Conferences

Concurrent Sessions

Monday • Tuesday • Wednesday

Monday • August 15 • Session A • 10:30am–11:15am

1. Learning Resources for a Blue Planet

Presenters: Alex King, Kelly Nordin, and Heather Murray
Strand: Watersheds: Communities Without Borders
Location: Academic Building – Biology Lab
(90-minute session: continued through Session B)

Description: Looking for some water-based lessons to use in your classroom? Join HCTF Education for an introduction to some of our most popular water, watershed and wetland resources and programs, including Project WET and the Wonders of Wetlands. Explore hands-on activities that will inspire student inquiry and learning outdoors and get you started with place-based instructional strategies that support the new BC curriculum. Learn more about our GO Grants for field trips and Wild School program and leave with some new ideas that will spark curiosity and wonder about our special aquatic places!

2. Incorporating First People's Principles and Digital Storytelling

Presenters: Yvonne Dawydiak and Mary Holmes
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location:Floating Building – Marine Science Lab
(90-minute session: continued through Session B)

Description: Bring your own device (and we'll have a couple of iPads on hand) for this hands-on workshop. We'll explore the potential of connecting Digital Storytelling with the Science Curriculum to give voice to student's stories and to honour the First People's Principles of learning. During the workshop, we'll work in small groups to create stories with an Ocean Theme to connect with Sc'ianew (Cheanuh First Nation) traditional lands on which Pearson College stands.  Our digital stories will be available online after the conference.   

3. Get your Hands Wet: A Workshop for Marine Educators

Presenter: Reed Osler
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Floating Dock (outdoors)
(90-minute session: continued through Session B)

Description: Join this interactive outdoor workshop to gain tips and tricks that will engage your students or program participants in ocean literacy. Gain hands-on program ideas and activities for all ages to take back to your site or outdoor classroom. Have fun, get ocean literate and increase your ability to connect people to the marine world.

4. Connecting People to their Watersheds using Real World Examples
Presenters: Nicole Gilmore and Jennifer Whipple
Strand: Watersheds: Communities Without Borders
Location: Academic Building – Chemistry Lab

Description: Come learn about how Taylor Shellfish Farms' education program gets folks involved in their watersheds by learning about shellfish and shellfish farming via class visits, public presentations, events, seed sales and lots more!

5. Nuuciq Spirit Camp: Weaving Environmental Education and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Alaska

Presenter: Kay Shoemaker
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Director’s Lawn (outdoors)

Description: Nuuciq Spirit Camp, held on a remote rural island at an ancient village site in Prince William Sound, offers Alaska Native families two weeks of experiencing place-based Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and environmental education. Elders offer traditional skin-on-frame kayak construction, seal hunting, medicinal plant salve making, carving, and dance alongside marine biology, wetland, and forest ecology lessons led by visiting environmental educators. Learn games and camp strategies to use TEK and environmental education in nearly any setting with children who like to explore their cultural traditions alongside outdoor adventures!

Monday • August 15 • Session B • 11:30am–12:15pm

1. Learning Resources for a Blue Planet (Continued from Session A)

2. Incorporating First People's Principles and Digital Storytelling (Continued from Session A)

3. Get your Hands Wet: A Workshop for Marine Educators (Continued from Session A)

4. Aliens Amongst Us—Dissect a large squid and learn about the biology, evolution and mythology of Octopus, Squids, and other Cephalopods

Presenters: Orlay Johnson and Janice Mathisen
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Academic Building – Chemistry Lab

Description: Cut up a squid and see what an evolution's "first" try might look like (blue blood, 3 hearts, and a esophagus that runs through the brain). One way to introduce these aliens is by dissection of a large Humboldt-sized squid. These creatures are cheaply available at Asian markets, dissection tools can be blunt, clean up is easy, and it truly is a alien species whose evolution is both vastly different and remarkably similar to humans. Plus, at the end, we can write a greeting to your loved ones in squid ink or maybe even cook up some calamari.

5. Pacific Northwest Tides

Presenter: Cindy Bryden
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Academic Building – Math Classroom

Description: An interactive student demo in which tidal forces are explained using simple readily available tools. With the use of a hula hoop and beach balls students can participate as celestial objects in a lunar cycle. All 7 ocean literacy principles are relevant depending on depth level of understanding. Music is applied to reinforce safety guidelines with coastal PNW Tidal exploration.

Monday • August 15 • Session C • 1:15pm–2:00pm

1. Aquatic Invasive Species: A Hands-on Approach

Presenter: Sue Staniforth
Strand: Watersheds: Communities Without Borders
Location: Academic Building – Biology Lab
(90-minute session: continued through Session D)

Description: Invasive species are a serious issue world-wide, representing the second greatest threat to global biodiversity after habitat loss, and costing governments and communities tens of millions of dollars in control efforts. Sue will review a variety of educational strategies, hands-on activities and fieldwork planning tools that support students in tackling invasive species in their communities, with a special focus on a new aquatic invasive species curriculum resource.

2. Pulling Together for Ocean Literacy in Canada and Beyond

Presenter: Anne Stewart
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Floating Building – Marine Sciences Classroom
(90-minute session: continued through Session D)

Description: The Canadian Network for Ocean Education (CaNOE) is working across Canada and globally to advance Ocean Literacy. Find out what is happening, share good practices and help shape the future of ocean literacy movement.

3. Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science

Presenter: Gloria Snively
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Academic Building – Chemistry Lab

Description: In most science classrooms Western Science has been taught at the expense of Indigenous Science. This presentation explores definitions of science and principles of Aboriginal education. Attention is given to Northwest Coast examples of Indigenous people’s contributions to science, environmental understanding and sustainability. Curricular connections include the seasons, plants & animals, weather, simple machines, light & sound, climate change, and sustainability.

4. Fitting Environmental Education in Crowded Elementary Classroom Schedules

Presenter: Wendelin Dunlap
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Academic Building – Math Classroom

Description: First I will review components of the Aquatic Invasive Species games I developed for use during recess and physical education. Then I will encourage some attendees to participate in the various games so we can experience playing and learning. Finally I will bring us back together for a Q&A wrap up of the group’s experiences.

5. This is Your Brain on Water: Senses of Place and Placelessness

Presenter: Marilyn Sigman
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Floating Building – Philosophy Classroom

Description: Novelty plays a role in capturing attention and emotional or values connections add to the “stickiness” of learning experiences in memory. We will explore how these concepts from brain and learning science can be applied in culturally-responsive approaches to design watery educational experiences – both to develop a “sense of place” and to provide opportunities for “oceanic” feelings of “placelessness.”

Monday • August 15 • Session D • 2:15pm–3:00pm

1. Aquatic Invasive Species: A Hands-on Approach (Continued from Session C)

2. Pulling Together for Ocean Literacy in Canada and Beyond (Continued from Session C)

3. Place-Based Learning in the new BC Curriculum

Presenter: Lenny Ross
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Academic Building – Chemistry Lab

Description: Place-Based Learning creates meaningful, real world, and personalized learning experiences that engage students in the inquiry process. The new BC Science Curriculum establishes a strong rationale for connecting children to their sense of place through repeated and significant interactions with nature. Learn how teachers at the Strawberry Vale Nature Based School implement this curriculum.

4. Romance, Violence, and Ocean Literacy

Presenter: Richard Kool
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Floating Building – Philosophy Classroom

Description: This presentation will propose that educators have roles in fostering a romantic relationship with environments in order to encourage a sense of caring for biodiversity. We also need to understand the violence our cultures inflict on the natural world and help mobilize a sense of both individual and collective agency towards a reduction of environmental violence.

5. Indigenizing College Marine Biology

Presenter: Annette Dehalt
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Academic Building – Math Classroom

Description: In alignment with Camosun College's Indigenization Initiative, various aspects of TEKW have been incorporated into a recently developed Introductory Marine Biology course: ways of knowing, learning and relating respectfully with Nature, cultural uses of marine life, visits with indigenous knowledge keepers, and an oral circle-seminar leaning on the holistic medicine wheel concept of four directions: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Tuesday • August 16 • Special Session • Evening (6:30-7:30)

Presenter: Graeme Burgan
Location: Max Bell Hall
Description: Coming soon

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Wednesday • August 17 • Session E • 1:15pm–2:00pm

1. Connecting Ocean Science with Indigenous Place-based Knowledge

Presenters: Jessica Brown and Mercedes McLean
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Floating Building – English Classroom
(90-minute session: continued through Session F)

Description: Ocean Networks Canada is actively building the Ocean Sense education program which embraces diverse perspectives of ocean sciences for grades 6 - 12. Ocean Sense is effective both in making ocean science more relevant to Indigenous students by including place-based knowledge and by promoting cross-cultural learning for non-Indigenous students alike. Join this interactive workshop to add to the conversation of effectively communicating the changes being witnessed in our ocean.

2. Gumboot Garden Tour: The Value of Creatures as Teachers

Presenters: Dr. Louise Page, Catherine Carolsfeld, and Laura Kravac
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Floating Building – Marine Sciences Lab
(90-minute session: continued through Session F)

Description: Coastal marine invertebrates possess unexpected behaviours and features that help them to survive and flourish. Dr. Louise Page calls from decades of research and teaching experience to share some of these novel adaptations. Participants will discover the value of creatures as teachers through hands-on, multi-disciplinary interactions with local species; and discuss how to extend these ideas to other educational settings.

3. Stream to Sea - Dive into Watershed Education

Presenter: Don Lowen
Strand: Watersheds: Communities Without Borders
Location: Academic Building – Biology Lab

Description: You are invited to dive into DFO’s Stream to Sea Program with this interactive workshop. Learn about the curriculum and resources offered to “help students become aquatic stewards” and how Stream to Sea supports BC’s new curriculum. Don Lowen, DFO Education Coordinators for Southern Vancouver Island, will share ideas and resources to help you explore your local watershed in the class and in the field. Examples of how to strengthen education programs with community partnerships will also be examined. For more information and a sampling of resources go to www.streamtosea.ca and www.aufildeleau.ca.

4. Understanding Geologic Time and Using Storytelling to Explain the World Around Us: An Interdisciplinary Grade 7/8 Unit Overview

Presenters: Kim Zumach, Michelle Dixon, and Mikki Reintjes
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Academic Building – Math Classroom

Description: This unit walks students through geologic time, from 4.6 billion years ago to the present day. To show different ways of knowing and explaining the world around us, the unit interweaves origin stories from various Indigenous cultures with scientific evidence from the fossil record. The unit features hands-on learning activities and uses a variety of media to engage a middle school audience.

Wednesday • August 17 • Session F • 2:15pm–3:00pm

1. Connecting Ocean Science with Indigenous Place-based Knowledge (Continued from Session E)

2. Gumboot Garden Tour: The Value of Creatures as Teachers (Continued from Session E)

3. The BIG Picture: The Journey Down the Drain, into the Watershed, & Green Cleaners

Presenter: Mary Coleman
Strand: Watersheds: Communities Without Borders
Location: Floating Building – Philosophy Classroom

Description: Understanding the system of wastewater and having a hands-on solution, participants will receive program materials on the basics of wastewater, sewer and septic systems, everyday pollutants, and how to make green cleaning alternatives. Also included is how to adapt the information and make an all-purpose green cleaner activity suitable for adults, school or camp lessons, or event display.

Resources:

4. Connecting to the Coast and Ocean

Presenter: Joy Tally
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Academic Building – Math Classroom

Description: The Oregon Coast Education Program provides online coastal education modules for grades 3-12. The materials help students learn about coastal and marine ecosystems, human impacts and solutions, and how science supports understanding of climate change. Participants will engage in selected hands on classroom activities featured in the modules, and will connect learning to outdoor experiences for students.

Wednesday • August 17 • Session G • 3:15pm–4:00pm

1. (re)Learn about the Environment / Diversify and Decolonize the Environment

Presenters: Kati George-Jim and Denni Clement
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location:Academic Building – Biology Lab
(90-minute session: continued through Session H)

Description: (re)Learning the history of Indigenous knowledge and environmentalism from a different perspective is what our goal is. To PPP, environmental education should have a collective and inclusive curriculum that encourages sustainability and Indigenous knowledge. Our presentation highlights experiential learning and ocean stewardship incorporating youth, community members, and elders. We hope to further diversify and decolonize education.

2. Flow: Art Projects that Connect Local Watersheds to Ocean Health

Presenter: Robi Smith
Strand: Watersheds: Communities Without Borders
Location: Floating Building – English Classroom

Description: Learn about three art projects that use trash found in and along a river to make connections between river and ocean health. The projects can be adapted to a variety of audiences and can also be tied to shoreline clean-ups. Step-by-step instructions, templates and material lists will be provided for each project.

3. Strong Nations Publishing – Discover 3 New Books

Presenters: Terri Mack and Brenda Boreham
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Floating Building – Philosophy Classroom

Description: Join us as we take you on the journey of a river eco-system in these new books from Strong Nations Publishing. From the Mountains to the Sea is a series of three titles. Each targets the Aboriginal Learning Standards in both science and social studies in Kindergarten - We Live Here, Grade 1 - We Share the Seasons, Grade 2 - We Are a Community.

4. Nature Journalling

Presenter: Anne Lei-Yeung So
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Director's Lawn (outdoors)

Description: Spend time out in nature while journalling your experience. Complete a little booklet of your own words or sketches to record your memories, document information, and to begin new inquiries.

Wednesday • August 17 • Session H • 4:15pm–5:00pm

1. (re)Learn about the Environment/Diversify and Decolonize the Environment (Continued from Session G)

2. Including Multiple Narratives in a Nature Kindergarten

Presenter: Enid Elliot
Strand: Connecting to Place: Environmental Education and Indigenous Sciences
Location: Floating Building – Philosophy Classroom

Description: Taking children outside is not a simple act. Beyond the four walls of the classroom are multiple narratives and relationships. I have been researching the Nature Kindergarten in Sooke for four years now. Children learn to appreciate the different stories, biological, social and Indigenous, that are found there. How do we honour the narratives, relationships and understandings that children might find there? How do we provoke and extend our own thinking so that we are open to the diverse perspectives possible in a Nature Kindergarten?

3. How Quiet is the World Ocean?

Presenter: William Hanshumaker
Strand: Ocean Literacy
Location: Floating Building – English Classroom

Description: The biological impact of noise pollution in the ocean is a poorly understood. Though noise in the sea has been recorded using hydrophones, biological impacts by human-induced acoustics are difficult to identify without knowing the baseline of natural occurring sound. During 2015, a hydrophone was deployed in the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench. You now have the opportunity to hear and compare the sounds that permeate the world ocean, including rumbles from deep-sea earthquakes, vocalizations of whales, ship prop’s cavitation, active military sonar, even the sounds of ice bergs as they crack or scrape across the ocean bottom.

4. Connecting the School to the Stream

Presenter: Jody Watson
Strand: Watersheds: Communities Without Borders
Location: Floating Building – Marine Science Lab

Description: A successful collaboration between District of Oak Bay, School District 61, the Bowker Creek Initiative and the Capital Regional District enabled restoration of the section of Bowker Creek through Oak Bay High School in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Key restoration objectives were to ensure safe conveyance of flood flows, improve aquatic and riparian habitat, provide accessibility to the creek with trails and a greenway, and create an outdoor classroom and viewing platform. Student and community input was obtained through a design charrette and the students were engaged in many aspects of creek restoration and monitoring. An outdoor classroom, built into the bank of the restored creek, will be used to deliver watershed focussed curriculum developed to give students experiential, creek-side learning on freshwater biology, urban creek hydrology, and the adaptive capacity of waterways, while contributing to the long-term monitoring of the creek.