Earthwatch Educator Expeditions
Educators are helping Earthwatch to channel in-field learning directly into the classroom - inspiring in their students a vital commitment to a sustainable environment.
Stop Press! Opportunities available for this Summer!
Do you want to inform and inspire your teaching, helping your students to become responsible environmental citizens? If you teach secondary sciences, geography or citizenship in the UK or if you are engaged in communicating environmental issues to young people at this level, then you are eligible to apply for a funded place on this year's Earthwatch Educator Expeditions.
Get a taste of the Educator Expedition experience first-hand by watching these films made with teachers on expeditions in the Moray Firth in Scotland and on the edge of the Cotwolds in England during 2007.
Participation in an Earthwatch Educator Expedition provides a unique, experiential learning opportunity, putting teachers in touch with current conservation research and environmental science happening in the field. The experience can contribute to increased environmental knowledge, a refreshed view of the curriculum, a whole host of new contacts and friends, and new inspiration to take back to the classroom and use to teach and motivate students.
On an Earthwatch Educator Expedition, you will join a team of UK-based educators, a team facilitator, and Earthwatch research staff, and will participate in scientific research activities and group learning/discussion sessions. You will assist in the collection of valuable data, share ideas with other like-minded educators and produce teaching resources/lesson plans to guide and inspire your teaching on your return. Educator Expeditions are challenging in many different ways and a fantastic continuing professional development opportunity.
Latest Opportunities
Project Name: Wildlife Enhancement on a Working Farm
Dates: 27th - 31st July 2009
Currently approximately half the land in the UK is farmed for crops or pasture. With an ever expanding population, pressures on land for food production and development are increasing, often to the detriment of local wildlife. In order to sustain and enhance biodiversity on our farm land, we need to find out how to establish rich wildlife habitats whilst sustaining productive farming.
The project takes place in Upton farm situated on the northern edge of the Cotswolds, surrounded by beautiful scenery and picturesque villages. The farm covers 2,500 acres and a range of habitats including agricultural crop farmland, pasture for sheep, woodland, and meadow grassland.
Upton is an active commercial farm, but also home to a number of experimental environmental improvement trials. Throughout the project you will be contributing to this on-going research whilst also developing your own short research study investigating a particular aspect of the broader project.
To find out more watch the Wildlife Enhancement on a Working Farm film made on an educator team in 2007.
Complete an application form now and you could benefit from this exciting CPD opportunity!
Application materials: Application Form and Information for Line Managers
Now closed for Summer Expeditions 2009
Project Name: Climate Change in Fragmented Forests
Dates: 2nd - 8th August 2009 and 9th - 15th August
Forests are hugely important landscapes and in recent years their role in capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions has come to the fore. In the Britain only one tenth of the land remains forested, following five thousand years of clearance for agriculture.
Climate Change in Fragmented Forests takes place in Wytham Woods on the outskirts of Oxford, one of the most extensively studied forest sites in the UK. The site encompasses 775 hectares of ancient woodland, secondary woodland, conifer plantation, grassland, riverine habitat and mixed farmland - a microcosm of lowland English countryside and thus an area with unrivalled opportunities for research and training.
You will be part of an on-going research programme analysing the influence of climate on plant and animal populations in the different forest habitat types. This research is hugely important in helping us to understand which attributes of a forest are most important in maintaining animal and plant populations in the face of climactic variability.
Complete an application form now and you could benefit from this exciting CPD opportunity!
Application materials: Application Form and Information for Line Managers
Now closed for Summer Expeditions 2009
Further information
Funding
If you are selected for this educator expedition, you will receive a fully funded place on an Earthwatch project in the UK. This includes all food and accommodation, insurance and a grant for return travel to the project. Participants will be responsible for arranging their own travel to and from the project, but Earthwatch will reimburse economy travel costs of up to a maximum of £250.
Facilitated team
Teams are facilitated by a teaching professional. Group discussion sessions and other activities will take place around the project research activities, making this an exciting and challenging experience for those involved. The ultimate aim of Earthwatch, is engaging with educators to assist them in communicating to their students the vital conservation messages encountered through participation in our projects. As a result of their experience, we ask all expedition participants to produce curriculum-linked teaching resources which they (and the other programme participants) can use with their students. Earthwatch also posts these on our website to share with our growing community of teacher supporters.
Personal Environmental Projects
As part of the Earthwatch experience educators are encouraged to submit a proposal to Earthwatch detailing a school or community project they wish to 'kick start' which promotes environmental education or ESD. Earthwatch will be able to provide small grants of £150 to 2009 Educator Expedition participants so get your thinking caps on!
Evaluation of Your Educator Experience
When you return from the expedition, we ask you to complete an evaluation of your experience in order to help us make sure that these opportunities are relevant and useful to teachers in the future. Your feedback helps us design these expedition experiences!
If you have been on an Educator Expedition before...we are sorry, but we need to let others have a go, so if you have been on an Earthwatch Educator Expedition before you are not eligible to apply - but please help us to promote these opportunities by telling your colleagues and consider applying to be a facilitator on a future team!