Group items tagged

" Good news on ozone, bad news on greenhouse gases The ozone layer is on track for recovery even as carbon emissions boom. by John Timmer - Sept 13 2014, 2:10am CST ShareTweet 42 The Montreal Protocol, created in response to the decline in the Earth's ozone layer, called for a world-wide phase out in the production of chemicals that were responsible for the ozone's decline. It is perhaps the greatest global environmental achievement to date. And, this week, the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environmental Program announced it was working. Unfortunately, this week also saw the WMO release its annual greenhouse gas bulletin, and here the news was nowhere near as promising, as emissions returned to levels not seen since the 1980s. First, the good news. In the 2014 version of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion, the WMO finds that the atmospheric concentrations of most of the chemicals covered by the Montreal Protocol are in decline. The exceptions are hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which are used in refrigeration, and halon, used in fire suppression. The WMO also noted that there must be some unidentified source of carbon tetrachloride to explain its persistence in the atmosphere."

"The FIDS framework cultivates the I CAN mindset that allows children to believe they are not helpless, that change is possible and they can drive it. It develops the 21st century skills and creative confidence in people empowering them to use their creative agency to design innovative solutions." http://designthinkingguide.dfcworld.com/

"DESIGN FOR CHANGE is the largest global movement designed to give children an opportunity to express their own ideas for a better world and put them into action. Children and adults learn through the Design for Change Challenge that "I Can" are the two most powerful words a person can believe. Children who have discovered this are changing their world. This year, Design for Change reaches 34 countries and over 300,000 schools inspiring hundreds of thousands of children, their teachers and parents, to celebrate the fact change is possible and that they can lead that change! The challenge asks students to do four very simple things: Feel, Imagine, Do and Share. Children are dreaming up and leading brilliant ideas all over the world, from challenging age-old superstitions in rural communities, to earning their own money to finance school computers to solving the problem of heavy school bags - children are proving that they have what it takes to be able to 'design' a future that is desired." - See more at: http://www.dfcworld.com/about.html#sthash.156lf0CC.dpuf

"she had assigned her sophomores a project in which they were to create molecular models. And one of them had asked if he could create his in Minecraft. "

I just joined this Google Group, Minecraft Teachers: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/minecraft-teachers A sampling of their resources and ongoing discussions: Lessons and Activities Looking for ideas? Want to share your curriculum? World Building Are you making your own maps? Have ideas for a lesson world? Mods Extend your game. Talk about the thousands of fun and useful mods to extend your game. Feature Requests What's on your wishlist for MinecraftEdu? What mods would you like to see to help you teach?

I saved this youtube video to our SAS video server: In "Creating is Learning: Building skills and knowledge through Minecraft", David Smeaton (as part of his M.Ed program in Australia) provides an overview of beyond-game knowledge and skills that players/authors are developing in Minecraft communities. http://videonew.saschina.org/watch_video.php?v=NUA5R6GG5N2Y

6 writers offer suggestions for action

teachers share resources and talk about how they use this tool with their students http://www.gapminder.org/for-teachers/#.U2bFe62SxsY

from the designer of this software: http://www.gapminder.org/donations/ Building a fact-based world view Gapminder is a non-profit foundation based in Stockholm. Our goal is to replace devastating myths with a fact-based worldview. Our method is to make data easy to understand. We are dedicated to innovate and spread new methods to make global development understandable, free of charge, without advertising. We want to let teachers, journalists and everyone else continue to freely use our tools, videos and presentations.

"square people" meaning people demonstrating in squares around the world

a critique of Canada's 21st-century learning reform

In 1992, Severn Cullis-Suzuki at age 12, addressed a UN conference. You may have seen a version of this youtube video before. Twenty years later she returned to Rio to speak again on the same issue in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwNICantjJo She defines sustainability as "inter-generational justice".

Interesting project focused on urban design from a primarily economics perspective

Interesting Urban Design Project with ready-made materials. Focuses on Economics

"Service learning programs tap into the interests and needs of both the participants and the communities they serve. While these types of programs vary in terms of their content, struc- ture, and design, there are some key components found in the most effective programs, including: Formal instruction or content-based learning activities; Meaningful youth-designed or youth-initiated activities that translate knowledge to action; Reflection for personal and group growth; and Opportunities for participants to connect with his/her community and the world at large."

http://www.smithsonianconference.org/shout/schedule/ samples of past projects here