School Year Workshops

Teachers exploring their catch at the Hudson River.

Throughout the school year and during the summer, Cary Institute educators provide workshops for interested teachers in the Hudson Valley region and beyond. We are also available to come to your school on professional development days, or during after school meetings. All workshops are designed to align with key ELA and math Common Core Standards. Please contact us to develop a program appropriate for your school.

Registration

To register for school year workshops listed below:

Register online at the Mid-Hudson Teacher Center
or
contact Mira Gentry at gentrym@caryinstitute.org

The workshops are free and open to middle school and high school teachers. For more information contact Celia Cuomo at cuomoc@caryinstitute.org.

Data and Ecology Workshops for Middle and High School Teachers

In conjunction with the Mid-Hudson Teacher Center, Norrie Point Environmental Education Center, Beczak Environmental Education Center, and Teaching the Hudson Valley, we are pleased to offer the following workshops, designed to introduce you to new and revised curriculum materials from the Changing Hudson Project.

Data and Ecology: Hudson River Food Webs

January 31, 2012, 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at the NYSUT Office in Kingston, NY (snow date: February 7, 2012), Course #MST-1112006; registration deadline: January 26, 2012
OR
April 17, 2012, 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at Norrie Point Environmental Center in Staatsburg, NY, Course # MST-1112009; registration deadline: April 12, 2012.

Ecology and Evolution: Toxins and the Hudson River

February 18, 2012, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, (snow date: February 25, 2012), Course #MST-1112008; registration deadline: February 15, 2012.

Data and Ecology: Using Local Data to Learn About Pollution

February 28, 2012, 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at Marlboro Middle School in Marlboro, NY (snow date: March 13, 2012) Course #MST-1112007; registration deadline: February 23, 2012.
OR
April 24, 2012, 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at Beczak Environmental Education Center, Yonkers, NY, registration deadline: April 19, 2012.

Stay tuned for additional workshops to be held in New York City during February and March 2012.

Workshop Descriptions

Data and Ecology: Hudson River Food Webs, for grades 7 – 12

Join the Cary Institute education staff for a workshop based on the Changing Hudson Project. The workshop will highlight recent research on the zebra mussel invasion in the Hudson River and its effects on the river ecosystem.

During the workshop you will:

Learn about complex food webs in the Hudson River.
Investigate changes caused by the zebra mussel invasion.
Learn what current research is revealing about how the food webs are responding today.
Receive a unit of prepared lessons to explore this topic in your classroom.

Ecology and Evolution: Toxins in the Hudson River, for grades 7 – 12

Join Dr. Jeff Levinton and Cary Institute educators for a workshop based on a new module that explores the relationship between ecology and evolution. Though these topics are often taught in isolation from one another, our lessons use the remarkable story of the evolution of cadmium resistance in the oligochaete worms of Foundry Cove on the edge of the Hudson River.

During this workshop, you will:

Hear about the scientific discoveries that uncovered this local evolution story from scientist Dr. Jeff Levinton.
Investigate the rapid evolution of cadmium resistance in the worms of Foundry Cove and find evidence of evolution in data collected by Dr. Levinton and others.
Learn about how Foundry Cove, once the most cadmium contaminated site on Earth, is recovering after a successful Superfund cleanup project.
Receive a collection of prepared lessons to explore these topics in your classroom.

For this workshop only, we are offering $50 gift cards for the first 20 teachers who sign up, and you will also become eligible to become a pilot teacher this spring, which provides you with a stipend of $200. Contact Celia for more information.

Data and Ecology: Using Local Data to Learn about Pollution, for grades 7 – 12

Join the Cary Institute education staff for a workshop based on the Changing Hudson Project curriculum to learn how to teach your students about pollution in the Hudson River and other local bodies of water.

During the workshop you will:

Learn how your students can monitor a local waterway for changes in water quality, and then represent and interpret their data.
Find out how Hudson River pollutants such as nitrates, phosphates, salt, and cadmium have changed over time.
Use local data to decide whether it’s safe to swim in the Hudson River.
Receive a collection of prepared lessons to explore this topic in your classroom.