G R E E N  N e w s l e t t e r,  S p r i n g  1 9 9 8

Public Workshops Update

We are pleased to offer an ever-expanding national roster of Public Workshops, including three new topics for 1998.

Please contact GREEN for registration information.

- - - - -

River of Words: Exploring Watersheds Through Poetry, Art and Ecology

River of Words is a national K-12 poetry and art contest sparked by Poet Laureate Robert Hass and sponsored by the International River Network (IRN). GREEN and IRN are collaborating to offer a series of exciting workshops for educators building on the River of Words approach. Learn to explore, analyze and take actions to improve your own watershed through poetry, art and environmental science.

Participants receive the River of Words Teacher's Guide and GREEN's Field Manual for Water Quality Monitoring.

Workshop Goals

  • Explore the river and watershed at the workshop site using maps, drawings, stream walks and photographs
  • Brainstorm ways to address problems you might have discovered
  • Interview local experts to learn about sources of water pollution and their effects on human and environmental health
  • Reflect on your watershed exploration using visual and language arts
  • Locations and Dates
  • Washington, DC, 01 May
  • Austin, TX, 19 June
  • Shelburne, VT, 25 July
- - - - -

What's GREEN & WET? An Introduction to Watershed Education

GREEN has developed an educational model combining environmental investigation, community partnerships and problem solving and enhanced this model with classroom materials designed and written by the national headquarters of Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) and their partners to provide educators with a dynamic approach to watershed education and a rich set of curriculum materials.

Participants receive the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide and GREEN's Field Manual for Water Quality Monitoring.

Workshop Goals

  • Participate in hands-on activities
  • Learn about sources of water pollution and their effects on human/environmental health
  • Analyze and interpret the data you gathered
  • Devise ways to address the problems you might have discovered
- - - - -

Environmental Education for Empowerment: Students Solving Problems in Their Own Neighborhood

Students of all ages have the ability to solve problems and make positive changes in their own neighborhood, thereby empowering themselves as learners. This process can be facilitated through an approach called Action Research and Community Problem Solving (ARCPS). Learn to use ARCPS to help your students study real-world problems, make decisions and address issues that concern them.

Participants receive GREEN's Environmental Education for Empowerment: Action Research and Community Problem Solving.

Workshop Goals

  • Identify issues at the workshop site that you would like to address
  • Develop a plan to address that problem
  • Implement the plan, including information gathering, analysis, and action taking
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of your plan
  • Create strategies for implementing the ARCPS approach with your own students
  • Locations and Dates
  • Dearborn, MI, 28 March
  • Princeton, NJ, 13-17 July
- - - - -

Study Design: Don't Leave Home Without It!

A study design is an all-encompassing outline of a water monitoring project that includes data gathering/analysis and quality assurance/control. A strong study design will save you time and money, clarify goals and objectives, enhance data credibility and ensure that monitoring will answer the questions your students or community group have about their watershed.

Participants receive GREEN's RiverBank 3.0, a data storage, analysis and networking software package.

Workshop Goals

  • Learn to use RiverBank
  • Become familiar with methods and tools of data analysis
  • Examine Quality Control and Quality Assurance options
  • Practice evaluating the study design of a sample case study
  • Apply the tools and methods of developing a study design to your own water quality monitoring program
- - - - -

Tips & Tricks for Low-Cost Water Quality Monitoring

Developed for schools and community groups with limited budgets, this workshop explores accurate, inexpensive procedures for chemical, physical and biological monitoring. Includes hands-on practice with low-cost methods and instructions for constructing your own sampling equipment.

Participants receive GREEN's Field Manual For Global Low Cost Water Quality Monitoring.

Workshop Goals

  • Analyze and interpret data using the GREEN Low Cost Water Monitoring Kit
  • Use Coliscan Easygel to test for Fecal Coliform
  • Explore the experimental capabilities of the Leaf Pack Experiment Kit
  • Assess water quality using benthic macroinvertebrate indices
- - - - -

Bring on the Benthics!

Benthic macroinvertebrates are a simple, fun, effective and inexpensive way to determine water quality and assess the overall health of your stream or river.

Participants receive GREEN's Field Manual for Global Low-Cost Water Quality Monitoring.

Workshop Goals

  • Learn about the physical and chemical factors that influence the benthic community
  • Experiment with different methods for collecting benthic macroinvertebrates
  • Use several indices to calculate water quality
  • Explore the experimental capabilities of the Leaf Pack Experiment Kit
- - - - -

3 + 3 Watershed Education Mini-Institutes

These workshops run for three consecutive days, with a different topic being covered each day. You can sign up for one or more days.

Locations and Dates

  • Port Townsend, WA, 27-29. July. Topics Include River of Words, Environmental Education for Empowerment and Bring on the Benthics!
  • Ashland, WI, 31 July-02 August. Topics Include River of Words, Study Design and What's GREEN & WET.
- - - - -

[Return to the GREEN Home Page]