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Discover the Waters of Tennessee KIDs Booklet Project Announced

2010-02-24T22:01:42-07:00

From the Appalachian Trail and the Great Smoky Mountains to the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, Tennessee's water ways are unique and rich in both history and natural wonders. The Project WET Foundation, in partnership with Middle Tennessee State University's Center for Environmental Education, announces the development of a new KIDs (Kids in Discovery) booklet to be released September 2010. In the style of Project WET’s award winning KIDs booklet series, Discover the Waters of Tennessee will incorporate fun, hands-on activities for students to learn about watersheds, plants, animals and other unique characteristics in addition to stewardship of the state’s water resources.

Image: ©istockphoto.com/sshepard
Burgess Falls, TN

Looking for a Project for World Water Day (March 22)?

2010-02-08T16:35:14-07:00

“Walking for Water” is a school-based program where participating students commit to walking six kilometers (3.73 miles) , carrying six liters (1.59 gallons) of water, to raise funds to finance water projects in developing countries.

Developed in the Netherlands, Walking for Water is a fundraising and awareness concept created by Aqua for All. Participating students are “sponsored” by their friends and family to participate in the walk. Students collect funds in person and through online fundraising tools. In 2009, this program raised more than 1 million Euros ($1.4 million USD) to support clean, safe, drinking water projects.

Live Earth is partnering with this successful program to expand it to a worldwide initiative, reaching students in cities around the world to participate on World Water Day (March 22). Interested schools can sign up via Friends of Live Earth at http://joinliveearth.org/page/s/walking. Once signed up, participants will receive a Walking for Water kit containing all the information and materials needed to organize a walk. The kit will include details/ materials for a classroom presentation to be given prior to the walk and fundraising, connecting the dots for students with the cause behind the activity. Participants will also have access to Live Earth’s online community where they can ask
questions, partake in discussions about the initiative and report how their activity is progressing. Funds raised can be donated to a local non-profit organization working on water projects or a chosen water project at Akvo.org - a site partnering with Live Earth that lists water projects from our NGO partners. Students can follow where their donation goes via Akvo and see their donations turn into clean drinking water. We encourage participants to raise funds for schools in the developing world, and Akvo can support online connections between students raising funds and the projects they support. www.akvo.org/rsr/liveearth

Participating will be incentivized via online recognition and select top fundraisers will be acknowledged on stage at the Dow Live Earth Run for Water events around the world on April 18th.

Goals:

Engage young people, schools, parents, and the community on water issues around World Water Day (March 22nd).
Highlight the connection between water and children’s issues/ children’s health.
Raise funds for NGO beneficiary partners, in particular to allow students to raise funds for school projects in the developing world.

Project Partners include:

Dow Run for Water Live Earth
Akvo.org
The Globe Program
Project WET
Aqua for All
Invisible Children

Project WET Recruiting Field Testers and Content Reviewers

2010-02-01T18:29:12-07:00

The Project WET Foundation is recruiting classroom and informal educators who have attended a Project WET workshop to field test new activities for the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide, Generation 2.0.

Project WET also is seeking subject experts to review activities' content for technical and scientific accuracy.

For their contributions to the Guide's development, field testers' and content reviewers' names and their institutions will be recognized in the new Guide. In addition, they will receive a Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide, Generation 2.0, and a certificate.

To participate, please email Crystal Stein (crystal.stein@wmich.edu) at Western Michigan University. Click here to read more about the field test.

Thank you for your continued support of Project WET and water education.

Sincerely,

The Project WET Foundation Publications Team

PS - Please forward this announcement to any of your colleagues who might be interested in participating!

New Project WET KIDs Booklet: Discover the Hudson River

2010-02-01T18:23:56-07:00

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) just issued a press release announcing the publication of the Project WET Kids In Discovery (KIDs) activity booklet, Discover the Hudson River. The booklet joins more than 40 other titles in the award-winning KIDs series dedicated to helping children discover the scientific, natural, cultural and historical wonders of their world.

The booklet was a joint venture between the Project WET Foundation, New York State DEC, New York Sea Grant, the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation.

As New York State DEC Commissioner Grannis noted in the release, "Discover the Hudson River will be a valuable teaching tool for anyone interested in helping our younger generation to better understand the environment of the Hudson through its wildlife, watershed, history and people." He continued, "It's a marvelous example of the positive work that can result from a successful collaboration between public and private entities."

The booklet is available for purchase at http://store.projectwet.org or by calling or emailing the DEC's Bureau of Environmental Education (dpaeweb@gw.dec.state.ny.us or (518) 402-8043).

Click here to read the entire release.

To collaborate with Project WET to develop a Kids In Discovery (KIDs) activity booklet, please contact Sandra DeYonge, Vice President of Publications.

Read Project WET’s Most Recent Newsletter: Focusing on Evaluation

2010-01-22T18:33:02-07:00

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs074/1102241213309/archive/1102934889279.html

Tell us About Your Project WET Experience!

2009-11-29T17:05:55-07:00

Have you had a positive Project WET experience? Has Project WET positively impacted you? Has Project WET empowered you to take action to help address water challenges at home, school or in your community? If so, tell us about it!

World Toilet Day

2009-11-19T15:52:58-07:00

Today is World Toilet Day, a day for raising awareness about sanitation issues worldwide.

Here's how Project WET is contributing to the solution: In collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Project WET created and distributed water, sanitation, hygiene and disease-prevention education materials to teachers in 1,000 sub-Saharan Africa schools from November 2007 to September 2009 and reached over five million African children.

According one school's evaluation, as a result of Project WET’s innovative teaching methods, the number of pupils and teachers washing their hands after using the toilet improved from less than 5% to over 38%.

Hand washing is the simplest, most effective way of preventing germs from spreading. Proper hand washing helps remove germs that cause disease, stopping many diseases from spreading through indirect and direct contact.

Read more about Project WET's work around water, sanitation, hygiene and disease prevention.

Download our FREE Wash Your Hands Poster

2009-10-14T22:03:22-07:00

Hand washing is the simplest, most effective way of preventing germs from spreading. Help Project WET spread this important message by forwarding our Wash Your Hands Poster to teachers, parents, administrators and child care and health care providers. We suggest printing this poster and hanging it on fridges, in bathrooms and on bulletin boards where others can see it. Because washing your hands helps you avoid catching a cold, the flu or other infectious diseases, hand washing is an important healthy habit!

And, be sure to read Improving Health and Hygiene for the African Child: Project WET's WASH Education Program to learn how Project WET is making a difference by educating about healthy habits like hand washing.

“Since receiving the materials, our mother doesn’t allow us to drink water that hasn’t been boiled.”

2009-07-28T17:40:15-07:00

Evaluation has proven that the materials Project WET developed with funding from USAID are successfully educating children, parents, classroom teachers and community educators and empowering them to lead healthier lives. For example, according to one Ugandan student, "Since we received the materials and brought them home, our mother does not allow us to drink water that is not boiled."

Read the following case studies to learn more about the impact of Project WET's materials on lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

Teaching English to Vietnamese Students

2009-05-15T13:26:30-07:00

Project WET Vietnam recently released student workbooks that teach English through science and math lessons, increasing awareness of the importance of water and expanding students’ English and science vocabulary. These successful materials, which employ several Project WET activities, are being used by 33,000 students (grades two to five) in Ho Chi Minh City’s Intensive English Program. These workbooks have become an official textbook for the students and offer new and innovative ways of learning.