Ohio Environmental Education Fund.
General Grant Awards for K-12 STEM Projects
Oberlin College - Environmental Studies Program, “Pilot integration of Environmental Dashboard in Ohio: Teacher Training and Curriculum Development,” #F17G-011, $49,689, Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lucas, and Summit Counties, Audience: Pre-School-University, Contact: John Petersen, , (440) 775-6692
The project will expand curricular integration of Environmental Dashboard technology in four school districts that have existing dashboard metering technology. Environmental Dashboard technology provides real-time feedback on water and energy use. Teachers and curriculum managers will participate in full day workshops providing them with an understanding of how the Environmental Dashboard has been used in the classroom. Teachers will develop lessons that use the Environmental Dashboard and implement them in their classrooms. The goal is to develop, deploy, assess and disseminate instructional modules that integrate environmental education into multiple subject areas while supporting topics and skill aligned with Ohio learning standards and Ohio EPA priorities.
Ohio State University, College of Education and Human Ecology - Ohio Resource Center, “Curious KIDSS,” F-16G-002, $46,521, Statewide, Audience: Pre-Kindergarten – University (Grades K-2). Contact: Tracy Cindric, , (614) 247-7978.
Ohio students are arriving in upper elementary grades unprepared for STEM concepts in science because the K-2 grades have so heavily focused on reading and math in recent years. K-2 teachers have a genuine lack of comfort, knowledge and experience with including science in integrated lessons. The Curious KIDSS (Kindling Investigation and Discovery in Science and Social Studies) program will provide professional development to teachers of Grades K-2 to adapt lessons from Project WILD’s Growing Up WILD early childhood curriculum to address Ohio’s New Learning Standards in science and social studies, as well as math and English language arts. The program will increase teacher effectiveness, comfort level, and frequency of usage of the natural environment as an extension of the classroom; increase frequency of science and social studies lessons taught in K-2 classrooms; illustrate to teachers and students the importance of habitat restoration efforts in increasing biodiversity and improving air and water quality; and provide teachers with resources and lesson plans, as well as scientific instruments and trade books aligned to Ohio's New Learning Standards. The project would initially include twenty Ohio teachers, impacting approximately 450 students. Workshops will continue and Curious KIDSS resources will continue to be available at no cost to all Ohio teachers through the ORC, ODNR, SECO (Science Education Council of Ohio) and OCSS (Ohio Council for Social Studies) websites.
Case Western Reserve University - Leonard Gelfand STEM Center, “Kelleys Island Collaborative,” S16G-045, $45,633, Cuyahoga and Ottawa Counties. Audience: PreK-University (Grades 8-10). Contact: James Bader, , (216) 368-5289
Professional development workshops will be held for teachers in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to help expose students to important issues facing Lake Erie. Teachers will participate in a week-long workshop to develop a program they can implement with their students at the newly established Kelley’s Island Field Station and the Cleveland Metroparks’ Stewardship Center at West Creek. Teachers will study best management practices for nutrient control and the relationship to harmful algal blooms, the relationship between habitat and biodiversity, and stormwater management practices. Students will learn to address ecological problems using a Biology, Environmental Science, Technology (BEST) and Environmental Science Technology Engineering and Math (eSTEM) approach. Initially 15 teachers and 75 students will participate in the activities described in this proposal, but their work will impact 1200-1500 of their peers by the end of the grant period.
North Central Ohio Educational Service Center, “Watershed Dynamics for 21st Century Learners,” F13G-029, $48,667, Seneca County, Audience: Pre-school to University (High School), Contact: Rhonda Feasel, , (419) 447-2927
The project will allow 210 high school students to investigate and explore solutions to complex, real-world problems associated with the Sandusky River watershed. Students will engage with the problems using scientific instrumentation, technology, hands-on field work and computer modeling. Methods are aligned with the Common Core Science Standards and the State of Ohio Model Curriculum. This project will provide extensive professional development for science teachers in participating Seneca County school districts. The National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg University scientists, researchers and environmental science students will contribute their expertise in the field of water quality. The Ohio State University Stone Laboratory will conduct professional development and a culminating student learning experience.
Darke County Educational Service Center, “Producing Renewable Energy in Ohio” S12G-038, $42,358, Auglaize, Darke, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Shelby Counties, Audience: Preschool-University (High School), Contact: Dave Shellhaas, , 937-417-0903.
This pilot project will target 114 teachers and approximately 1,500 high school students from 57 school districts in west central Ohio. The goal of the project is to increase high school students’ skills at making evidence-based decisions about renewable energies that are found or produced in Ohio. A series of workshops, online follow-up and a printed guide will provide teachers with content on biomass (ethanol, biodiesel and methane), wind and geothermal energy sources currently being developed in western Ohio, and practice leading students in learning to make decisions about energy options without creating bias themselves. Products will include a magazine for students accompanied by audio/video podcasts. The Educational Services Centers of Auglaize, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby Counties are collaborating.
New Philadelphia City Schools- New Philadelphia High School, “Fostering a context of inquiry: Authentic investigations of local ecosystems across grade levels,” S12G-048, $23,259, Stark and Tuscarawas Counties, Audience: Preschool-University (Elementary, Middle and High School), Contact: Kip Brady, , 330-364-0644.
This project will engage 600 fifth, seventh and tenth grade students and their teachers in authentic investigations of local ecosystems. Teachers will obtain wildlife collecting permits from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and receive nets, waders, buckets and collecting materials to use in local forest, pond and wetland sites. They will investigate and collect local species that are amendable to classroom study, observing their habitats and interactions, and developing questions and experimental designs for their students to investigate these organisms. A field experience will involve the students and teachers in a comparison of salamander diversity in forest ecosystems with different land use histories and serve as a vehicle for connecting classroom based instruction to real ecosystems. Participating teachers will also use an online discussion board to compare their efforts during the school year.
Talawanda School District – Talawanda High School, “Healthy Water, Healthy People Project – Erik Sustainability Initiative,” #F12G-019, $22,065.41, Butler County, Audience: Pre-Kindergarten – University (high school), Contact: Jeffery F. Winslow, , 513-273-3559.
Students will investigate the impact of agricultural chemicals on the watershed of the 100 acre Erik Outdoor Education Area at the newly constructed LEED Gold- certified Talawanda High School. Students will explore the stream, wetlands and woods on the property, measuring and monitoring the flow of agricultural chemicals through the wetlands to determine the effectiveness of the wetland ecosystem in mitigating these chemicals. Students will then make recommendations to the Board of Education regarding the future use of the agricultural land. Budget includes monitoring equipment and hand-held GPS units for the students to use, and certification of the teachers in Project WET’s secondary water monitoring curriculum, “Healthy Water, Healthy People.” Collaborators include Butler Soil and Water Conservation District, Pheasants Forever, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Ohio Environmental Education Fund
Mini-Grant Awards for K-12 STEM Projects
Meigs SWCD, “AWARE – Assessing Water and Rural Environments,” S-16M-026, $4,836, Meigs and Athens Counties, Audience: Pre-School – University (grades 2, 4, 7 and 9-12), Contact: Jenny Ridenour, , 740-992-4282.
This project will add resources to teach students about how pollution affects our streams and rivers. The resources are hands on kits that are reusable and can be used at different grade levels. The project will focus on second grade, fourth grade, seventh grade and high school. These grade levels have the most focus on water, erosion, pollution, and methods to collect data on water. The younger grade levels will relate water to the ecosystems including plant and animal life. The older students will investigate how water becomes polluted and ways to prevent the pollution. Project WET and Healthy Water, Healthy People will be used for educating teachers. Meigs County General Health District and OSU Extension along with Athens SWCD are collaborating.
Alliance for Leadership and Interconnection (ALI), Green STEM Programs, F-16M-017, $4,621, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren Counties, Audience: Pre-Kindergarten – University (grades K-12), Contact: Calvin Williams, , 513-541-4607.
Provides equipment, science kits, software and promotional materials to support Green STEM Fairs for six Southwest Ohio school districts, and STEM Eco-Mentoring Programs for 2,500 students in Cincinnati Public Schools. Through Green STEM Fairs, adult mentors engage small groups of students with introductions to green technologies and green careers related to energy conservation. In weekly STEM Eco-Mentoring after-school programs for grades 4-6, adult mentors such as LEED architects and engineers provide hands-on, in depth training in green technologies and green careers, and assist students with presentations for a culminating community event. Students study utility bills to measure energy use by their school building; use Watt meters to measure how much energy an appliance uses and calculate the cost to operate it; check for energy “vampire” electronic devices that are constantly using energy in stand-by mode; measure light in foot candles within buildings; use air monitoring equipment to detect pollutants; and assemble and compare the efficiency of toy fuel cell and solar cars.
Wayne Trace Local Schools, Grover Hill Elementary, Water and Soil Quality Education, F-16M-012, $4,900, Paulding County, Pre-Kindergarten – University (grades 4-6), Contact: Wendy L. Baker, , 419-587-3162.
Teachers will work with students in grades 4-6 to collect samples and analyze turbidity, temperature and nutrient loads and headwater macroinvertebrates from Town Creek in the Little Auglaize watershed. Their research will parallel and support an ongoing study by the Defiance Soil and Water Conservation District of nonpoint source nutrient pollution in the larger Maumee watershed contributing to algal blooms in Lake Erie. Grant funds will support installation of a floating aluminum dock and gangplank that will allow students to safely collect samples from deeper water at midstream rather than on a steep streambank, for a more accurate reading of nutrient and sediment conditions. Prior to installation,
Cardington-Lincoln Local Schools – Cardington Jr. High, Quality Water for Quality Life, F-16M-015, $4,926, Morrow County, Audience: Pre-Kindergarten – University (grades 3-8), Contact: Beau Michael Wolford, , 419-864-0609.
Provides equipment to help 150 students learn about water quality in Morrow County by studying the micro- and macroinvertebrate life in local streams. Students will keep journals and logs documenting specific types and numbers of organisms discovered, dissolved oxygen levels, pH levels, and other important variables that determine water quality. The project will incorporate activities from Project WET, Healthy Water, Healthy People, Project WILD Aquatic, and the University of Wisconsin’s Exploring Streams curriculum, and culminate in a stream and river clean up to improve the water quality in our community. The students’ research findings will be published in the school newsletter and their data shared with students in New Mexico through the RiverXchange project.
Miamisburg – Bishop Leibold School, Waste Not, Want Not, F-16M-007. $1,000, Montgomery County, Audience: Pre-Kindergarten – University (grades 4-8), Contact: Linda L. Hillinan, , 937-434-9343.
Students will design, build, and maintain a compost system using school cafeteria waste. They will also create and conduct multiple "design of experiments" to find out the most efficient composting method with the use of technology to better understand the conservation of mass and energy of the biomass that they are creating. Lastly, they will educate their parents at an open house in the spring with a short presentation and a pamphlet designed by the students, as well as educate our other sister school on the benefits of composting. The end product will be used by the Mission of Mary farm cooperative, which supplies fresh organic vegetables to the underserved Dayton community. Approximately, 335 students and parents from two campuses and the community will benefit from this project.
Benjamin Logan School District – Benjamin Logan High School, The Riparian Zone and its Role in the Preservation of the Mad River as Important Trout Habitat, F-16M-003, $4,949, Champaign and Logan Counties, Audience: Pre-Kindergarten – University (grades 4-12), Contact: Spencer E. Reams, , 937-935-2358.
Provides sampling equipment to help 400 students understand the role of the riparian zone in maintaining trout habitat in the Mad River. Students will test the soil to understand how nitrates and phosphorus migrate through the riparian zone to the River, and conduct laboratory experiments to analyze the impact of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium loading on dissolved oxygen levels. They will also conduct field and laboratory studies of the effect of shading on water temperature, and continue to hatch brown trout eggs and raise and release the fry as part of the ongoing Trout in the Classroom program. The results of the project will be shared with the public and local media through a community night. Land owners will be targeted as an audience for the community night presentations. Ohio EPA will provide an in-service training for teachers county-wide in Project WET and the Healthy Water, Healthy People curricula. The Madmen Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Logan Soil and Water Conservation District are collaborating.
The Wilderness Center, “Sugar Creek Watershed Environmental Education Project,” #F-15M-015, $4,982, Holmes, Stark and Wayne Counties, Audience: Pre-School – University (Middle and High School), Contact: Lynda Marie Price, , 330-359-5235.
The purpose of this project is to implement site-specific watershed science lessons targeted to 7th-12th grade groups. The project involves reestablishment of an educational outdoor space with accessible headwater streams in an area recently subjected to storm damage. This space offers a prime demonstration of the impact of natural and human disturbance on watershed ecosystems. Multiple lesson plans will be tailored to give students effective environmental problem-solving experiences including hands-on learning activities, evidence-based decision making, and multidisciplinary approaches. Provides macroinvertebrate sampling supplies and supports the cost of transportation and substitute teachers to enable 200 students to identify how natural disturbance, local land use and community decisions affect the quality of the environment. The mini grant will also replace storm-damaged trail markers utilized with a Wilderness Walk podcast used by thousands of hikers. Collaborators include the Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Dalton Local, East Holmes Local, Green Local and Orrville City School Districts.
Carroll-Columbiana-Harrison (CCH) Environmental Group/Solid Waste District, “Environmental Teachers Academy,” #F-15M-009, $5,000, Carroll, Columbiana and Harrison Counties, Audience: Pre-School – University (Elementary School), Contact: Eric Matthews, , 330-627-7311.
Provides three educator workshops and supplies to expand a previously funded Environmental Teachers Academy for middle school to include 20 teachers of grades K-3. Workshops will feature two national curricula (Project Wild-Aquatic, Wonders of Wetlands) to teach watersheds and water quality, and weather and climate change education resources being developed by NASA. Participating teachers will receive Earth Grow Boxes for their students to investigate soil types, decomposition rates, nutrient content, percolation and filtration, leaching of fertilizers and pollutants, and plant productivity. Topics include the use of rain barrels and rain gardens to conserve water and reduce runoff, and the use of remote sensing technology to monitor algal blooms.
Graham Local Schools, “Graham Local Schools Trout in the Classroom (TIC),” #F-15M-006, $2,500, Champaign County, Audience: Pre-School – University (Elementary and Middle School), Contact: Emily Kay Shreve, , 937-663-4449.
Expands the successful Trout in the Classroom program previously funded by the OEEF to more grades, to include more than 400 students in grades 2-12. Students will focus on the relationship between water quality of the Mad River and the conditions required by trout. Students will be responsible for daily chemical testing and observations of the trout to ensure they are in a suitable environment until they are large enough to release to the Onion Creek tributary of the Mad River. Students will present their monitoring data through a community event and presentations to the school board and local organizations. Elementary students will use Nexus Tablets and iPads to photograph the stages of the project and create YouTube videos. The Madmen Chapter of Trout Unlimited is collaborating.
West Clermont School District, Brantner Elementary, “The Dinosaurs Drank This?” #F14M-002, $3,285, Clermont County, Audience: Preschool – University (Elementary), Contact: Kathy DeMougin, 513-943-6400, .
In the spring and fall, fourth and fifth grade students will collect and test water samples from East Fork Lake, Stonelick Lake, the Little Miami River and a storm drain on the school grounds. Students will test for nitrates, pH, ammonia, dissolved oxygen, sediments and algae, and develop hypotheses about the causes of pollution they find and an action plan to reduce the pollution of one of the water sources tested. They will design and construct models of a watershed with a catch basin to test various substances that would be found in local surface waters such as fertilizers, pesticides and roof debris. Students will also design and carry out a study on the effects of natural and chemical fertilizers on algae growth in controlled situations. Their findings will be presented to the public on the literacy science night at Brantner Elementary, and shared with the science teachers at seven elementary schools in the district.