parents and classmates into having a blast learning about boating safety? (That's right, you are allowed to have fun learning how to be safe on the water). Learn more on sharing the peer-driven classroom video and the FREE lesson activity that's designed to get the entire class involved in three days of interactive learning... while having a blast with kid-parent-instructor role playing in school where everyone gets ALL ABOARD with boating safety! And check out the other boating safety videos in the thumbnails... in the upper right window.
The information in our video and on this page was made possible by our educational partners.
For instance, how many parents put on their life jackets even before stepping on the dock or getting in a boat? Not enough. Why? Because they think they know better, or boast that they’re better swimmers than most. So what’s a kid to do? Follow some of these ideas on how to recruit parents into becoming safety-savvy boaters.
Give them a quiz – Parents like to show how much they know. It’s part of being a parent. So use simple quizzes to test their knowledge while also making them aware of key boating safety points… such as:
Help them build on their knowledge – Parents have life experience. So ask them to use that experience to create a Family Float Plan… even if they don’t know what a float plan is. Simply ask them to imagine what could go wrong on a boating adventure, then how to minimize those risks with a float plan.
Blend boating “fun” with boating “safety” – Once you’re out on the water having fun, boating, fishing or whatever, present a few more quiz competitions (maybe the loser buys ice cream at the end of the day) Consider some of these critical quiz questions:
Dangerous “Adult” Behaviors – Parents should know better than to engage in high-risk behaviors, right? But not all adults realize those risks. So ask your parents, “What’s the number one contributing factor to fatal boating accidents?” Answer = Alcohol use while boating. Then ask them what’s the most responsible way to prevent that if someone really loves their family? There’s only one right answer to that question.
Physics Lesson – To really ratchet up the brains of your parents, give them the ultimate “physics quiz”. First, tell them that “collisions” are one of the leading causes of serious boating accidents. Then ask them to research and answer:
The top 3 contributing factors to all those avoidable boating collisions each year are;
That’s a lot of operator error. Those contributing factors are followed by operator excesses… excessive speed and excessive alcohol.
For more family boating safety savvy, click on the LEARN MORE section. To share in that learning at home or in your classroom, download and have a blast by participating in the FREE lesson activity below... where kids take the lead in educating parents about boating safety!
The information in our video and on this page was made possible by our educational partners. To learn more about Getting Families Fishing and boating safely, click on their logos below to explore their websites.
Plastics never go away. Think about that. Every water bottle, every plastic bag, every clamshell container you use, in one way or another, is here forever. Sure, they may not always look the way they do now, but the reality is that they break down into smaller and smaller pieces and in many cases, end up in the ocean. How does that happen? All marine debris comes from people, it can enter the ocean and waterways from land through littering, poor waste management practices, storm water discharge, and extreme natural events such as tsunamis and hurricanes. Debris can also come from ocean-based sources, such as fishing vessels, stationary platforms used for offshore oil and gas, cargo ships, and other large vessels.
Plastics in our oceans and water ways play a huge role in disrupting our fragile marine ecosystems, and it's not just fish that are affected. It's estimated that plastic waste kills up to 100,000 sea mammals and over one million seabirds each year. In fact, for a baby sea turtle, ingesting just half of a gram of plastic can prove deadly.
Fortunately, there are many organizations that focus directly on reducing and reusing ocean plastics in innovative and imaginative ways. In the video on this page, you'll be introduced to one of those groups, The Million Waves Project, which was founded based on a simple question: "What if doing something was better than doing nothing?" It's ideas like that, and motivated eco-minded individuals that have the potential to change the world for the better. So watch the video, hopefully it inspires you to think outside of the box, and possibly spark the idea in you that changes the world in ways not yet imagined.
For more information and resources related to the harm that plastic plays on our marine ecosystems and information about our National Marine Sanctuaries and Monuments, head to Sanctuaries.NOAA.gov and marinesanctuary.org!
Whether you're boating or fishing from a boat, canoe, or kayak, being safe on the water comes down to a few basic facts. The first fact facing us humans is that we can't breathe if we're underwater. Duaah, no kidding! But even floundering in rough water on the surface can cause someone to choke on so much water that they could pass out and drown.
That concept is supported by the second fact: 79% of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims, 86% were not wearing a life jacket.
And although we can't survey people who drowned, (because they're dead or fish-bait) most who were not wearing a PFD (personal flotation device) would probably have boasted beforehand that they didn't need to wear one because... "What? Me worry? Heck, I'm a decent swimmer!" Kinda makes you wonder if they thought about that as they took their last lung-full of water before they passed out and drowned?
All of that makes the third fact pretty simple logic; It's pretty darn hard to drown if you're wearing your life jacket. So why were those hundreds of fatal drowning victims each year not wearing a PFD? That's what we'll decode here both in the content of this webpage, in the video here, and for students and teachers to learn from each other in the fun, interactive lesson activity at the bottom of this page.
So let’s begin by decoding the two reasons people make fatal mistakes. People contribute to fatal accidents, on the water or on land, because they either 1) don’t recognize the potential dangers beforehand, or 2) they think it’s not that dangerous for them, so they try doing it anyway. Although we can’t prevent someone from risking their life or the lives of loved ones, we can solve “not knowing” with education that empowers people to make safe-n-smart choices on the water. We already covered the first biggie; wearing your life jacket from the moment you get near the water to the moment you’re on dry land again. And if you hear someone whining about the excuses for not wearing one; “It makes me look fat”, “It’s too bulky and hot”, “It makes me look uncool to my friends”. Push the pause button and ask them if they want to look dead or alive. Then explain Fact #2 to them.
Of course there are other reasons that people get into trouble on the water. In fact there are soooo many reasons and circumstances that it's too much to try and cover here. If you'd like to research those details, explore the boating safety website of our educational partner here, The U.S. Coast Guard. And before you ever try operating a boat, you really should:
The information in our video and on this page was made possible by our educational partners.
Whether you’re boating or fishing from a boat, canoe, or kayak, being safe on the water comes down to a few basic facts. The first fact facing us humans is that we can’t breathe if we’re underwater. Even teens... Duaah, no kidding! But even floundering in rough water on the surface can cause someone to choke on so much water that they could pass out and drown.
That concept is supported by the second fact: 79% of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims, 86% were not wearing a life jacket.
And although we can’t survey people who drowned, (because they’re dead or fish-bait) most who were not wearing a PFD (personal flotation device) would probably have boasted beforehand that they didn’t need to wear one because… “What? Me worry? Heck, I’m a decent swimmer!” Kinda makes you wonder if they thought about that as they took their last lung-full of water before they passed out and drowned?
All of that makes the third fact pretty simple logic; It’s pretty darn hard to drown if you’re wearing your life jacket. So why were those hundreds of fatal drowning victims each year not wearing a PFD? That’s what we’ll decode here both in the content of this webpage, in the video here, and for students and teachers to learn from each other in the fun, interactive lesson activity at the bottom of this page.
So let’s begin by decoding the two reasons people make fatal mistakes. People contribute to fatal accidents, on the water or on land, because they either don't recognize the potential dangers beforehand, or they think it's not that dangerous for them, so they try doing it anyway. Although we can’t prevent someone from risking their life or the lives of loved ones, we can solve "not knowing" with an education that empowers people to make safe-n-smart choices on the water. We already covered the first biggie; wearing your life jacket from the moment you get near the water to the moment you’re on dry land again. And if you hear someone whining about the excuses for not wearing one; “It makes me look fat”, “It’s too bulky and hot”, or “It makes me look uncool to my friends”. Push the pause button and ask them if they want to look dead or alive. Then explain Fact #2 to them.
Of course, there are other reasons that people get into trouble on the water. In fact, there are so many reasons and circumstances that it’s too much to try and cover here. If you’d like to research those details, explore the boating safety website of our educational partner here, The U.S. Coast Guard. And before you ever try operating a boat, you really should:
The information in our video and on this page was made possible by our educational partners. To learn more about Getting Families Fishing and boating safely, click on their logos below to explore their websites.