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then with peanut butter, and roll then in bird seed. Hang them up in trees in your yard and watch our feathery friends find a treat! Watch for nestlings in the spring! Visit an apple orchard or pumpkin farm – Talk with kids about harvest time. Kids can help bake treats using apples or pumpkins. Pumpkins can be used for decoration and then added to the compost pile after Halloween. Rake leaves – Kids will have fun and get lots of exercise raking the leaves. After the leaves are in big piles, let the kids jump in. Talk about why leaves are so important to a tree and why trees lose them in the fall. Nature journal – Kids like to express themselves with pictures and words. Provide kids a small, booklet of paper and have them find a quiet place in the yard. Kids can record what they hear, see, smell and experience in every season. Sledding - Enjoy winter being active! Look for animal tracks in fresh snow.

Stomping in mud puddles, digging in piles of dirt, swinging on a tire swing, catching fireflies, picking vegetable from the garden…… these are all ways kids and nature go hand in hand. The outdoors provides an exciting place for kids to play, ex-plore, observe, discover, and be challenged. There are many ways to engage kids in nature. First of all, do it yourself! Kids who see adults en-gaging in nature and enjoying out-side activities are more likely to participate too.

Ideas for family play: Backyard campout – Spring, early summer, and fall are great times to pitch a tent in the yard. Kids can

listen for night sounds and guess what animals are active at night. Picnic – Kids love to eat outside! Throw a blanket on the grass and enjoy a meal together. Talk about what other animals eat and where they might “picnic”! Campfire – Cool evenings are best spent around a campfire. Roast marshmallows, sing songs, tell sto-ries, and gaze up at the night sky. Dig in the dirt – Plant colorful mums or a tree in the yard. Dig out the vegetable garden and prepare the area for next season. Use leftover vegetables to start a compost pile. Create a pile of dirt! Kids will dig for hours. Nature Hike – Walk around the yard or neighborhood a few times a week to notice new things. Look for differ-ent leaves, signs of wildlife, and other natural things. Scavenger hunt – Create lists with words or pictures and see how many different things kids can find. Kids will discover diversity in their own backyard. Feed the birds – This can be done all year round! Collect pine cones, cover

Project WET (water education for

teachers) released a new activity

guide in the Fall of 2011. Ten years

after the first guide came out, the

new guide is filled with previous

activities, as well as new activities

focusing on oceans, water and human

health, recycling, and special water

places. Enhanced units on watershed

and water quality are also included.

New features include a reading cor-

ner with literature connections for

each activity, technology connec-

tions, and an action component .

A new on-line portal is also available

when you receive the new guide. The

portal has a variety of resources to

expand each activity, as well as fo-

rums and discussion boards to net-

work with other educators who are

using the guide.

Kids and Nature Go

Hand-in-Hand

NEW GUIDE: Project WET K-12th

NE Project Learning Tree

and Project WET S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

Checkout the workshop calendar on page 3 for your opportunity to

receive this new guide.

For educators who have participated in a WET workshop in the past

3 years, there will be a short on-line training option coming soon.

Click here for more family activities

Connecting Kids to Nature

P A G E 2

In Booklet:

The name

Nebraska comes

from the Oto

Indian word,

“nebrathka,” which

means “flat water”.

This was the name

for Nebraska’s main

river, the Platte.

Kids Booklet: Discover the Waters of Nebraska

PLT’s Greenschools! Program

Discoverwater.org Interactive website for youth on water education

Discover Water is a fun, inter-

active way for kids to learn

about water. Eight topics take

kids on a wild adventure. They

can journey through the water

cycle, discover what watershed

they live in, identify some ani-

mals that depend on water,

explore how they use water,

and take action by conserving

water resources.

Check it out!

Each topic has the following

features:

Interactive activity

Video

What did I learn? Fun quiz

Take Action- kids make

an action poster

Science Notebook

Educator and parents

section- downloadable

lesson plans

and of the earth and its re-

sources. PLT’s GreenSchools!

(GS) program includes:

Professional Development:

Teachers receive training in PLT

curriculum, service-learning. and

GS investigations

PLT GreenSchools! Investiga-

tions: Students examine their

school’s energy use, waste and

recycling, water, school site, and

One in five people who live in

the United States—55 million

children, teachers, administra-

tors, nurses and janitors—spend

their days in K–12 schools.

Schools can, and should, provide

a healthy environment for stu-

dents and staff, promote ecologi-

cal sustainability, reduce con-

sumption patterns, and teach

students to be environmental

stewards of their communities

environmental quality (such as indoor

air quality, school transportation, and

use of chemicals)

Service-Learning Projects: Students

design and implement an action project

and measure its impact.

Visit greenschools.org for more infor-

mation. Participating in GS will help you

apply for the US Dept. of Education’s

Green Ribbon School Award, visit

www.education.ne.gov for info.

the relationships between

weather, climate and water-all

in a fun and interactive way.

Booklets are free while sup-

plies last.

Visit UNL Maps and More to

order. Shipping costs will apply.

This booklet invites readers to

spend a day as a Nebraska

farmer, investigate a tornado

through the story of a storm

researcher and travel the "Flyway

Highway" as a Sandhill Crane

while learning about Nebraska's

many water wonders. The color-

ful, 24-page activity booklet

teaches children where water

comes from, how we use it, how

to conserve and protect it and

Journey through the water

cycle!

K-12th grade guide

Workshop Calendar P A G E 3

Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood workshops

February 25th - Chadron

March 17th - Hastings

March 17th - Ogallala

March 20th - Lincoln

June 16th - Gering

PLT and/or WET workshops

February 23rd - PLT, Lincoln

April 17th &19th - PLT, WET, Project WILD, Omaha

May 3rd - PLT, WET, Kearney

PLT’s Focus on Forests-Secondary Education

March 2nd– Ponca State Park

The Missouri and Discover Floods workshop - July 2012, Bellevue

**Workshops also available by request

for 10 or more people.

**Email jswerczek2@unl.edu to register

** May be a small fee to cover the cost of guides

There is an urgent need for environmental

education for all ages. Award-winning Pro-

ject Learning Tree materials help educators

ensure the conservation of the environ-

ment for generations to come. Contact NE

PLT to find out how to receive these mate-

rials.

Visit PLT’s website for more information.

Environmental issues are complex. PLT’s

goal is to teach students how to think,

not what to think about these issues.

Incorporating environmental education

into curriculum and programs prepares

students to be responsible environmen-

tal decision makers, thus building an

environmentally literate citizenry.

PLT Materials for Secondary Education

“Great project and

learning experience!

I personally feel

these lessons are

great for students

academically and

personally.”

( workshop participant)

Guide geared for 3-6 year olds

PreK-8th grade guide

Other Funding Opportunities: The Lawrence Foundation Grants

The Lawrence Foundation provides grants to support environmental, edu-

cation, human services, and other causes. Funds go to after-school, arts,

volunteerism, general education, math, reading, safe schools, science, and

social studies projects. The average grant amount ranges from $5,000 to

$100,000.

American Honda Foundation Grants

The Honda Foundation awards grants of up to $60,000 to K-12 schools,

colleges, universities, trade schools, and others for programs benefiting

youth and scientific education, the physical and life sciences, mathematics,

and the environmental sciences. Programs characterized as scientific, imagi-

native, creative, humanistic, youthful, innovative, and forward thinking will

receive preference.

Professional Development: Green Teacher 2011 Webinar Series

Join in one of Green Teacher’s thirty free webinars this year on various

environmental education topics. Each session will feature a 20-30 minute

presentation, and 30-40 minutes for participant questions. For a list of the

topic areas, and more details, including registration information, please visit

http://www.greenteacher.com/webinars.html.

Do you have an idea for a school or community

garden, a tree improvement project, a streamside

restoration plan, a recycling project, or an energy

conservation project for your students?

Need funding to implement the project?

Apply for a Greenworks! grant.

GreenWorks! is a service-learning, community action

grant program for educators, students, and com-

munities to undertake environmental neighborhood

improvement projects. Taking environmental edu-

cation from the classroom to action strengthens

students' understanding of complex environmental

issues.

Schools participating in

the Greenschools!

Program can apply

also. These funds can

be used to implement

action projects.

Jennifer Swerczek

NE PLT and WET Coordinator

Phone: 402-472-7765

Email: jswerczek2@unl.edu

Website (under construction):

pltwet.unl.edu

The Nebraska Forest Service’s mission: Enriching lives by pro-

tecting, restoring and utilizing Nebraska's tree and forest re-

sources.

nfs.unl.edu

PLT increase students' understanding of our environment;

stimulate students' critical and creative thinking; develop stu-

dents' ability to make informed decisions on environmental

issues; and instill in students the commitment to take respon-

sible action on behalf of the environment.

plt.org

WET teaches about water resources through hands-on, inves-

tigative, easy-to-use activities that develop skills to prepare

learners for the water resource challenges.

projectwet.org

Grants and Opportunities

We’re on Facebook! Visit

our page: Nebraska Project

Learning Tree and WET