Educating Tomorrow

Join the American Museum of Natural History for an educator's evening exploring the science, history, and impact of climate change on Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 4-7 p.m. 

The Museum's new exhibit, Climate Change: The Threat to Life and A New Energy Future explores the science, history, and impact of climate change, and illuminates ways in which individuals, communities and nations can reduce their carbon footprints.

The exhibition provides a scientific context to help make sense of today's most urgent headlines on global warming. Activities include a catered reception, an introduction to the exhibition by curators and educators, curriculum materials and demonstrations, and resources to support field trips with students.

Register now by calling 212-769-5200 so we can see you there! If you can't make it, use their awesome online resources, download their educator's guide and schedule an outing. What a better way to motivate your school's recyclers?

The time has come for the Bronx River Alliance / GLOBE NY Metro's fall water quality monitoring training with Peter Schmidt. If you are interested in becoming an environmental steward, or if you have an interest in the Bronx River's water quality, spend a day learning the basics of becoming a citizen scientist. Students, teachers, community residents, and any other interested parties, are invited to participate. The agenda is full of hands-on learning:

• 8:00: Show up and enjoy coffee and bagels.
• 8:15-9:00: Introductions, overview of GLOBE, and answer the question; “Why GLOBE and the Bronx River Alliance?”
• 9:00-9:30: Look at the river (on map); discuss watershed, concept of “moving target”, triangulation.
• 9:30-10:00: “Which thermometer”, importance of protocols and calibration, calibrate thermometers.
• 10:00-10:10: Take a break.
• 10:15-12:00: Introduce and perform two protocols: dissolved oxygen and salinity. Learn protocol, review what we are testing for and its significance, talk about reasonable values and ranges, and run through calibration and review quality control.
• 12:00-1:00: Make your own sandwiches for lunch.
• 1:00-2:00: Introduce and perform two protocols; pH and nitrates.
• 2:00-3:00: Go to the river and run through the full series of tests.
• 3:00-4:00: Enter data into the GLOBE data base.

Space is very limited. Contact Peter Schmidt, Associate Director of GLOBE NY Metro at (718) 997-4268 or peter.schmidt@qc.cny.edu to sign up.

Havana Outpost's corn is great, but their compostable plates and utensils are even greater. They send everything out for commercial composting (otherwise it'd sit in a landfill with the carrot that'll stay in tact for thirty years or more). Makes me wonder why so many places are putting on a "green face" by offering their drinks and food in and on "compostable" ware when it's just going to sit in a landfill with its non-break-downable friends. How much better is it than plastic? When and if it eventually breaks down--and it will before plastic--it won't leach toxics like a good venti Starbucks mocha frappuccino (a moment on the lips and a hundreds of lifetimes in New Jersey's hills). Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which evangelizes composting, only has trash bins for your BBG cafe eats--they don't even compost it.

Back to Havana Outpost. They have a lot of green events happening. Check out the article in the Indypendent that highlights one such event and Micki Josi's work to get all public schools recycling. The plight of NYC composters onward!