World Water Day is next Wednesday, March 21^st— and there are plenty of ways to get your students involved. Check out the Smithsonian’s Shout environmental education program—

Shout is an online program that invites educators and students to play an active role in our global environment issues today. The program lets teachers connect with experts in the field, share ideas, and gives educators the tools and resources to get students interested and involved in these major global issues.

New to Shout are Smithsonian badges: Students earn Quest Badges by demonstrating knowledge of environmental topics and displaying 21^st century skills. They can also earn Community Badges by making contributions to the Shout badging community—then they can include the digital badges in their social networking profiles or resumes!

The program also features free online webinars led by Smithsonian experts. This year’s series, “Water Matters,” began Feb. 7–8 with live sessions by Smithsonian experts ranging from a marine biologist to a music archivist. Visit http://www.smithsonianconference.org/shout/schedule/ to check out the webinar archives, and don’t miss the remaining events:

Teacher Preview Session March 21^st, 3pm ET

Water Quantity: When there’s too much or too little March 26-27

To register for Shout, visit www.smithsonianconference.org/shout/program-2012/.

For more teacher resources, visit http://www.smithsonianconference.org/shout/.