Embracing the World from Our Own Backyard: Environmental Education
Our environment is changing. Science educators are powerful agents for helping our students understand and respond to these changes. In this increasingly interconnected global community, all members must understand the implications of our choices and the impact we can have both globally and locally. This strand will increase participants' knowledge of effective practices to help students understand, appreciate, protect, and restore our natural environment.

Goals
To provide workshops and presentations focusing on one or more of the following:
• Implementing outdoor science experiences and programs that connect children with nature (e.g., No Child Left Inside, Children in Nature).
• Empowering environmental actions, including service learning, and environmental education activities.
• Becoming a certified Green School.
• Exploring the science of green technologies such as recycling, alternative energy resources and energy conservation, and green building techniques.
• Using 21st-century skills to protect local ecosystems, such as water monitoring, invasive species eradication, restoration projects, riparian buffers, runoff prevention, and GIS mapping.

Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated on the extent that they:
• Focus on student-centered learning opportunities.
• Model successful strategies for incorporating the local ecosystem into instruction.
• Align with one or more strand goals.
• Align with state and national science education standards (NSES and Benchmarks).
• Are based on current and available research and issues in science.
• Involve participants through activities and/or discussion.