GEOGRAPHY OF THE FRONTIER IV: RESOURCES AND HERITAGE OF THE WEST A Summer Geography Institute

JUNE 27- JULY 2, 2010

GEON and Wayne State College are planning an adventurous and educational institute in July. This one-week institute will focus on the geography of Nebraska’s Panhandle and eastern Wyoming. The days will be packed with field studies, lectures by local experts, and teaching strategies by elementary and secondary GEON teacher consultants.

Field study plans include: Scotts Bluff National Monument, Chimney Rock, Crop Test Plots, Wildcat Hills, Fort Laramie, Black Thunder Coal Mine, and Devil’s Tower.

Topics include: Physical Geography, Agricultural Geography, Economic Geography, Historical Geography

Participants: Any K-12 teacher in Nebraska who wants to learn more about Nebraska and its connections to Wyoming.

Benefits:

    * Three hours of graduate credit available through Wayne State College.

    * Free teaching materials

    * $250 in stipends upon completion of institute requirements

    * Field experiences not available to the average traveler

    * New teaching strategies developed to meet state & national standards

    * Increased geographical and historical knowledge and skills

    * Housing provided free during the institute

    * Two meals per day provided free

    * Free transportation to field study sites

Requirements:

    * Participation in all institute activities

    * Completion of a journal

    * Successful final exam

    * Development of a new lesson/unit for use in your classroom

    * Presentation of new lesson at a GEON event

Deadline for the institute registration:

May 28, 2010 (this institute is limited to 20 participants—it might be filled before the deadline)

Registration Form:

The "2010 GEOGRAPHY OF THE FRONTIER IV" Institute Registration Form can be accessed in "Resources", then click on "Forms".

http://www.ngsednet.org/community/index.cfm?community_id=49  OR see the attached document.

Contact:

Lonnie Moore

lmoore@westside66.org

Westside High School

8701 Pacific Street

Omaha, Nebraska 68114

Phone: 402 - 430 - 2081

Recently I came across a couple of sites that I thought you might be interested in looking into more deeply.  The first one is one that I have mentioned before.  Shmoop is a fun web site with lots of great connections in history, literature and music.  March is Women's History Month so Shmoop has lined up some lessons just for this topic.  It is also the month of the Ides of March!  They have created a list of 7 Notorious Backstabbers that might be kind of fun for students.  Check it out!

Secondly, the National Parks have created a lesson on Roadside Attractions that you might find fun for your students.  they have also developed an interactive online program.  Sponsored by U.S. Regional Research and Education Networks, the National Park Service will present a free interactive online program series the week of April 14 for grades 3-12.  It requires access videoconferencing technology or it can ve viewed via live or archived web streams.  Events include:

• Homestead National Monument of America, Beatrice, NE
• Brown v Board National Historic Site, Topeka, KS
• Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Stanton, ND
• Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Phillip, SD

Register for these National Park events online! Registration ends March 31, 2010! You can find the flyer for this event here! NPS Series flyer spr2010.pdf

The Wild Experience Room will provide free, hands-on, family-friendly activities on Saturday, March 20, as part of the 2010 Rivers and Wildlife Celebration at the Holiday Inn in Kearney, Nebraska.

The Wild Experience Room, organized by the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership, will be open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. "Live critter demonstrations" will include Birds of Prey, from Raptor Recovery Nebraska, at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Nebraska Snakes, with Dan Fogel, at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Activities will include making bird feeders, folding paper cranes, making bird band bracelets, looking for compost creatures, and more.      wild experience room flyer no tabs.pdf

C.S.I.

(Crane Scene Investigations)

The largest gathering of sandhill cranes in the world happens right here in Nebraska!   You and your students are invited to become Crane Scene Investigators and learn about these unique birds. 

C.S.I. is approximately 2 hours long and is designed with your students in mind and only available from the first of March through the first of April.  Dates and times fill fast, so make your reservations early!

Crane Cam

Crane Central

For downloadable educational videos,  be sure to check out CRANE CENTRAL on the CRANE CAM hosted by ESU 10.  Go to www.rowesanctuary.org   The DVD is also available in our Nature Store.

Social Studies 2.0 Workshop  ~ March 25, 2010  ~ 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. ~  ESU 10  ~ Kearney

This workshop is designed to demonstrate and utilize technology integration tools specifically for the social studies classroom. We will feature technology tools, web resources, and software that encourage the use of 21st Century skills for students.  To register go to: https://odie.esu10.org/

The Kearney Archway and Fort Kearny are offering some new special programming and pricing for the 150^th anniversary of the Pony Express.  A field trip to the Archway and Fort Kearny would be a great way to celebrate this important historic event this spring!  The new sod house location on the prairie will be a great setting for the Archway’s program, and  the Archway and historic Fort Kearny both welcome schools with sack lunches!

Attached are flyers for their events.

Archway Pony Express program.pdf
Pony Express at Ft Kearny (2).pdf

This looks like a REALLY fun project to do with your students!  If you have wanted to try blogging with students or some other collaborative, global projects, this is the one for you!  Check out this project web site! Even if you only want to try a portion of this, I think it would be worth your time.  This is for students from k-7th grade and it was started by a 2nd grade teacher!  Check it out and let me know if you want help!

http://sites.google.com/site/misschatz/home

Nebraska Game and Parks invite all fourth, fifth and sixth grade students to their 4th Annual Outdoor School Day Expo on either Thursday, May 13 or Friday, May 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The event will be held at Fort Kearney State Recreation Area and is a free educational event.  Over 40 diverse hands-on activities and demonstrations that correlate with Nebraska State Standards in the areas of science, math, history, reading and writing are offered. 

Registration begins January 20, 2010.  Attached is the Teacher's Guide and Registration Instructions.

 Teachers Guide Packet 2010.pdf

Registration Instructions - Fort kearny.doc

I was just reading this blog and I thought this particular group would like what is presented here.  I hope you can find something here that you can share in class or maybe even develop a project. 

"If you really want to honor Dr. King..."  http://stager.tv/blog/?p=870

More links and materials - http://www.vrml.k12.la.us/holidays/mlk/mlk.htm