KAEE 2024 Conference

Harnessing younger students’ innate curiosity about the natural world and desire to protect it can be done with hands-on classroom activities that build STEM skills, increase environmental literacy, foster environmental stewardship and encourage creative thinking about sustainable paths forward.

In this session, the presenter will facilitate a series of interdisciplinary lessons that involve collecting and analyzing data, creating 3D models and concept maps, and working collaboratively on solving authentic problems related to human ecology. Activities support Kentucky Academic Standards, especially Earth and Human Activity (Disciplinary Core Idea - ESS3C). Participants will receive lesson plans and background materials in an electronic format, along with links to digital tools that can be used in and out of the classroom and environmental education center.

After a brief introduction on the ecology concepts to be presented, the presenter will lead participants in several hands-on activities. These include:
• an interactive story about a local river, how different communities have affected that ecosystem over time and strategies for taking care of the area.
• small groups will create concept maps connecting cause-and-effects relationships between people’s activities and environmental trends.
• participants play a game on sustainable research management

The presenter will lead discussion on how the activities can best be incorporated into classroom and nonformal education programming.

Environmental educators are light bearers in a world that can, at times, feel dark. Global and national events can feel overwhelming and make it seem like our work isn’t making a difference. Staff of the Kentucky Environmental Education Council will lead an interactive discussion about the strategies they use to stay positive and make meaningful impacts in local communities. They will share hopeful stories from the Environmental Education Leadership Corps, Professional Environmental Educator Certification Program, and Master Plan for Environmental Education in Kentucky. Participants can bring examples from their own work to share in this crucial conversation about how positivity, mindfulness, and seeking community can have a ripple effect in the work we do.

Ripple Effects is a photography contest designed to encourage young people from the greater Kentuckiana area to connect to water in their communities. This interactive session will describe the process contest organizers have developed for conducting this contest with the hope of encouraging others to establish similar projects in their own communities. One key aspect of Ripple Effects is the way diverse team members have come together to promote the contest, including staff from local governmental agencies, academic institutions, and arts and cultural organizations. In addition to the contest itself, photographers from the team offer workshops designed to teach strategies for creating effective photographs. Other members of the team have worked with members of the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission to create a Land Acknowledgement as part of our exhibit at last year’s Kentucky State Fair. And the team participated in a strategic planning process to create a shared vision and mission. There are also efforts to extend the project to other countries through the establishment of Ripple Effects International. The Ripple Effects team believes that by using photography to encourage young people to observe the natural world more closely they will be encouraged to develop a deeper appreciation of the importance of protecting local water resources and taking action to address environmental issues. Session participants will have opportunities to create similar collaborations in their communities and how to build on those connections to support youth in exploring local waterways through photography