/news/oberlin-receives-ohio-epa-grant-integrate-environmental-dashboard-urban-school-districts <span>�鶹��Ƶ Receives Ohio EPA Grant to Integrate Environmental Dashboard in Urban School Districts</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2017-02-10T16:10:52-05:00" title="Friday, February 10, 2017 - 16:10">Fri, 02/10/2017 - 16:10</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>OBERLIN—The college has received a $49,689 grant from the Ohio EPA’s Ohio Environmental Education Fund (OEEF) for a pilot project to provide curricular development and teacher training in four Ohio school districts that have already installed or plan to install Environmental Dashboard technology.</p> <p>Developed at �鶹��Ƶ College with EPA support, the <a href="http://environmentaldashboard.org">Environmental Dashboard</a> makes flows of water and energy through buildings and whole communities and environmental conditions visible, engaging and teachable, while also linking these to smart environmental decision-making. The dashboard combines real-time feedback with “Community Voices” to draw attention to positive actions of youth and community members who are already working to build more resilient and sustainable communities. </p> <p>An �鶹��Ƶ team will coordinate curricular integration in Akron Public Schools, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), and Toledo Public Schools. �鶹��Ƶ City Schools, which piloted curricular integration of the Environmental Dashboard with earlier grants, will play a leadership role. The pilot will lay the groundwork for expansion within and beyond these districts.</p> <p>The grant will support teacher workshops, which will create expertise in Environmental Dashboard technology and engage educators in developing and testing lessons that emphasize authentic and active student learning experiences and community engagement. Resulting instructional units will follow best practices, be aligned with learning goals and standards, and will be hosted on a <a href="http://environmentaldashboard.org/edresources/">searchable database</a> accessible to the growing number of schools using dashboard technology. </p> <p>Partly in response to the successful OEEF-funded �鶹��Ƶ pilot, the dashboard is proliferating in northeast Ohio. In spring 2015, dashboard technology to monitor electricity was installed in all 42 Toledo public schools. In summer 2015, dashboard monitoring was installed in four Akron public schools. And in June 2016, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District committed to installing the dashboard to monitor and display electricity, water, and gas use in nine STEM-focused schools. </p> <p>In Cleveland, the dashboard will be used in a cross-section of schools, including a dual language K-8 school, a career tech high school, and several K-8 STEM schools. </p> <p>“Since fall 2011, the CMSD Department of Science Education has focused on incorporating environmental science at all grade levels in all schools. We feel that environmental science aligns with Ohio’s Learning Standards for Science, increases opportunities for experiential learning and provides real world application of scientific skills and processes,” says Kirsten Mahovlich, CMSD’s curriculum and instruction content manager for science, grades 7-12.</p> <p>The pilot continues CMSD’s efforts to accelerate engagement in innovative and authentic learning experiences where students investigate global issues through the lens of their community, and the real-time data will connect students to problems that are multifaceted, says Tim Sisson, the CMSD’s STEM content manager.</p> <p>“The Environmental Dashboard is the next element of the STEM learning matrix the district has been striving to create for the last five years,” Sisson says. “This matrix includes initiatives with local education partners, including Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center, Natural History Museum, Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland Aquarium and the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, along with WKYC supported weather stations and the district’s pK-8 STEM- focused efforts. The matrix provides scholars a connected learning experience where they author their learning and develop their own knowledge matrix leading to deeper learning and meaning for applications in life.” </p> <p>For more than a decade the �鶹��Ƶ community—both college and city—have served as a pilot for developing Environmental Dashboard as a technology and an approach. “For several years we have been working with educators in the �鶹��Ƶ City Schools, and it is exciting to now be engaging with large urban districts which obviously have their own distinct challenges and opportunities,” says John Petersen, creator of the dashboard and �鶹��Ƶ’s Paul Sears Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology. “Using the technology to help students see themselves as connected and empowered decision-makers within their schools and communities is critical at all scales.</p> <p>As part of the project, Palmer Conservation Consulting, an energy consulting firm headquartered in Toledo, is working with participating Akron and Cleveland schools to complete meter installation and configuration of the building dashboards. </p> <p>The �鶹��Ƶ dashboard team includes Petersen along with Cindy Frantz, professor of psychology; Rumi Shammin, associate professor and director of the environmental studies program; Augustus Arthur, project manager of the Environmental Dashboard; and Darrel Tremaine, �鶹��Ƶ’s sustainable technology coordinator.<br> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2016-12-20T12:00:00Z">Tue, 12/20/2016 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2369">Environment &amp; Sustainability</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25351">Environmental Studies and Sciences</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/environmental-studies" hreflang="und">Environmental Studies and Science</a></div> </div> Fri, 10 Feb 2017 21:10:52 +0000 Anonymous 34091 at /news/sustainability-leadership-initiative-high-school-students-begin-oberlin <span>Sustainability Leadership Initiative for High School Students to Begin at �鶹��Ƶ</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:03:39-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:03">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:03</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>This month marks the inaugural <a href="https://www.foresightdesign.org/high-school/" target="_blank">Foresight and Leadership Sustainability Initiative</a> (FLSI@�鶹��Ƶ), a program dedicated to fostering leadership around environmental issues in high school age students that takes place on �鶹��Ƶ's campus. The program, which runs from July 20 to August 2, will see students exploring sustainability from a multi-issue perspective, covering energy and climate, food, natural resources, and, land use, as well as the economic and social, environmental dimensions of sustainability.</p> <p>FLSI@�鶹��Ƶ will bring 18 teenagers from across the world to �鶹��Ƶ. Students will take classes on sustainability and visit green facilities throughout the region including Ohio City Farm, one of the nation's largest urban farms, and Trail Magic, a&nbsp;solar-powered home in �鶹��Ƶ with energy-generating features that allow it to give power back to the grid. While at �鶹��Ƶ, students will stay in Robert Kahn Hall, a LEED Silver residence hall, and study in Adam Joseph Lewis Center, named the most important green building constructed in the last thirty years by Architect Magazine.</p> <p>The program, which prioritizes interactions with "real world" practitioners will find students meeting with sustainability leaders from across the region, including Ted Howard of the Democracy Collaborative and Evergreen Cooperatives, Jim Rokakis ’77, Director of the Thriving Communities Institute at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, and Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Environmental Studies David W. Orr. They will also hear from a number of �鶹��Ƶ staff members tasked with developing and maintaining the school's environmental and sustainability initiatives, including Assistant Vice President of Energy Management and Sustainability Meghan Riesterer. "Working with students, whether it's high school or college, is one of my favorite things," says Riesterer. "Students have incredible ideas and they ask really great questions."</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2014-07-17T12:00:00Z">Thu, 07/17/2014 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">James Helmsworth</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2387">Conservatory Summer Programs</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25351">Environmental Studies and Sciences</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:03:39 +0000 Anonymous 11066 at