Kehillah Celebrates Earth Day 2021

Erin Bennett

Happy Earth Day Kehillah!

April is Citizen Science Month and today is a great day to sign up for one of the citizen science projects available.

Citizen science is a collaboration between scientists and those of us who are concerned and motivated to make a difference. People just like you help scientists in different areas by taking photos of ecosystems, documenting changes in nature, or playing games to help advance health and medical research.

Here are a few projects if you are interested in becoming a citizen scientist. You can also find more projects at https://scistarter.org/ or https://www.zooniverse.org/projects

https://monarchwatch.org/calendar/ – Monarch Watch is seeking the immediate assistance of hundreds of monarch enthusiasts (citizen scientists) in collecting observations of adult monarchs in their area during the spring and fall. This project is an attempt to assemble quantitative data on monarch numbers at critical times during the breeding season. The data from these observations will be used to assess their value in predicting trends in the population.

https://scistarter.org/nlm/Globe-at-night-nlm– The Globe at Night project is an international campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution.

https://www.greatsunflower.org/ – you can participate by watching a plant and recording how many pollinators visit, or recording pollinators as you take your favorite hike!

https://www.inaturalist.org/ -Is a free app that allows you to identify organisms and share your pictures with the science community.

https://www.calacademy.org/calcoast Snap Shot Cal Coast- Snapshot Cal Coast is an annual California statewide citizen science effort that encourages people to make and share observations of plants, animals, and seaweeds along the California coast using the iNaturalist app.

Thank you Maria Vicenty, Kehillah Biology Teacher, for this wonderful list of resources!

2 other awesome (Youth-led) climate justice organizations with resources of how YOU can get involved with the climate justice fight:

The Sunrise Movement – https://www.sunrisemovement.org/ – (Youth-led organization/movement political action organization that advocates political action on climate change.) I am a member of this movement/Sunrise Silicon Valley so if you want to get involved with the local chapter quickly, send me a Schoology message.
- Bay Area Sunrise Chapters: Sunrise Bay Area & Sunrise Silicon Valley
- Currently, we are running the Good Jobs For All Campaign. Our movement is calling on every Member of Congress and Joe Biden to sign our Good Jobs for All Pledge, which means they’ll commit to doing everything in their power to pass legislation that ensures the US government guarantees that every American who wants one can have a job building a just, sustainable, and people-centered new economy.
- Sunrise Movement Virtual Green New Deal Teach-In: This Sunday, April 25th – 1PM to 3PM PST
Fridays For Future – https://fridaysforfuture.org/ – (Youth-led global organization/movement with the goal of putting moral pressure on policymakers, to make them listen to the scientists, and then to take forceful action to limit global warming.)

From Video Production Club:

Click for PDF of Earth Day Sustainability & Ethics review

Thanks to Robert Stewart, Kehillah Dean of Science for the bevy of resources on this:

From Rev. Will McGarvey:

I’m writing to you from occupied Patwin/Karkin/Ohlone land. If you’d like to learn more about the Indigenous people whose land you occupy, the information is now just a text message away. Click here to learn more.