What Is Your Ocean Connection?

Welcome to National Environmental Education Week (EE Week), an annual celebration of teaching and learning about the environment. Held each year the week before Earth Day – April 10-16, 2011 – EE Week provides educators with resources to promote K-12 students’ understanding of the environment. Recognizing the importance of protecting the health of our ocean and understanding our dependence upon it regardless of its proximity, the National Environmental Education Week 2011 theme is Ocean Connections.  EE Week is providing resources, teaching tools, lesson plans, webinars, and activities to help teachers and students across the country explore their connections to and dependence upon the ocean.  Learn more at www.eeweek.org/ocean_connections.htm.

There are 5 easy ways to participate in EE week:

1.       Incorporate environmental themes into daily lesson plans

2.       Set up a nature scavenger hunt

3.       Help students inventory the many ways our daily lives depend upon the ocean such as for regulation of climate and weather, for food or for other resources.

4.       Partner with a local business or community group to host a clean-up (hint, hint: participate in the Beach Sweeps!)or water-quality monitoring event

5.       Help students identify and investigate their watershed

Congratulations to our Student Ocean Advocate, Brian Geiger of Manasquan High School who won 2^nd Place in the People’s Choice Awards of the Planet Connect Get Green Video Contest!  This video contest is part of EE Week.  You voted for his video, A Step in the Right Direction, a couple of weeks ago.  To take another look, find his video here.  You can see all the other winners and their great videos showing their Ocean Connections here.

We love seeing young minds taking action and showing their passion for the marine environment!