KAEE 2024 Conference

Kentucky is home to at least sixteen species of bats, many of which are considered endangered, threatened, or of special concern. Researchers are racing to understand changes in population and habitat ranges, which provides both K-12 and non formal educators with an opportunity to help collect valuable data from our own neighborhoods. In this session, participants will learn how bioacoustics are being used to study bats and how you can engage your community in acoustic bat monitoring projects. Participants will get experience using high-frequency microphones and smartphone apps to collect and analyze bat calls and discus opportunities for your organization to develop a citizen science project.

This poster session will discuss the research project, “Anthropogenic Litter in Urban Waterways: An Analysis of Litter, Urbanization, and the Emerging Role of Citizen Science in Beargrass Creek, Louisville, KY” and explore the significant environmental education opportunities presented through the results of the data. The findings support the incredible necessity of integrating community engagement, sustainability education, and effective technology together to reconnect neighborhoods with their urban waterways and restore these streams- so that all have equal access to healthy environments and outdoor recreation across the city.

To put research into action, the project addressed the ever-growing presence and persistence of anthropogenic litter (AL) in urban waterways. AL has been studied in marine environments, but research gaps exist in riverine ecosystems. Most of the AL that reaches the Earth’s oceans is carried by urban rivers, so understanding the relationship between these waterways and AL is critical in effectively fighting AL accumulation, especially for legacy plastic pollutants. This study explored fifteen sites throughout Beargrass Creek and recorded the quantity and type of AL present throughout the summer and fall of 2023. The National Geographic Marine Debris Tracker app was employed to successfully accomplish this analysis. This is a powerful tool designed to engage citizens with the streams running through their neighborhoods. The results of this project revealed the interconnected relationship between urbanization and AL accumulation in waterways, and advocates for the crucial change possible through participatory science.

The conclusions found from the project present endless potential for education in practice and exploratory activities that support students’ holistic growth. The human awareness and perception of a stream has an extraordinary impact on AL pollution and the overall health of the waterway. The more communities can engage with their local creeks and streams, the greater environmental change becomes possible. The study revealed the strengths of using technology like the National Geographic Marine Debris Tracker. This app makes data collection much more accessible to any level of scientific experience. It generates data tables and figures, collects geographic coordinates for spatial analysis, and creates an easy system for tracking the quantity and type of AL observed.

The purpose of this poster session is to give educators the background knowledge to plan and carry out effective real-world learning to encourage a sustainable future. Educators will be introduced to the National Geographic Marine Debris Tracker, a potentially powerful tool for classrooms. With the use of the tracker, thematic investigations could begin as simply as recording trash in the school site/school’s watershed area. Through teacher led instruction, students can develop and implement an action project in which every student can participate. The project can grow in complexity with the development of students over grade levels, as well as involving parents, civic organizations, and community leaders providing holistic learning experiences. This technological aid gives educators the platform to teach about the history of stream alteration, aquatic habitat health, land use/ land cover interactions within watersheds- in addition to giving students the opportunity to observe AL firsthand in their local streams, developing investigation skills, inclusion, teamwork, and engaging with the waterways in positive and meaningful ways that promote sustainability practices for the future.

The Kentucky Green School (KGS) program provides students in grades K - 12 opportunities to form Green Teams with teachers, school staff, and community members to investigate the sustainability of their school buildings and grounds. Based on these investigations, Green Teams analyze their findings and take action toward improvement. In essence, the KGS program gives students opportunities to practice the kind of collaborative problem solving needed to conserve energy and natural resources across the Commonwealth.
In this presentation we highlight some successful action projects undertaken by KGS Green Teams over the past year, with an emphasis on roles played by community partners to ensure successful outcomes. Examples come from each of the five thematic KGS investigation areas: Energy, School Environment (indoors), School Site (outdoors), Waste & Recycling, and Water.
We hope those who join us for this session will gain an appreciation for the power of KY Green Schools to improve environmental education not only for students but also for their families and partner organizations, as we all learn with and from each other.

At 21 years old, I spearheaded the development of an innovative curriculum for 5th grade teachers across Coastal Central California. This initiative, designed in collaboration with Earth Echo International and the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, aims to deepen students' understanding of Indigenous tribes, national marine sanctuaries, and the rich biodiversity of their local ocean ecosystems.

Our project marks a significant effort to enhance knowledge of the world's first tribally nominated marine sanctuary from an early age. This curriculum is designed to shift the educational focus from the predominantly Eurocentric narratives taught in 4th grade about California Missions and Native American tribes, towards a more comprehensive and respectful exploration of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.

The curriculum is structured around three main pillars: Chumash tribal knowledge and traditions, the biodiversity and biomechanics of local ocean ecosystems, and practical stewardship practices. Our goal is to furnish students with a comprehensive understanding of their local environment intertwined with the cultural heritage that has nurtured it through the ages. This approach not only honors and revitalizes tribal knowledge but also prepares students to be proactive environmental stewards.

During the session, I will detail the curriculum development process, highlighting our collaborative efforts with tribal leaders and environmental scientists to ensure both cultural sensitivity and scientific accuracy. I will discuss the strategies employed to seamlessly integrate this enriched content into the existing educational frameworks, making it both accessible and engaging for young learners.

Moreover, the session will emphasize the broader implications of our work, discussing how each individual can contribute to enhancing our next generation's environmental education. Attendees will leave with valuable insights into how traditional ecological knowledge can be integrated into modern educational systems, thereby nurturing a generation of well-informed and motivated environmental stewards. We will also explore practical ways for attendees to adapt these principles to their own educational settings, thus extending the influence and impact of this vital educational initiative.

In spring 2024, students from Rockcastle County High School’s Gifted and Talented program and Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) Center for Environmental Education partnered on the students-teaching-students program "Environmental Days at Maywoods." This initiative involved EKU college students working closely with Rockcastle County High School students to deliver environmental education programs to 1st-3rd grade students from Madison and Rockcastle County elementary schools. The program provided significant leadership opportunities for both college and high school students and increased the potential for inspiring future environmental educators by engaging participants as active learners. The initiative also allowed high school students to interact directly with college students, fostering peer mentorship and collaboration. The success of this initiative highlights the value of partnerships between higher education and K-12 schools in increasing opportunities for active environmental education experiences. Moving forward, we aim to expand such collaborations to provide more opportunities for students-teaching-students initiatives in Kentucky, including an environmental education leadership camp for college and high school students. This session will provide an overview and summary of our experiences but will primarily serve as an interactive forum. Participants will share experiences, engage in brainstorming activities, and discuss opportunities for similar collaborative initiatives in K-12 and higher education settings across the state.

Come learn how to bring America's best idea to your classroom or school! OutSCIder Classroom (https://www.youtube.com/@OutSCIderClassroom) is a web-based video series that teaches students science concepts and environmental stewardship through videos and paired instructional materials. Our goal is to Impact student science learning outcomes, increase student interest in STEM careers, inspire the next generation of scientists and conservationists. Participants will partake in a OutSCIder inquiry-based lesson and learn how to access instructional materials for implementation in the classroom.

Environmental stewardship with opportunities for community involvement abound, but urban, community-based stewardship projects also experience high failure rates. Labor requirements, lack of appropriate experience, resources, and lack of long-term planning leads to low quality implementation and lack of continued interest. This session will describe two successful environmental stewardship projects with different levels of community involvement. Participants will be asked to describe their own experiences, and presenters will provide their formula for improving environmental stewardship projects.

The Frankfort/Franklin County Joint Task Force on Invasives was formed in 2021 with a goal to develop a structured invasive species plan and framework for regular community and agency activity on the issue. This community led initiative has resulted in an approved city plan, mapping of county-wide priority areas, fundraising, and planning for paid positions with partnering agencies to address task force needs.

Olmsted Parks Conservancy in partnership with Kentucky State University began a brush management demonstration trail in 2022 in Louisville, KY to address citizen and agency questions about whether using small ruminant livestock (goats) can be an efficient, sustainable habitat management tool compared to traditional, herbicide-based methods. Preliminary results and the methods used to address community interest have generated additional support toward expanding natural areas management while also addressing community concerns.

Successful, long-term environmental stewardship requires experience, evidence-based methods, and a structured process. Sustainable community engagement requires persistent efforts, immersive opportunities, and a focus on community needs. Although these two can be at odds, they can be effectively combined with a structured approach.

The Envirothon competition is a natural resource competition for high school students. This outdoor, hands-on contest lets students work in teams to learn more about Kentucky's forests, wildlife, water, and soils, as well as a current issue, which changes every year. Recent current issues have included renewable energy, climate changes, creating resources from waste, and water resource management. This session will include information about starting an Envirothon team and the kinds of things the students learn in this program.

Envirothon events are held outdoors each spring in locations across the state. Students will have their hands in the soil while answering questions about the soil's characteristics and quality. They will be feeling pelts and holding skulls as they answer questions about native species, habitat needs, and conservation practices. They will be in the woods answering questions about tree species, pests, and the economic value of the trees. They will be sampling water or looking at macroinvertebrates while answering questions about watersheds, nutrients, indicator species, and best management practices.

Since 2004, over 280 environmental educators have built their knowledge of environmental education best practices through Kentucky’s Professional Environmental Educator Certification course. One of only six courses in the nation accredited by the North American Association for Environmental Education, this immersive series of four workshops provides participants with a thorough understanding of the best practices of environmental education, a cohort of fellow educators to network with, and dozens of hands-on learning experiences to use in their own work. Participants who complete the course requirements receive the designation, "Certified Professional Environmental Educator". KEEC staff will give a brief overview of the course content and structure, then answer questions about the course.

This presentation will outline the Nature Explorer Program: A supplemental environmental education program for homeschool families provided by extension staff at Kentucky State University’s Environmental Education and Research Center (EERC). During this 10 month program, home school groups from Franklin and surrounding counties are able to visit Kentucky State’s EERC on a biweekly basis to engage in collaborative and experiential opportunities in Kentucky’s natural areas. This informational session will allow participants to walk through the process of building their own long-term, nature-focused homeschool program from start to finish, including but not limited to: curriculum building, community engagement, and assessments.

Forest schooling is an emerging educational approach that takes place primarily outdoors in natural settings (Boileau & Dabaha, 2020). Forest Schooling has gained popularity recently due to its numerous benefits for children's physical, emotional, and cognitive development (NAAEE, 2020). However, there is limited research on how children perceive forest schooling and the impact it has on their learning experiences (Bradley & Male, 2017). This session aims to explore children's perceptions of forest schooling, a crucial aspect that could significantly influence their well-being and development, through the following questions;
1. How do young children without disabilities perceive Forest School and the type of play they engage in within Forest School?
2. How do young children with disabilities perceive Forest School and the type of play they engage in within Forest School?
The research questions are addressed through a qualitative case study children aged 3-6 (n=10). The participants attend a Forest School situated in a Nature Park and are subjects as well active contributors to the research. The delivery of Forest School occurs in sessions ranging from 2 to 4 days a week for 3 hours over several months. The study utilizes observations, artifact collection, and interviews with the children. Observation data was collected through video recording and artifact collection using photo stories. Semi-structured interviews about forest school and play were conducted with the children at three different time points, the beginning of the program, middle of the program, and end of the program. Children were shown photos they took to help deepen the conversation. Photo stories provide the children spaces for reflection and sharing perspectives and experiences. (Varvantakis & Nolas, 2021). Truong (2024) used photo stories to find that children enjoyed painted rocks, mud and climbing rocks while in nature at a Canadian nature preserve.

My study adds to the prior research that has been conducted using parents and equators perceptions of forest schooling (Olliff-Cooper et al., 2021) by focusing on children’s perspectives. The session offers a unique opportunity to explore the perceptions of preschool-aged students in forest schools, shedding light on the impact of nature-based learning on young children's development.

Probes are a way of better understanding people’s metacognition (internal thinking). Page Keeley created several books based on research of misconceptions found in science. Her ideas were used to create three different probes to elicit student understanding about karst and caves. Three checklist probes about karst and cave misconceptions were created and tested on future elementary teachers. In addition, students write explanations about their reasoning for what items they checked. Understanding their reasoning helps to improve teaching. This idea can be recreated in other places where nonformal education occurs. This poster will discuss how to create probes to assess learning at places where nonformal learning occurs.

Nonformal education sites offer enriching educational experiences for students. The McDowell Farm School (MFS) exemplifies this by providing students with immersive encounters in a working farm environment. Despite their educational value, many nonformal education sites lack sufficient evidence of their impact. This session presents a research study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of MFS programs on visiting students. By utilizing pre-visit/post-visit surveys and interviews, this study provides valuable insights into program efficacy and offers transferable evaluation methods for similar nonformal education programs. This session will explore the study’s methodology, findings, and implications to contribute to a deeper understanding of program evaluation in nonformal education contexts. This will be done using results and survey responses taken from the visit to the MFS that document the program’s impact on participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. By showcasing the positive impact of MFS on students and providing transferable evaluation methods, the session advances our understanding of the value of experiential learning beyond traditional educational settings.
The research study utilized the EE21 survey as part of the program evaluation to document program impacts of the MPS on visiting students. The EE21 is available for other EE program providers to use. Researchers will share how the survey can be validated and used for program evaluations of conference attendees allowing them to include this valuable tool in their own program evaluations.