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1. Home
2. Education
3. Planet Stewards Projects
4. 2022 Educator Stewardship Projects

2022 Educator Stewardship Projects Hands-on projects with background information, supporting materials, and student worksheets available to download and adapt.




*Educators who completed projects supported by NOAA Planet Stewards share their stories, innovations, and resources you may find useful in your own education setting in The Earth Scientist — a peer reviewed science education journal of The National Earth Science Teachers Association. The articles include links to background information, supporting materials, and student worksheets available for you to download and adapt. They reflect the enthusiasm, hard work and success of educators, their students, and communities. Find out how you can receive support from NOAA Planet Stewards to carry out a stewardship project.*  View 2023 Educator Stewardship Projects
                    
                       View 2021 Educator Stewardship Projects
				
					View 2019 Educator Stewardship Projects
                    
                    	View 2016 Educator Stewardship Projects
  Projects from the Summer 2022 edition of The Earth Scientist  Increasing Biodiversity By Replacing Lawn With Prairie Plants Prairies are defined by unique soil characteristics, grasses, and wildflowers. They
			provide native habitat for birds, butterflies, insects, reptiles, and other small wild-
			life. This middle school project, supported by funding from NOAA Planet Stewards,
			created a native prairie landscape on a school-site yard where there was once only
			a 2.75-acre lawn. Students worked with community members to research planting
			and maintenance of prairie plants. After installation, students were able to track
			an increase in biodiversity of plants and animals over a four-year span. They also
			compared the biomass of lawn and prairie and calculated the savings of carbon
			emissions due to a reduction of mowing.  Students planting native species. Photo credit: Stephanie BaldwinStudents planting native species.  About the Author **Stephanie Baldwin** is a sixth grade language arts and science teacher at Little Miami Middle
		School in Ohio. She holds a BA degree from DePauw University in Biology and an MS degree in
		Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Cincinnati. She has taught for 18 years in the middle
		school sciences and received the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation Teacher of the Year
		award in 2018. Stephanie can be reached at sbaldwin@lmsdoh.org. Download: Increasing Biodiversity By Replacing Lawn With Prairie Plants  Watershed Studies and Restoration Students in a rural Illinois high school Earth and Space science class were challenged to consider how to better manage our land in central Illinois to positively
			impact water quality. The students learned about watersheds, their local Little
			Wabash River and how our land use choices affect all of the bodies of water it
			empties into. They mapped the watershed, determined its threats, and gained an
			understanding of the effects of different land uses on the Little Wabash and all the
			watersheds downstream to the Gulf of Mexico. Students collected and analyzed
			water quality samples. They also used online tools to determine how changing a
			specific land use practice could impact runoff, siltation, and nutrient pollution.
			Students proposed and implemented a tree planting project to reduce runoff
			from part of an agricultural field of a local landowner. Students prepared detailed
			reports and showed improvement from pretest to post-test about their knowledge
			of watersheds. Results from this project will be used with future classes as the tree
			planting matures  Students planting trees on the pull behind tree planter. Photo credit: Amy BrownStudents planting trees on the pull behind tree planter.  About the Author **Amy Brown** is a high school biology and earth science teacher at Neoga Jr/Sr High School, in Neoga,
		IL. She has taught junior high and high school there since 2004. Amy earned her Bachelor of Science
		degree in Zoology (Wildlife Biology) from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and worked for
		the Illinois EPA for a few years in the early 1990’s. She then spent a few years as an independent
		contractor contacting riparian landowners along the Embarrass, Salt Fork and Spoon Rivers in Illinois
		to promote healthy riparian management. Amy received her teacher certification through Eastern
		Illinois University, and later completed a Master of Science program at the same institution. For the
		past few years, Amy has also been part of a team working on writing NGSS storyline units with Dr.
		Barabara Hug of the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign College of Education. Amy is very
		interested in ecology and conservation, and has always strived to bring real world issues into her
		classroom. She can be reached at abrown@neogacusd3.net. Download: Watershed Studies and Restoration in Neoga, IL  Carbon Sequestration Through Ponderosa Pine Reforestation Reforestation efforts are often cited as one of the 15 most important and effective
			strategies that can be implemented to reduce atmospheric CO2 (Hawken, 2017). The
			project detailed here, is a small-scale, proof-of-concept initiative for a much larger
			and future reforestation campaign in Northern Arizona. This project allowed
			for broad student involvement in what will ultimately be a multi-year effort for
			sequestering CO2. In addition, this project serves as a first step in a potential larger
			Carbon Offset initiative that would be sponsored and championed by all three of the
			State Universities of Arizona (ASU, UofA, and NAU). As part of this NOAA Climate
			Stewards funded project, two-dozen graduate students from the NAU Climate
			Science and Solutions (CSS) graduate program successfully completed a small-scale
			(2-acre) Ponderosa Pine reforestation initiative in the Fall of 2020. These students
			planted ~200 Ponderosa Pine saplings on previously burned National Forest land.
			Future graduate students will subsequently monitor survival rates and carbon
			sequestration. It is hoped that the long-term project will ultimately result in over
			1 million total newly planted trees (approximately 10,000 acres) in the next five years.  Students in the Soil Sampling team taking soil chemistry and pH measurements at the planting site. Photo credit: John Fegyveresi
Students in the Soil Sampling team taking soil chemistry and pH measurements at the planting site.  About the Author John Fegyveresi, Ph.D., is an
		Assistant Professor of Practice in the
		School of Earth and Sustainability at
		Northern Arizona University where he
		teaches content related to the impacts
		of climate change. Additionally, John
		is a research glaciologist and climate
		scientist specializing in the analysis
		and interpretation of ice cores and
		polar ice sheets. He is most drawn to
		research questions that address how
		the physical and chemical properties of
		ice can be used to model past climates
		in polar regions and quantify ice-sheet
		deformation and strain history. Prior to
		this appointment, Dr. Fegyveresi spent
		four years as a Research Physical
		Scientist at the US Army Corps of
		Engineers Cold Regions Research and
		Engineering Lab in Hanover, NH. He has
		also spent nine field seasons carrying
		out research in Antarctica. John can be
		reached at john.fegyveresi@nau.edu. Download: Carbon Sequestration Through Ponderosa Pine Reforestation  Gardening for Carbon Sequestration Anthropogenic Climate Change is the challenge of our time. Unfortunately, most
			educational experiences leave students in a state of despair, missing the opportunity to capitalize on action. In order to affect positive change for our collective
			future, students must not only understand the mechanisms of climate change,
			but be empowered to create positive change now within their sphere of influence
			(Hayhoe 2021). In this project, sponsored by NOAA Planet Stewards, high school
			students learned about plant growth, biodiversity, and ecosystems before investigating how their consumer choices and actions can impact individual carbon
			emissions. Finally, students worked to solve this challenge through the creation of a
			school community garden.  Students working hard preparing the courtyard for planting of shrubs and trees.Students working hard preparing the courtyard for planting of shrubs and trees. Photo Credit: John Herrington  About the Author **John Herrington** is a 24 year veteran teacher with East Syracuse Minoa Central High School located in
	Central New York. John has received the NNSTOY New York STEM Fellowship, the Technological Alliance
	of Central New York award for innovative teaching, is a NOAA Planet Steward, and has been appointed as
	an adjunct instructor for State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry. John holds a
	BS in Environmental and Fisheries Biology from SUNY ESF and an MS in Education from LeMoyne College.
	As an environmental enthusiast, John co-advises the Outdoor Adventure Club, coaches cross country, and
					baseball. John can be reached at jherrington@esmschools.org. **Pamela Herrington** contributed to this project and article. She is a former NOAA Planet Steward and is
    the STEM and science instructional specialist for East Syracuse Minoa Central School District. Download: Gardening for Carbon Sequestration  Water and Climate Stewards of San Diego Bay In partnership with the Climate Science Alliance, the San Diego Coastkeeper
			education team developed new climate change lessons and activities to demonstrate the connection between human activities and greenhouse gases and climate
			change impacts in our oceans. Thanks to the generous support from NOAA Planet
			Stewards, the project was able to bring a Water and Climate Stewards program
			to approximately 944 4th-12th grade students at eight schools within San Diego
			County. Through one-on-one meetings with teachers and students, classroom
			presentations, online lesson plans, free supplies and action projects, students
			gained a better understanding of San Diego’s ecology and the threats that our
			environment and community face from pollution and climate change. Students
			developed a sense of stewardship towards San Diego’s habitats and wildlife and
			learned specific actions they can take to protect our natural resources, reduce
			their single-use plastic consumption, and create positive change in their communities. Teachers gained free access to standards-aligned lesson plans that meet Next
			Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards, enhancing their
			curriculum with environmental science education.  Students ready to embark on Schoolship to collect data that monitors the health of Lake Michigan in Suttons Bay. 4th-5th grade students from Bayside Elementary learned about
			the San Diego Bay tidelands and pollution sources during an outdoor field trip with the Earth Discovery Institute to Imperial beach.4th-5th grade students from Bayside Elementary learned about
				the San Diego Bay tidelands and pollution sources during an outdoor field trip
				with the Earth Discovery Institute to Imperial beach.  About the Author **Sandra Lebrón**, MS in Marine Science, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, is the former San Diego Coastkeeper Education Manager.
        She is the current Director of Education at the Elementary Institute of Science where she serves the Southeast San
		Diego schools to provide STEM opportunities for underrepresented students in STEM. Sandra has been working in science education for 20
		years with organizations like the National Estuarine Research Reserve, NOAA’s Sea Grant College Program, Birch Aquarium at Scripps, and
		the Living Coast Discovery Center. She is passionate about environmental education and STEM equity. She enjoys spending time with her
        15-year-old son, friends, and family, and enjoys the beach as much as possible! Sandra can be reached at slebron@eisca.org Download: Water and Climate Stewards of San Diego Bay  Environmental Stewardship on St. Paul Island, Alaska The Planet Stewards Program is invaluable for connecting teachers and informal
				educators who are passionate about instilling the value of environmental stewardship
				in students. A team from the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal
				Government developed a curriculum for middle school students at the St. Paul
				Island School in Alaska about marine debris issues that helped them find small-scale
				solutions within their community. We created original lesson plans that utilized
				materials from marine debris experts around the world, and coordinated with
				them to provide virtually visits to students from the school to talk about their work.
				Piloting this curriculum required high levels of communication and collaboration
				with teachers at the St. Paul Island School and the Covid-19 pandemic provided challenges.
				As a result, our first attempt to deliver the curriculum was done in a hybrid
				format in which the teacher was in the classroom with the students on St. Paul
				Island, and presenters visited the classroom virtually via video conference to talk
				to students and lead classroom activities. We learned many valuable lessons about
				working with teachers and students in a small rural Alaskan community, and hope
				to pass along those lessons for teachers and informal STEM educators in other parts
				of the country.  The debris removed during the May 2019 cleanup was taken to the landfill and sorted by category before being weighed.The debris removed during the May 2019 cleanup was taken to the landfill and sorted by category before being weighed.  About the Author **Veronica Padula** is the Assistant Director of the Ecosystem Conservation Office, the research and
		resource management branch of the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government. Her graduate
		research focused on the impacts of marine debris in the Bering Sea Ecosystem. She worked with an
		amazing team of educators to develop the marine debris curriculum discussed here: Haley Edmondson,
        Herminia Din, Quin Fitzpatrick and Katy Nalvin. Veronica can be reached at vmpadula@alaska.edu. Download: Environmental Stewardship on St. Paul Island, Alaska
 Subscribe to Our Mailing List Subscribe to the NOAA Planet Stewards mailing list to receive announcements about the program and our bi-monthly newsletter, *The Watch*, which offers professional development opportunities, educational resources, and much more!   The Watch: Newsletter Archives    Table of Contents 2022 Projects Increasing Biodiversity By Replacing Lawn With Prairie Plants

                        Watershed Studies and Restoration
                        
                        Carbon Sequestration Through Ponderosa Pine Reforestation
                        
                           Gardening for Carbon Sequestration


                        Water and Climate Stewards of San Diego Bay
                        
                        
                        Environmental Stewardship on St. Paul Island, Alaska


                     

                      


 	 

				
					
					
					
					
					2022 edition of The Earth Scientist: Download Complete Issue
					
					
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