What'll We Do... Museum or Zoo?

For those of you who came to the ASSET Educator Summer Institute 2009 a few days ago, you received your very own copy of the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture (MPAC) publication, What'll We Do... Museum or Zoo?. Did you know there are valuable coupons and passes in the back of that book that expire this summer? Take the little ones or big ones in your life on a tour! Enjoy the activities in the book before and after your trip. And... redo the activities online from Eight's own Generation Eight!



Then I connected a few other dots to this resource when I opened my email this morning from WNET's Colorin' Colorado to find an online effort from a PBS affiliate to support this same idea!



There are so many incredible things to do right in our own backyard in Arizona. A "Staycation" has never been more fun!

Green Valentines?

I was sifting through my email junk today and found a gem! A welcome diversion that I wanted to share with you all! Have you ever heard of "The Sustainable Sun Devil"?

"The Sustainable Sun Devil" is created for ASU by Grist.org, the nation's leading online source of environmental news. Together with ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability, we will be bringing you sustainability updates from around your campus, your country, and your world.

Something timely in the content caught my eye - "how to be a greener Valentine." I clicked play. What did I have to lose? As I watched, as I hope you will in a few seconds, I thought about all the cool teachable moments embedded within - from discussions with kids about the impact of these valentines traditions on our climate to the ways we could make better use of our classroom time and energy spent on valentines. Why not think up some new spins on time-honors classroom traditions?



AND then, being the good PBS affiliate programming advocate that I am... I jumped to PBS Teachers. I did a quick search in the upper right hand corner for the key word "valentine" and look what I found! Frontline aired a story a year ago - Ecuador: Flower Power - Fair trade roses for Valentine's Day. Make sure to click on the EDUCATOR button on the menu bar toward the right. Aren't these great discussions and timely readings to share with students? Not only do they align with Science Standards but also Social Studies Standards. Explore the related links, stream the 10 minute video. Think about the flat world we live in and how this issue effects us globally, and locally.



Finally, make it really hit home and consider joining Generation Eight for the Generation Eight Goes Green Event - just one week after Valentines! Keep that love going long past the 14th - for the valentines in your life, and the environment that we live in!