November 7, 2022

National Park Service urges visitors not to lick toxic psychedelic toads

NBC News
Nov. 7, 2022, 1:11 PM EST
By Doha Madani

While some may be tempted to offer the Sonoran Desert Toad a kiss, the National Park Service urged visitors to leave the potentially deadly amphibians alone.

In a Facebook post last week, the government agency warned visitors against licking the toads if they stumble across them. It's unclear whether there was a specific instance to prompt the advisory, but "here we are," the National Park Service wrote.

"These toads have prominent parotoid glands that secrete a potent toxin," the post said. "It can make you sick if you handle the frog or get the poison in your mouth."

It might appear strange that anyone would be tempted to lick an amphibian outside of a fairytale, but this particular toad has been in high demand, according to a New York Times report earlier this year.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/national-park-service-urges-visitors-not-lick-toxic-psychedelic-toads-rcna56026

November 7, 2022

NJ requires all schools to teach climate change in all grades

In one state, every class teaches climate change — even P.E.

Washington Post
By Caroline Preston
November 5, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

(excerpt)

Two years ago, New Jersey became the first state in the country to adopt learning standards obligating teachers to instruct kids about climate change across grade levels and subjects. The standards, which went into effect this fall, introduce students as young as kindergartners to the subject, not just in science class but in the arts, world languages, social studies and physical education. Supporters say the instruction is necessary to prepare younger generations for a world — and labor market — increasingly reshaped by climate change.

“There’s no way we can expect our children to have the solutions and the innovations to these challenges if we’re not giving them the tools and resources needed here and now,” said Tammy Murphy, the wife of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and a founding member of former vice president Al Gore’s Climate Reality Action Fund, who pushed to get the standards into schools. Just as students must be able to add and subtract before learning calculus, she said, kids need to understand the basics of climate change — the vocabulary, the logic behind it — before they can tackle the climate crisis.

Historically, climate change has not been comprehensively taught in U.S. schools, largely because of the partisanship surrounding climate change and many teachers’ limited grasp of the science. That started to change in 2013, with the release of new national science standards, which instructed science teachers to introduce students to climate change and its human causes starting in middle school. Still, only 20 states have adopted the standards. Other states may not mention the human causes of the crisis, and a few even promote falsehoods about it, according to a 2020 report from the National Center for Science Education and Texas Freedom Network Education Fund.

Even in New Jersey, many teachers said they lacked confidence in their knowledge of the subject in a 2021 survey. The state has set aside $5 million for lesson plans and professional development, and it is enlisting teachers like Horsley, who holds a master’s degree in outdoor education and has a passion for the environment, to develop model lessons.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/11/05/new-jersey-climate-change-education-schools/

This is what we need in every state - WB

EDIT: Reading about NJ's environmental education program gives me such joy!

More than 30 years ago I prodded my daughter's elementary school in NJ to do something for Earth Day, since there was no effort to include environmental education in the curriculum.. I was active in PTA and we worked it out with the principal that each class in the K-3 school would do a modest project on some aspect of the environment. I donated money for prizes to be awarded by the principal, but asked that the source be anonymous.

The school music teacher and I composed something we called the "Earth Day Song" and she taught everyone to sing it.

The projects were put on display and there was an awards assembly at which the winning class in each grade won prize money. Everyone sang the Earth Day song, and the projects were wonderful, though I can't remember them in detail now. The winning kids, projects and teachers got their pictures in two local newspapers. I'd like to hope that some of the participants learned something from it.

November 5, 2022

And the fun begins ...