MEEA ORIGINALS

These coloring sheets introduce children, youth and adults to Missouri species. Each sheet has information on the species’ characteristics, classification, range and place in the food web. Easily connected to Missouri Learning Standards in Math, Science, and English Language Arts. Other resources include “visual essays” which are useful conversation starters about complex topics.

Together with the City of St. Louis Office of Youth & Families, MEEA and other organizations collaborated to create a Top 10 list of easy outdoor exploration activities….in five languages! These are great resources for families, out-of-school programs, and even for teachers wanting to incorporate nature-based movement breaks. Check them out!

These printable, sight word booklets that introduce early readers to must know vocabulary and are aligned with NGSS. Written and produced by MEEA’s Founding Director, Jan Weaver. 

MEEA worked with Earthways Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden and Think About Tables to bring you this interdisciplinary lesson that blends ecology and civic engagement.

These themed outdoor learning kits, curated in collaboration with 22 partners, were designed to include mostly screen-free, hands-on activities that don’t require a great deal of adult facilitation. Suitable for a wide age range and appropriate for families and school groups (remote or in-person learning).

LESSON STARTERS

HHMI invests in individuals, institutions, initiatives, and media that advance learning that nourishes the public understanding of science by bringing important stories of scientific discovery to a wide variety of audiences.

Data Nuggets compiles free activities that bring real scientific data into the classroom, guiding students through the process of science while building their quantitative abilities. Digital Nugget resources are available for remote teaching and in Spanish.

The mission of the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science is to promote the development and dissemination of materials and practices for case teaching in the sciences. Their website provides access to an award-winning collection of peer-reviewed case studies.

The GeoInquiries Environmental Science collection supports the map-based concepts found in high school environmental science like speciation, pollution, population ecology, and energy.

Providing educators with an accessible and valuable resource as they navigate the transition to phenomena based learning and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

COMMUNITY SCIENCE

Monarch Watch

Monarch Watch is a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program based at the University of Kansas that focuses on the annual North American migration of the Monarch butterfly, an indicator species for the need for pollinator habitat conservation. The program engages citizen scientists of all ages in large-scale research projects involving the tagging and tracking of migrating Monarchs. These projects produce significant data on the migration and the conservation issues related to it.

Missouri Stream Team

Missouri Stream Team is a working partnership of citizens who are concerned about Missouri streams. The Stream Team Program provides an opportunity for all citizens to get involved in river conservation in pursuit of 3 goals: Education–learning about Missouri’s 110,000 miles of flowing water; Stewardship–hands-on projects such as litter control, streambank stabilization, streamside tree planting, water quality monitoring, and storm drain stenciling, are all possibilities; and Advocacy–speaking on behalf of your adopted stream.

SciStarter

SciStarter is a globally acclaimed, online community science hub where more than 3,000 projects, searchable by location, topic, age level, etc, have been registered by individual project leaders or imported through partnerships with federal governments, NGOs, and universities. SciStarter’s partners (libraries, schools, museums, Girl Scouts and more) catalyze customized community science pathways and track and support the progress through SciStarter. SciStarter also supports researchers in managing projects, including best practices for engaging participant partners.

MO DIRT

MO DIRT (Missourians Doing Impact Research Together) is a state-wide project aimed at educating citizens on soil health and working with them to examine soil’s properties and how these properties are influenced by microclimate and climate in the state.

iNaturalist

iNaturalist is a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over a million scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature! 

SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Environmental Racism in St. Louis https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce-authors/u2061/STL%20EnvirRacism%20Report.pdf a 28-page report coordinated by Washington University in 2019. Very comprehensive about the EJ landscape in St. Louis, and a great jumping point for those interested in taking a similar lens to their region of the state. 

Environmental Racism Has Left Black Communities Especially Vulnerable to COVID-19. https://tcf.org/content/commentary/environmental-racism-left-black-communities-especially-vulnerable-covid-19/?agreed=1  Research based commentary on the impact of COVID-19 intervention strategies and the negative impact on health in Black communities.

NAACP Environmental Justice Resource Guide: Teaching Intersectionality and Environmental Justice in our Classrooms https://www.naacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Teaching%20Intersectionality%20and%20Environmental%20Justice%20in%20Our%20Classrooms%20FINAL.pdf Includes a wealth of resources including resource list webpages, lesson plans, songs, and videos

Common Sense Education’s Social and Cultural Literacy for Classrooms. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/social-and-cultural-literacy-resources-for-classrooms  – Common Sense Education organizes social justice and ed equity resources that they call the “best of the best” by topics that make it easy to scroll through and evaluate which resources might be best suited to what you’re looking for.

Environmental Educators of North Carolina has curated a wonderfully organized list of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources for EE practitioners https://eenc.wildapricot.org/teaching

Climate Change

Climate Data Online

Climate Data Online (CDO) provides free access to National Climatic Data Center’s archive of global historical weather and climate data in addition to station history information. These data include quality controlled daily, monthly, seasonal, and yearly measurements of temperature, precipitation, wind, and degree days as well as radar data and 30-year Climate Normals.

MEEA Webinar on Climate Change Communication: April 22, 2020

Hannah Phillips, Managers of Docents and Interpreters at the St. Louis Zoo introduces viewers to Strategic Framing Techniques to facilitate productive and hopeful conversations about climate change. These techniques are helpful in teaching what to say and how to say things regarding topics that carry a lot of emotion and weight like climate change and COVID-19.

Carbon & Climate

Project Learning Tree Carbon & Climate e-Unit – This e-Unit or 6th-8th grade teachers, provides activities and resources to help educators introduce students to some of the complex issues involved in climate change. Learning Magazine 2020 Teachers’ Choice Award for the Classroom winner.

Climate Interpreter

National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation. This website has a wealth of information to learn about climate change and how to communicate effectively about it.

ONLINE LEARNING

Earth School

Earth School consists of 30 days of nature-focused content and environmental adventures for learners of all ages. Each of the 30 Quests includes a discovery video and quiz, combined with a series of engaging learning resources — all curated by environmental experts.

Skype a Scientist

Skype a Scientist creates a database of thousands of scientists and helps them connect with teachers, classrooms, groups, and the public all over the globe. We want to give students the opportunity to get to know a real scientist and get the answers to their questions straight from the source.

Habitable Planet

Habitable Planet – A video course for high school teachers and college-level instruction; 13 half-hour video programs, online text, professional development guide, and interactives.

Webinar: Design Principles for Online EE Programs

Webinar: Design Principles for Online EE Programs – What does research say about promising approaches to online EE programs? See results from a systematic literature review conducted to identify what approaches appear to work best for virtual EE field trips and activities.

Planting Science

Planting Science offers a unique opportunity for teachers and administrators to provide inquiry experiences for their students, by connecting volunteer scientists to small student teams for student-centered research projects. Students get to work like real scientists with their scientist mentors, enhancing their understanding of authentic science and their ability to collaborate, discuss, and reflect.