George Masa was a Japanese immigrant photographer whose work helped inspire the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian Trail, yet his story remains largely unknown. Through photography, storytelling, and examples from the George Masa Foundation, this session explores how educators can use local conservation history and place-based learning to deepen environmental connection and student engagement.
Bring stream ecology to life with affordable, hands-on freshwater macroinvertebrate exploration kits. Learn how to design and build portable systems for use in classrooms, community events, and field programs. Participants will examine working examples across multiple budgets, receive build plans and supply lists, and gain practical strategies for engaging learners with their local aquatic ecosystems.
Spending time outdoors can not only help us feel more connected to our environments but also has proven mental health benefits. Join us as we talk through some key learnings from our program: Niñitos de la Naturaleza, and our approach to reframing what science is, and how we can celebrate discovery of the world around us.
Adult volunteers can be a great resource for collecting data and completing tasks at your site but they can come with their own challenges. During this session, we will talk about how we have been working with our enthusiastic volunteers to improve our Community Science projects by providing meaningful applications for their data collection efforts. The NC Arboretum hosts five Community Science projects completely run by dedicated volunteers and some of these volunteers have been working with these projects for over 10 years. We will detail the steps we have taken to get to know each individual better and learn how to work with each unique group and their team dynamics. We will talk through challenges we have come across and the ways we have navigated them over the last two years.
Don’t Waste It! is a Criteria I educator guide that includes lessons and activities for covering municipal solid waste, landfills, recycling, composting, waterways, economy, and waste reduction. The guide was recently updated to include many new lessons and activities! Come to this session to try out two new activities and learn about available workshops and resources.
Puppets, are you ready?! Discover how puppetry can spark curiosity and help young children understand difficult science concepts like animal adaptations and the water cycle. For PreK and elementary environmental educators, this interactive session features live puppet demonstrations, ideas for implementing puppetry in your programs, and a hands-on opportunity to create simple, low-cost puppets that blend science, creativity, and play.
