2016

Spring

While You Were Out

Spring and early summer have been very busy for the Alliance! The spring semester started with the State Geography Bee and ended with our very wet, but fun inaugural Bioblitz for Florida. We said goodbye to McKenzie and hello to our new graphic design student Brittany Gress, who hit the ground running and produced a number of lovely images, websites and products for the Bioblitz - as well as the Alliance in general. We will miss McKenzie, but know our Alliance is in the capable hands of Brittany.

We also welcomed a new GIS student to the team. Ben Thornton has taken on new responsibilities and will be traveling to Redlands with Teacher Consultant Jim Curtis to attend ESRI’s T3G teachers institute. Ben and Jim will join the past T3G graduates in developing a comprehensive K12 GIS curriculum and data project that all schools in Florida will have free access to in the Fall.

July is also the time when our first “Giant Map Initiative” teachers will be traveling to DC to be trained on the use of the National Geographic Giant Map of Florida. Cindy Carlson and Rebecca Gaebel will be leading the team and will help our teacher-leaders who have volunteered to work with the map around the state get ready for a fun year of mapping in Florida.

Next school year is shaping up to be a busy and fun year full of hands on activities for all levels of students. We hope that all of you will get involved with one of the new and exciting programs coming to your region.

Happy summer!

- Laurie

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Florida Bioblitz 2016 Takes Off!

The 2016 Florida Bioblitz was a test of perseverance!

Most teams would have given up on the idea of running the program but our team of citizen scientists would not let a little rain stop them. Florida's first bioblitz took off to a running start on Friday, May 20th in Tallahassee's state parks. The public schools could not participate due to the storm conditions, but teacher Sue Kay from Buck Lake Elementary and her husband joined a dedicated group of FSU students and community members at the Piney Z trails to see what happens to nature when the Florida rains are unleashed!

Now they did suspend a couple of times due to lightening, but the die-hard students, teachers and community folks kept at it and identified over 40 unique species (not including trees) and learned that although many critters like to stay out of the rain, some actually thrive. We can't wait to try this again in the fall!

Here are our favorite photos from the event.

View the full gallery here!

Want to learn more? Visit www.floridabioblitz.com/.

Geo-Climate Change Workshop 2016

Written by Amy Stalker, Fleming Island, FL

Climate change is one of the biggest issues facing the world today. Climate Change is very much a geographic issue. It spans the disciplines of economic geography, human migration, political geography, urban geography and planning, agricultural geography, climatology, hydrology, glaciology, biogeography, meteorology, coastal geography, oceanography, environmental geography, and Geographic Information Systems. In addition, the National Geographic Initiatives that climate change addresses are “The Ocean, Energy, Fresh Water and Human Stories.”

FL is one of the US states that will be most significantly affected by climate change in the future, yet, FL has not accepted any state standards that mandate teaching adaptations, mitigation, human contributions and impacts to climate change. In fact, Geography is not a required course in Florida’s K-12 education. At the middle school and high school level, there are 6 geography standards that are to be incorporated into other required social studies classes. None of these standards address these critical human- environment interactions.

The Florida Department of Education rejected the National Research Council’s Next Generation Science Standards that include standards about climate change. You can view the standards by topic and grade level here. The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is an excellent resource for educators to use as they implement the NGSS in their classrooms. The NCA is endorsed by the Smithsonian Institution, National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee, Agency for International Development, United States Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States Department of Defense, United States Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States Department of State, United States Department of Transportation, United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation. Through its Our Changing Climate section and Climate Science Supplement sections, the NCA contains information that will help educators and students gain a deeper understanding of climate change. I have also attached an extensive supplementary resource list at the end of this article. Climate change education is vital if we want young people to make informed, responsible decisions in the future. These standards are slated to be accepted by 40 states, Florida not included.

Climate change curriculum falls under the umbrella of the following broader Florida Standards.

Social Studies Standards:

SS.912.G.1.4- Analyze geographic information from a variety of sources including primary sources, atlases, computer, and digital sources, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and a broad variety of maps.
SS.912.G.2.3- Use geographic terms and tools to analyze case studies of regional issues in different parts of the world that have critical economic, physical, or political ramifications.
SS.912.G.2.4- Use geographic terms and tools to analyze case studies of how selected regions change over time.
All of Standard 3 SS.912.G.3: Understand the relationships between the Earth's ecosystems and the populations that dwell within them.
All of Standard 4 SS.912.G.4: Understand the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations.

Standard 5 SS.912.G.5: Understand how human actions can impact the environment.

All of Standard 6 SS.912.G.6: Understand how to apply geography to interpret the past and present and plan for the future.

Science Standards:

All of Standard 6 SC.912.E.6: Earth Structures
All of Standard 7 SC.912.E.7: Earth Systems and Patterns

The challenge then is to figure out how to educate teachers in FL about this important topic and how to incorporate this into public school education in FL. The FL Geographic Alliance paired up with Dr. Ray Oldakowski, Professor of Geography at Jacksonville University, Dr. Ashley Johnson, an Assistant Professor at Jacksonville University whose area of specialization is ecology and GIS, as well as Dr. Jeremy Stalker (Marine Science and the Science of Climate Change, Jacksonville University) to create curriculum for FL teachers. On 4/1/2016, during the FL State Geography Bee at Jacksonville University, Amy Stalker from Fleming Island High School and Debbie Hagenbuch-Reese from Sebastian Middle School led a workshop in which 24 middle school teachers participated. The workshop’s goal was to inform teachers about the geographic impacts of climate change, as well as offer the most current research on the subject, recommend resources about climate change and offer ideas about ways to implement the information in their classrooms. This presentation covered the history and sources of CO2 emissions, historical evidence of climate shifts, impacts of climate change and sea level rise, as well as impacts on human populations and ecosystems. Specific projections for different coastal communities in Florida were discussed as well as possible mitigation and adaptation responses and scenarios were discussed. Lesson ideas and best pedagogical practices were shared during this professional development activity. Examples of middle school active learning exercises were demonstrated at the workshop. Teachers engaged in a vocabulary bingo activity and a Kagan Strategies Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up exercise. An interdisciplinary diamante exercise was also demonstrated. A diamante is an unrhymed seven-line poem literary tool. It is excellent when used to wrap up a topic and requires students to think creatively about topics. Here is the link to the file with the PPT and all the lesson ideas.

Since it is still taboo to talk about sea level rise and climate change in many districts in Florida, one idea participants of the conference came up with was pairing up with their science department. Social Studies teachers can teach about the geographic impacts of climate change as well as implications in urban areas, migration of humans, plants and animals, environmental impacts, economic impacts, etc., while science teachers teach a unit on the science of climate change. In this way the topic is supported by both disciplines.

View the full article here.

Florida Student Wins National Geo Bee

Wrapping up on May 25th at National Geographic's headquarters in Washington D. C., 12-year old Rishi Nair took first place at this year's competition.

"Rishi Nair, a 12-year-old from Florida, was crowned winner of the 28th National Geographic Bee," says National Geographic's Brian Clark Howard. "Nair bested nine other finalists in a game show format competition hosted at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., Wednesday."

Competition was tough at this year's Bee, featuring challenging questions and talented students from all across the country. "The competition is open to grades four through eight, and the finalists ranged in age from 10 to 14 years old. This year's bee began with a field of two and a half million contestants from 11,000 schools across the U.S." A truly fantastic year!

Florida Geographic Alliance congratulates Rishi Nair and all the amazing contestants of this year's Bee!

Want to know more? Check out the National Geographic Society's article on the competition.

More information about the 2016 National Geography Bee can be found here:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/

Opportunties for Educators

Saturday, July 30, 2016, 8:00 A.M. to 12:15 P.M. The Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel, Tampa, FL

On Saturday, July 30, 2016, members of the AP Human Geography Development Committee will present a workshop for high school AP teachers during the annual conference of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). The workshop will take place between 8:00 A.M. and 12:15 P.M. at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel. The cost of the workshop is included in the NCGE conference attendance fee. Register athttp://www.ncgeconference.com/. A special conference rate is available for Florida teachers. Early-bird registration ends April 1st.

You and your colleagues are cordially invited to attend the development committee’s workshop, presented by the high school and college faculty who develop the AP Human Geography course, curriculum articulation, and exams. The program will feature presentations on AP Human Geography course content and teaching methods and will provide the opportunity to engage during question-and-answer periods, including an open session with the Chief Reader, who supervises the exam essay scoring.

We sincerely hope that you will be able to participate in this program and take advantage of the opportunity to meet with the AP Human Geography Development Committee and attend the many other valuable sessions at the NCGE national conference. We look forward to seeing you in Tampa.

Sponsored by the College Board and Educational Testing Service.

For more information, contact Jon Moore at jbmoore@ets.org.

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GEEO Teacher Travel Programs

"I will talk about these trips all year in my classes. For so many of my students, my description of my travels will be the only exposure they will have to other countries and other ways of life."- Social studies teacher Michael Baldwin, who's first time traveling abroad was with GEEO.

Travel the world, earn professional development credit, and bring global understanding into your classroom!

Founded in 2007, Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that has sent over 1300 teachers abroad on adventurous travel programs. With GEEO educators can earn professional development credits while seeing the world. GEEO's trips are 7 to 21 days in length and are designed and discounted to be interesting and affordable for teachers. In addition to amazing tour leaders, many of the programs are accompanied by university faculty that are experts on the destination. GEEO also provides teachers educational materials and the structure to help them bring their experiences into the classroom. The trips are open to all nationalities of K-12 and university educators, administrators, retired educators, as well as educators’ guests.

GEEO is offering the following travel programs for 2016: Bali/Lombok, Bangkok to Hanoi, China, Costa Rica, Eastern Europe, The Galapagos Islands, Greece, Iceland, India/Nepal, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Peruvian Amazon, Peruvian Andes, Portugal/Spain, Heart of the Silk Road, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Vietnam/Cambodia, Western Balkans, Peru (Winter Break), Southern India (Winter Break), Israel (Spring Break), Moorish Spain (Spring Break), and Morocco (Spring Break). From now until October 1st nearly all of the programs are 5% off the regular already discounted price as part of GEEO's early booking sale. The registration deadline is June 1st, but space is limited and many programs will be full well before the deadline.

Detailed information about each trip, including itineraries, costs, travel dates, and more can be found at www.geeo.org. GEEO can be reached 7 days a week, toll-free at 1-877-600-0105 between 9 AM-9 PM EST