Teachers may utilize the website in conjunction with classroom activities related to science and the local environment. Teachers can enter their classrooms into a contest to win a field trip to either the DuPont Environmental Education Center in Wilmington, DE, or the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve.

To enter the contest, classroom students must create individual illustrations and/or capture photos depicting the beauty of the Delaware Estuary, nature, and its creatures. Contest is open to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms in  Cecil County in Maryland, Salem and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey; Chester, Delaware, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; and all counties in Delaware.

 Click here to review the official rules and entry form.

Contest entry period will run until April 19, 2013, and winners will be notified by May 1, 2013.
 
Learn about the winners of last year’s Clear into a Field Trip Giveaway
Learn more about the Clear into the Classroom^SM website.

It’s important to remember that Earth Day can be every day of the year! Informational booths, hosted by Clear into the Future® and some of its partners, were stationed outside of the DEEC to educate the community on how to live green and help the environment.

Visit the Delaware Nature Society website for more information on this year’s event.

Enjoy photos from the event below!

The ABA and Leica Sport Optics have partnered to create a unique birding experience focusing upon young birders and their mentors in the Mid-Atlantic area. Co-sponsored by the Delaware Nature Society and the Delmarva Ornithological Society’s youth birders, the Delaware Dunlins, the conference will be held on the beautiful grounds of Ashland Nature Center in Hockessin, Delaware.

Striving to bring more young birders together in a rich learning atmosphere, the event will feature a day filled with birding, learning, fun, and friendship. Bird walks will be led by the ABA and Leica staff around the 242 acre preserve at Ashland, along with concurrent indoor sessions for new and experienced young birders alike, allowing everyone from elementary school through late teens to find things of interest. There will also be special sessions by and for parents, mentors, and club coordinators. We’ll also spend part of the day on top of Hawk Watch Hill, where the Ashland Hawk Watch tallies 13,000+ raptors each autumn.

For our keynote presentations, we’re very excited to have ABA’s Young Birder of the Year 2012, the very talented Marie McGee, and Bill Thompson III, editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest and author of The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (all attendees will receive a free copy, thanks to Bill!) and The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America. Bill and Marie will deliver a one-two punch that will have everyone fired up about birding and its potential to enrich and connect us all, kid or adult.

Contact Bill Stewart for more information: bstewart@aba.org

ABA Blog Post: Announcing the ABA Mid-Atlantic Young Birder Conference

ABA Register Link: Events | American Birding Association

Syesha Walley is no fan of spiders. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. But, as the first Peterson Foundation education intern at the DuPont Environmental Education Center, there’s much that Walley has discovered that she does likes about nature.

“I enjoy catching fish in the marsh. I can identify sunfish, minnows, mummichogs, and catfish,” says Walley, a 16-year-old New Castle resident. “I also feed the snakes and turtles that we use for education programs. If anyone had told me a year ago I’d be feeding snakes, I wouldn’t have believed them.”

Walley, who is a rising junior at Howard High School of Technology, said she didn’t really like nature until she had a chance to visit the DuPont Environmental Education Center (DEEC) several times last summer.

Her visits were part of the Delaware Futures program, a collaboration between Clear into the Future, a DuPont community-based conservation program; Delaware Nature Society; and other partners. Each summer, Delaware Futures brings two dozen underserved teens to the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge, adjacent to DEEC, for a hands-on citizen science study of a marsh ecosystem, participation in a marsh restoration project, and exploration of potential future career paths.

Walley stood out for her enthusiasm and willingness to take on new challenges, says John Harrod, manager of DEEC. Then, early this year, June Peterson, the widow of Gov. Russell W. Peterson, decided that the family’s Peterson Foundation would fund a summer education internship at DEEC.

It wasn’t hard for the selection committee to decide to select Walley for this 30-hour-a-week, paid internship. Center staffers say that Walley has far exceeded expectations.

“Syesha does an amazing job with the variety of ages and groups that visit DEEC,” says Lesley Bensinger, education coordinator at DEEC. “She is working with our public visitors, summer camps, group programs, and seasonal programs. Within just a few weeks she was asking to teach summer programs. I am blown away by her outgoing personality and her confidence.”

That confidence was put to the test one recent busy morning. Walley was prepared to teach a preschool program but because of a scheduling conflict was asked if she could instead teach another program, geared to 10- to 13-year-olds.

“I had to quickly get myself ready to teach ‘Fantastic Fish’ but I did okay,” says Walley. “I’ve learned a lot about teaching. Early on, I learned that you need to be able to improvise. The lesson plan is just a guide. When visitors start asking you other things, you’ve got to be ready to answer their questions.”

Walley has discovered lots of new things this summer. She went canoeing for the first time. She learned the difference between a painted turtle and a red-bellied turtle. She has developed a new appreciation for the environment and wants other people to respect the natural world around them, too. And, perhaps most importantly, she has decided that she loves teaching and would like to make it her life’s work.

“By being here at DEEC, I know I want to become a teacher,” says Walley. “I really like the education part of this internship and would like to continue to help people learn new things.”

“When I did an offsite program at Hilltop [Community Center], I had kids saying they weren’t going to touch live animals from the marsh,” recalls Walley. “But I told them I used to be the same way. I said, ‘If I can touch it, you can, too.’”

“It worked. They ended up really liking the marsh creatures.”

The winners, Kathy McIntyre’s fourth grade class from Holy Angels School in Newark, DE; Judy Harris’s fourth grade class from Lower Alloways Creek Township School in Salem, NJ; and Amanda Mazzio’s students at Tender Loving Kare in Newark, DE, visited either the DuPont Environmental Education Center in Wilmington, DE, or the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve in Milford, DE.

The contest was open to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms in Salem and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey; Chester, Delaware, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; and all counties in Delaware.

To win, students created illustrations and captured photos depicting the beauty of the Delaware Estuary, its natural beauty, and its plant and wildlife. The Clear into the Future® program launched the field trip giveaway in the fall of 2011 in conjunction with a new educational website to inform elementary school students about the Delaware Estuary and its unique habitats. Teachers utilized the website in conjunction with classroom activities related to science and the local environment.

According to Peggy Vavalla, education liaison for the DuPont Office of Education and a Clear into the Future® volunteer, every child was engaged and their enthusiasm and excitement was evident during the trips to the nature centers.

“Most had never visited a nature center and they were amazed at the wildlife that resides just outside of Wilmington,” said Peggy. “They observed osprey and snapping turtles as well as a number of frogs and small fish. Smiles covered every small face as they enthusiastically shouted out each new discovery to their chaperones and classmates,” she added.

Kathy’s fourth grade class visited The DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor. She commented that the field trip enriched the concepts which her class learned via the Clear into the Classroom® website.

“My class enjoyed the out of the classroom experience and learned so much about red knots, horseshoe crabs, and the Delaware Estuary. It brought to life the interdependence of this important ecosystem,” said Kathy.

To receive updates about future Clear into the Classroom® contests and events, please visit the teachers page.

Team Johnas Brothers

The Johnas brothers participated in the sixth annual DOS Delaware Bird-A-Thon, a fundraising event where participants count the number of different bird species seen or heard in a 24 hour period. The goal of the Delaware Bird-A-Thon is to raise funds to protect habitat for migratory shorebirds and to fund migratory raptor research along the Delaware Bay. Clear into the Future® has been a sponsor of the Delaware Bird-A-Thon since its inaugural event in 2007.

To learn more about the Delaware Bird-A-Thon, visit: http://www.dosbirds.org/birdathon2012

Learn about the Johnas brothers’ first Bird-A-Thon experience:

3:00am–We started the 2012 Bird-A-Thon near Thompson’s Bridge at Woodlawn Wildlife Refuge. Right away we were greeted by the deep, hollow call of the Great Horned Owl! After walking a large loop, we heard the piercing hoots from a lone Barred Owl!

5:25am–One by one, the birds began to call. We set out to begin the ‘birding bonanza.’ Our bird identification list was adding up quick!

7:00am–Birds such as the White-Eyed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, and Scarlet Tanager were exciting sites to see amongst the various warbler species.

Scarlet Tanager

8:30am–We made our way to Brandywine Creek State Park. Species such as the Bobolink, Eastern Meadow Lark, and Savannah Sparrow were spotted in this extensive habitat.

10:30am–After nearly eight miles of hiking with our binoculars glued to our eyes, and necks twisted in every direction, we finished our first segment of the day with 70 birds!

Indigo Bunting

12:00pm–We arrived at Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge. Observations of Willet, Black Necked Stilt, and a Marsh Wren were made here amongst many other interesting birds. After a fun two hours of birding, and key observations of a Bald Eagle and Screech Owl, we headed south again.

Bald Eagle

5:00pm–Arriving at Cape Henlopen, we were now only two shy of  our original goal of 100! Within the thick woods we spooked several Black-Crowned Night Herons from their roosting site on the tops of some pine trees. A Pine Warbler was also spotted.

Bedtime–In between the noises of fellow campers and a few crying babies, we finished out our long day hearing the call of the Whip-poor-will.

The event featured a nesting pair of wild peregrine falcons and their chicks that live on the 19th floor of the Brandywine Building, in the heart of downtown Wilmington. People of all ages enjoyed watching the fledglings as they learned to fly and navigate the downtown cityscape!

Photo courtesy of Kim Steininger Bird Photography

Photo courtesy of Kim Steininger Bird Photography

The birds were very active and put on quite a show for spectators who were able to see midair refueling from mom to baby in action!

The event was open to the public and provided community members with an opportunity to marvel at a natural wonder in the city. Optical equipment was available for those new to bird watching. The program was sponsored by Clear into the Future® and the Delmarva Ornithological Society, in partnership with the Buccini/Pollin Group, Inc.; Citi; A Bright Idea; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

See our 24-hour live Falcon Cam

Enjoy photos from the event below:

Dr. Annette Shine, an associate professor of chemical engineering who taught inside the sweltering classrooms, thought that a green roof might solve the problem. She contacted her colleague Chad Nelson, assistant professor of landscape design, and their students began researching how to effectively create a green roof.

The benefits of a green roof are environmental, educational, and fiscal. The plants create an insulating effect, keeping classrooms six or more degrees cooler; there is less demand on the HVAC system in the building; a sponge effect absorbs storm water runoff; and students gain hands-on experience in both landscaping and engineering.

Chad Nelson noted, “During summer 2012, the roof not only saved 1150 kWh of electricity, or about 1470 lbs of CO2 emissions, but also diverted nearly 13,000 gallons of stormwater from running into nearby streams.”

With grants from the DuPont Clear Into The Future® Initiative, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and the University of Delaware, the project is officially underway. UD students and local Girl Scouts have begun to move two-foot-by-two-foot trays of colorful sedums, chives, and crocuses to the roof of Colburn Lab, and hope to have half of the roof covered by June 2012.

To view more images of the Colburn Laboratory green roof project, visit the photo gallery created by Chad Nelson, Assistant Professor of Landscape Design, University of Delaware Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.

To learn more about UD’s green roof, watch this video from WDEL’s Amy Cherry.