Science

The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education (SFE) Grant Program awards grants to schools, nature centers, or other non-profit educational organizations for the purpose of establishing outdoor learning centers. Grant funds may only be used to purchase native plants and seeds.

The purpose of the grant is to provide support for classroom teachers who have innovative, meritorious ideas, but lack the budget to bring them to life.

The Exploratorium's Teacher Institute will put on a two-day workshop for teachers wishing to learn more about sustainability issues. Teachers will examine the use of various technologies and strategies through hands-on activities and discussions. Subject areas will include solar power, wastewater treatment, wetlands as filters, rainwater catchment, green building, and native plant gardening.

The dates are Sept. 11 and Oct. 16. Preference will be given to secondary teachers in the San Francisco Unified School District.

The historian Douglas Brinkley credits William Finley as being one amongst a group of photographers that helped popularize wildlife photography. Growing up in Northern California and Oregon, Finley spent his time roaming the wilderness and developed an interest in birding. He would often collect specimens of rare bird species and eggs.

The world’s largest creatures reside in the ocean, and its depths are home to unusual species whose surprising proportions are unknown on land.

Three educators at Marin School of the Arts and Technology Charter High School (MSAT), near San Francisco, California, are using project-based learning to teach students about the watersheds of the San Francisco Bay region. Media instructor Tony Harris, science teacher Adrianna Smyth, and English teacher Justin Wells, have developed an inter-disciplinary approach to bringing environmental education into the curriculum.

A sharp decline in snake numbers would likely have serious consequences for many ecosystems.

Conservation groups, schools, businesses and governments across the globe are planning events and activities Tuesday to celebrate the world’s oceans, a day of tribute tinged by worry over the impact of a devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.