Current Issue

2022-2023 Current Issue: Adapting to a Changing Climate

Envirothon Special Topic Webinars

Join us for a series of webinars to help explain concepts around climate actions and policies.

Questions can be sent to susan.quincy@ct.gov 

 

 CIRCA presentation: https://youtu.be/aA2IlJu3hjk

–          Last Current Issue Webinar, Putting It All Together: https://youtu.be/Rkpdy9j8x0c

 

Webinar 1: All About En-ROADS 

Look at the En-ROADS Climate Action Simulator and how it can help your students address climate actions and issues.  This workshop will show the levels of information the simulator contains and how students can use it to help prepare and illustrate information for their oral presentations.  We will go over the areas of action and how they relate to field topics and address global perspectives on equity, and technology.

 

Webinar 2: Why Electric?

Jeff Howard, CT DEEP Office of Energy Supply and Infrastructure, will share insight into the choice to go electric.  Often, we hear why electric if we use fuel to make electricity?  Jeff will explain how the switch to electric for cars and utilities works to address carbon and support green technology.  The choice in the fuel supply and how to build a suite of solutions that leads to less greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Webinar 3: Environmental Justice and Indigenous Values

Environmental Justice and Indigenous Values
Join Indigenous Educator Darlene Kascak from the Institute for American Indian Studies,
Washington Depot, CT. Darlene is a storyteller for the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation and traditional
educator with the museum. She will introduce us to the cultural link that connects native
cultures to the environment and is part of their decision-making process and lives. Climate
change has impacted many cultures differently and the balance of solutions is important to
include as we address solutions. How do we include equity in these plans? 

 

Webinar 4: Opportunities and Economic Value in Climate Adaptations 

What are the opportunities for economic development when addressing climate adaptations?
Join members of Connecticut Green Bank as they highlight the economic impacts going green
and green infrastructure offer. Included will be ways investing in green pathways can pay off and
the challenges to making it happen. Click HERE for the presentation slides. 

 

Current Issue In-person Workshop
When: January 21, 2023 9:00am-12:30pm
Where: CT River Academy, East Hartford, CT
● SustainableCT: Video Presentation, Slides
● CIRCA: Video Presentation, Slides

 

Please click HERE to see the 2023 Scenario, Scoring Rubric and Presentation Rules

 


2021-2022 Current Issue: Waste to Resources

Study Materials


2020-2021 Current Issue :  Water Resource Awareness, Connections and Impacts

Study Materials

2020-2021 Current Issue List of References

We recommend these 2 videos to prepare for the introduction of the Current Issue scenario later in January. 

1: Try to solve a mystery as you use this video lesson to learn about groundwater contamination://lessons.projectwet.org/plume-problem

2: the 6-minute video from the list of DEEP resources posted in the Station Training folder, under Current Issue: https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Aquifer-Protection-and-Groundwater/Aquifer-Protection/Aquifer-Protection-Program

Additional Materials: 

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/topo-maps-how-to-use.html 

Using Web Soil Survey, Topographic Practice 1, Topographic Practice 2, Multiple Choice Questions about Topographic maps

Project WET Lesson (Student and Advisor Materials)

Student Materials:

1. Blank community map from the Project WET lesson that we gave to the advisors. This is for students to practice plotting contaminant data and visualize the distribution throughout the mock community. It is in PDF
format.

2. A PowerPoint presentation of a DIY demonstration of a contaminant
plume moving through sand. This demonstration was from the Project WET lesson that we gave to the advisors as well.

Advisor Materials: emailed on 1/15/2021. Please email CTEnvirothon@gmail.com if needed.

1. A Project WET lesson plan (PDF) that allows students to work through a scenario to determine the source of a contaminant. In this case, it is Arsenic.

2. The answer key of plotted data from the data sets provided in the PDF mentioned above. It is in a PowerPoint format. The first slide is the blank map, the second slide contains the map with data set 1 plotted, and the third slide contains the map with both data set 1 and 2 plotted.

Project WET Follow-up Lesson (Student and Advisor Materials)

The slide layout for the students and advisors is the same except that the advisors have the answers on their slides. The previous activity contained a blank and simple town map to see how contaminants can be distributed within a town. This time, we are adding a couple layers of complexity through a topographic map and a very basic soil map. This will allow students to analyze how the contaminant distribution/movement is affected by both topography and soil type. Below is the slide structure:
  1. Slide one is a topographic map with drinking water and drilled well data distributed (same values and more or less same distribution as what was provided previously).
  2. Slide two is the soil map (same values and more or less same distribution as what was provided previously).
  3. Slide three is a table that contains the information that goes with the soil map. It is meant to contain information that you can extract from Web Soil Survey (example: well drained and poorly drained soils with their corresponding symbol, name, and description).

Student Materials: Topographic and Soil Map Activity 

Advisor Materials: Emailed on 1/29/2021. Please email CTEnvirothon@gmail.com if needed.


2018 Teacher Workshop Presentations

Kip Kolesinskas – Farming Forward- Challenges and Opportunities in a Changing Climate (PDF)

Nancy Marek- Using UAS, Temporal Signatures, RGB Imagery to Map the Distribution of Understory Invasive Species in the Temperate Deciduous Forest.  Note- large file, please download.  Give the video on the second to last page time to load, turn up sound, and enjoy!

Additional Resources

How Integrated Pest Management Helps Pollinators in Agriculture – Kim Stoner (PDF)

List of useful and relevant URLS for 2019 Oral Scenario (PDF)

Getting Started on the Farm Plan (PDF)

The Benefits and Applications of Integrating Trees into Northeast Agrilculture By Joseph Orefice, PhD (PDF)

http://www.sccd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Understanding-Pasture-Stocking-Rate-and-Carrying-Capacity.pdf


The 2019 Current Issue was Agriculture and the Environment: Knowledge & Technology to Feed the World

Current Issue Learning Objectives  (From NCF Envirothon)

Visit NCF Envirothon for more information and resource links.


https://www.nature.org/en-us/explore/magazine   —Articles titled “Smart Growth” and “Down to Earth” have content appropriate to this year’s national theme.  They are found by scrolling down on the “NC Magazine” page to the “Read Past Issues” box, then selecting the “Show More” box to  articles from the March 2018 issue.

 
 

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