KABT BioBlog

For the past several years, I have been working with the Wisconson Nature Mapping program www.wisnatmap.org .  The newsletter below gives the current information.  How can we do something like this in Kansas??

SPRING TIME!!  Tom turkeys gobble, sandhill cranes arrive, fox pups are
born, and soon you will hear wood frogs and spring peepers!!  Celebrate this
exciting time of year by getting outdoors!!!  Then, document your wildlife
observations online at www.wisnatmap.org!!

Please click on this link to open the latest NatureMapping Newsletter,
http://www.wisnatmap.org/NMNewsletter-2007-03.pdf or paste this address in
your internet browser.

REGISTER SOON FOR WNM FROG AND TOAD TRAINING
March 21, 2007 – Wisconsin NatureMapping Frog and Toad Training at Beaver
Creek Citizen Science Center from 6:00 – 8:00 pm.  Learn how to identify the
distinct calls of the 12 species of frogs and toads found in Wisconsin.
Participants listen for calls in the evening when weather conditions are
right three times between April and July.  Data is then entered on the
Wisconsin NatureMapping website.  To register call Beaver Creek Reserve at
715-877-2212 or email Sara@beavercreekreserve.org by Monday, March 19.

Sara Schmidt
Citizen Science Center Director
Beaver Creek Reserve
S1 County Road K, Fall Creek WI 54742
715-877-2212
sara@beavercreekreserve.org

3rd annual Kansas City EarthFest
Exhibitor and Vendor Applications
Due March 21, 2007

This is a great opportunity for Student Environmental Groups!

Join us for The Kansas City EarthFest 2007!
Live entertainment, interactive exhibits, games and crafts will celebrate Earth Day and provide environmental education opportunities. The Kansas City EarthFest will be held on Saturday, April 21, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM at The Theatre in the Park within Shawnee Mission Park, in Shawnee Kansas.

Apply Now! – Exhibitor and Vendor Application

The “Kansas City EarthFest” Exhibitor and Vendor Categories

Not-for-profit organization or government agency (exhibitor only; no fee)
Not-for-profit organization or government agency with vending ($25 vending fee in addition to any table/chair/canopy rental)
Small-scale commercial vendor* ($50 vending fee in addition to any table/chair/canopy rental)
Large-scale commercial vendor* ($100 vending fee in addition to any table/chair/canopy rental)
*Small-scale vendor is less than 25 employees. Large-scale vendors are more than 25 employees.
The application deadline is March 21
Please send your completed application form to Stacia Stelk, Bridging The Gap, 435 Westport Rd. #23, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.
Please note: there is no tabling fee to exhibit at EarthFest 2007. However due to budget constraints, we are unable to provide tables and chairs for participants. Instead, we are happy to rent them on your behalf. Tables (including one 8′ table, table cloth, and 2 chairs) are $20 each.

EarthFest 2007 is a rain-or-shine event
We are unable to provide shelter for inclement weather. For that reason, we strongly encourage exhibitors and vendors to provide their own canopies or rent one, at cost, through us. Please see the Exhibitor and Vendor Application for details.

For complete details, please download an application at www.earthdaykc.org .

Thanks to Paul Adams from KATS online. Here is a great opportunity for biology teachers in KS interested in monitoring nearby prairies as part of their classroom experience. Check it out, includes a stipend and a 10 day workshop at KONZA.

BW

March 14, 2007

To Whom It May Concern:

PRAIRIES ACROSS KANSAS is a program to help science and math teachers use real ecological data in their classrooms. I am contacting you
today to ask for your help in finding those teachers who would be interested in monitoring a native prairie site near their school. The teachers will attend a 10-day workshop at Konza Prairie Biological Station near Manhattan, Kansas, June 18-27, 2007. A stipend will be granted to participants, and food, lodging and travel expenses are covered by the project. Please read the enclosed brochure for more details. Our website will give you an idea of what the program has done in the past years with schools in our immediate area (http://www.ksu.edu/konza/keep). We are now expanding the program to include schools across all of Kansas.

I am asking you, who might be interested in a long-term connection with Konza Prairie, to view the “Teachers’ Workshops” link on our website.
The program involves a minimum of one field trip a year to gather specific data with defined protocols. These data are entered into the Konza Environmental Education Program (KEEP) databases via the Internet and can be compared with data from schools in each of the prairie types across Kansas, short, mixed and tallgrass prairies. Expenses for travel (buses, vans) to the native prairie site near your school will be paid by the project, as well as some equipment and materials.

This year we are accepting 10 teachers into the June 2007 workshop.
Each will be allowed to bring one community volunteer (not another teacher) who would help during the field trip and data collecting activities with the students. The volunteers will be trained along with the teachers. We will work with the teachers to find an appropriate native prairie site near their school and to set up the experimental parameters.

Please feel free to call me if you have any questions. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Valerie F. Wright, Ph.D.
Education Coordinator and Naturalist
Konza Prairie Biological Station
Division of Biology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506-4901

785/587-0381
keepkonza@ksu.edu

http://www.ksu.edu/konza/keep

Message from the president

“This could be the most important message of your Life.  You could be a million dollar winner.”  Newspapers, pop-ups, and e-mails make promises that few people  pay attention to but those few people keep the message senders in business. The business of biology education requires a few talented teachers to achieve the goal of scientific literacy for Kansas and the United States.  I hope that this message can be relevant to a broad range of individuals that embrace the common goal of scientific literacy.  I hope to speak to the veteran KABT member that has been a force in the classroom and community; to the early educator that is beginning to make their mark; to the pre-service educator; and to all University and local administrators that embrace biology education as essential to scientific literacy.

KABT as an organization is at a crossroad.  We will evolve as an organization to survive in the 21^st Century environment or face extinction as dinosaurs of biology classroom.  As newly elected President I feel like the beginning teacher facing their first day with students.  High on expectations, low on reality, and lacking the tools to accomplish even the simplest of goals.  None the less, my idealistic nature sees hope for the future and the hope that I can make a difference.  I am proposing a gathering of ideas and talents that will make membership in KABT a must have resource for success in the classroom. As an organization we can not be content to lead those that are already on the same path but seek out those that are not members of KABT.  We must get out the message that KABT is an organization that is read to support all teachers of biology at all levels and in all ways.

            Key to this goal is the way in which we as an association communicate with members , prospective members and the public. Communication goals should be clearly defined to provide a value for membership and those in the community that support the goal of scientific literacy. We have many tools that are currently available and need only to be sharpened to a razor’s edge for maximum effect. The KABT web site is available for listing calendar events, lesson ideas, and contact information. What else can this site be used for?  Blogs, video, pod casts, picture albums, are currently hot commodities in other venues. The key is flexibility to become what the membership desires. Our newsletter has long been a staple in the association’s attempt to communicate yearly activities.  What improvements could be made in order to reach more members?  Is communication between regional representatives and members better served through mass email lists?  Could this become an effective way to provide value for a KABT membership?

            I wish that all readers of this message could be million dollar winners.  I hope that every teacher can someday feel as rich as I did when I received the thank you note from a former student.  It acknowledged the important role of her high school teachers and courses that prepared her for college.  She expressed that it was upon her high school experiences that she began a journey which is now entering a UC  Berkeley doctoral program.

Best Wishes,

Randy Dix ,KABT President

Over in the left-hand column, you’ll find a calendar of events that might be of interest to Kansas biology teachers compiled by Stan Roth. Just click on the dates that are highlighted to find out more info about that specific event. You’ll also notice that below the calendar is a listing of the next upcoming event. You’ll find the latest complete listing, here.