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New Professional Learning Sessions from the Beetles Project

by , posted on 9:58 AM, June 19, 2021
The Beetles (Better Environmental Education, Teaching, Learning & Expertise Sharing) Project has created two new Professional Learning Sessions, Adaptation/Evolution and Ecosystems, to support staff to understand and teach each of these concepts better.
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From Beetles Project:

Adaptation & Evolution
The main focus of this session is developing adult-level understanding of evolution for instructors. Unlike most BEETLES professional learning (PL) sessions, this session is science content–focused, doesn’t include model student activities, and takes place indoors. It’s recommended for staff who have experienced other BEETLES PL sessions and who are open to learning more about what many scientists think is the most essential unifying topic in biological science: evolution. 

Check out the Adaptation & Evolution Professional Learning Session

Matter & Energy in Ecosystems
Student activities related to ecosystems, food chains, food webs, food pyramids, decomposition, photosynthesis, and predator–prey relationships are the mainstay of many outdoor science programs. However, for meaningful scientific understanding of these and how they are all interconnected, educators need an understanding of how matter and energy move through ecosystems. It’s a complex topic, so instructors need opportunities to wrangle with it as adult learners to uncover their own alternative conceptions and build their own more nuanced understanding of this critical idea—both to help them teach more accurately and coherently, as well as to help them build on students’ alternative conceptions when they are teaching. 

Check out the Matter & Energy in Ecosystems Professional Learning Session