This document provides a simplified version of an investigation that uses quadrats to compare habitats in your schoolyard. Depending on your focus, the activity can be adapted to compare the diversity or amount of ground insects, invertebrates or plants in two areas. Students use the Next Generation Science Standards’ Planning and Carrying Out Investigations practice and the Cause and Effect and/or Stability and Change crosscutting concepts to build understanding of the needs of animals, differences in ecosystems and/or change in ecosystems.

This is a mapping activity that uses the student’s schoolyard to investigate how rain/stormwater interacts with different surfaces and where stormwater problems may occur. Students use Next Generation Science Standards’ Science and Engineering Practices in a near-by, relevant place.

This professional development course is a series of Next Generation Science Standards-focused workshops developed by IslandWood with funding from the OSPI ClimeTime Grant. A PowerPoint slide deck and accompanying handouts are available to supplent the course outline.

Taking students into the field to conduct authentic science brings science to life. This document shares resources used to facilitate a field experience for 5th grade students both in the classroom and out in the field around a Washington State listed endangered species, the sharp-tailed grouse. The field event took place at the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area near Conconully, WA but the resource can be used and adapted for other locations and other focus species. This resource can be a guide in developing your own STEAM in the field experience for students.

The Second Grade Elementary Framework for Science and Integrated Subjects, How Can Dams Change the Land Around Them, uses a local phenomena of impact of the Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River and a crack in that dam to understand erosion and changes in the landscape.  It is part of Elementary Framework for Science and Integrated Subjects project, a statewide Clime Time collaboration among ESD 123, ESD 105, North Central ESD, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Development of the resources is in response to a need for research- based science lessons for elementary teachers that are integrated with English language arts, mathematics and other subjects such as social studies. The template for Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects  can serve as an organized, coherent and research-based roadmap for teachers in the development of their own NGSS aligned science lessons.  Lessons can also be useful for classrooms that have no adopted curriculum as well as to serve as enhancements for  current science curriculum. The EFSIS project brings together grade level teams of teachers to develop lessons or suites of lessons that are 1) pnenomena based, focused on grade level Performance Expectations, and 2) leverage ELA and Mathematics Washington State Learning Standards.

 This inquiry unit leads students through the different perspectives behind a decision to have a dam removed. This unit looks at similar Washington state dam removal decisions as well as the complex issue of having the Election dam removed near Puyallup, WA. Students will be introduced to the stories and traditional ways of knowing about salmon that the Puyallup Tribe has built their culture upon. Then they will explore the science behind hydroelectricity and build models to discover how carbon neutral energy is gathered through hydro dams. This inquiry unit ends with students researching different perspectives surrounding the current (2021) decision to remove the Electron dam including: the Tribe’s Fishery department, the ecosystem, the city council, the fishermen and the hydro-electrical company who currently owns the dam. With their research, students will do a socratic seminar to mimic the court case lawsuit that is ongoing against the Electron Dam. 

Lesson plan to explore how snow crystals form, atmospheric conditions that influence crystal morphology. Makes connections crystals, snow density and water content

This lesson from Common Thread Farms is geared for elementary ages, grades 1-4. It introduces students to erosion and then challenges them to implement a design that will mitigate erosion on a model dirt mountain.

Spat, What's That? is a lesson on intertidal organism life cycles which explores how different life cycle stages are vulnerable to stressors like predation, ocean acidification, and habitat loss.

This lesson will introduce solar power, how it works, and energy storage to students through hands on materials and activities. It will also foster an understanding of renewable energy and how we can use renewable energy to power our cities.

The “Systems Are Everywhere” module was originally written for high school science teachers or counselors to use in any setting (in class or in extracurricular programs). However, during field-testing, we found that many elementary and middle school teachers were able to use these lessons successfully with their students. The module is made up of three lessons that serve to foster students’ understanding of systems, systems models, and systems thinking at every level of learning and across many content areas. Blended throughout the lessons are career connections that will introduce students to diverse systems thinkers in STEM, and provide context for how systems approaches are used in real life to address complex problems. The lessons and module can be used as a stand-alone set of activities or can be integrated into any course as an extension or enrichment.

The module begins with students modeling a complex system. Students will brainstorm and sketch the parts and connections of the system, then use an online tool (Loopy) to model the interactions of those parts and connections. Next, students will develop their understanding of systems thinking skills and their application for addressing problems and solutions. Then, students will apply their knowledge and skills to model a system of their choosing. Lastly, they will showcase their skills by creating a student profile and integrating their systems thinking skills into a resume.

Target Audience
This is our introductory module that we recommend teaching before each of our other modules to give students a background in systems and to help them understand the many careers available in STEM. This module can be applied easily to any content area and works best as written for students between 6th and 12th grades but can be adapted for other ages. It works very well when teaching virtually and in-person. If you are looking for an introduction to systems that can be delivered in-person with more kinesthetic activities, please see our Introduction to Systems module. The Intro to Systems module works best with 8-12 grade students, though can be used with some modifications for 6-7th graders. This Systems are Everywhere module can work well for elementary through secondary grades.

The Third Grade Elementary Framework for Science and Integrated Subjects, Weather, uses the phenomena of extreme weather events.  It is part of Elementary Framework for Science and Integrated Subjects project, a statewide Clime Time collaboration among ESD 123, ESD 105, North Central ESD, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Development of the resources is in response to a need for research- based science lessons for elementary teachers that are integrated with English language arts, mathematics and other subjects such as social studies. The template for Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects  can serve as an organized, coherent and research-based roadmap for teachers in the development of their own NGSS aligned science lessons.  Lessons can also be useful for classrooms that have no adopted curriculum as well as to serve as enhancements for  current science curriculum. The EFSIS project brings together grade level teams of teachers to develop lessons or suites of lessons that are 1) pnenomena based, focused on grade level Performance Expectations, and 2) leverage ELA and Mathematics Washington State Learning Standards.

Students will compare the basis of the derivatives for different plastics in order to determine their expected carbon-14 content. They will then compare ratios of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in plastic samples and categorize the sample according to its percent bio-based composition. Teacher Background Information: This lesson is more of a context design to be used with an existing nuclear chemistry lesson plan. The goal is for students to see the applicability of nuclear chemistry beyond carbon-dating by showing how carbon-dating can be used to determine the carbon sources of products.  Students will need a basic understanding of the carbon cycle, and nuclear equations. The lesson will need students to learn about half-lives halfway through the lesson and that is left open to teach as you wish. There is room for extension to mass spectrometry if you want to incorporate it here for AP Chemistry or as an honors extension. I would suggest using the Flinn POGIL on Mass Spectrometry.   

The materials in this collection provide the slides and handouts used for a three day, elementary teacher, professional learning event.  During this event, teachers practiced modeling their thinking about air pollution from recent Pacific Northwest fires.  We used this phonemena to explore ways to help students make their thinking visible (modleing the system) and track changes in thinking over time (summary tables).  We also worked on listening to student discourse to identify student ideas and consider moves to press on their thinking.  This was an NGSS pedagogy workshop series using air pollution as the phenomena to explore supportive teaching strategies. 

Incorporating your schoolyard into your classroom can be a powerful tool for making learning meaningful and engaging for your students. Local and relevant phenomena can engage your student’s prior understandings, better connect to their interests and identities, and help in draw in students who don’t see science, reading or writing connecting to their lives.  This online course is a series of professional development workshops for Early Elementary (K-2) educators, developed by IslandWood with funding from the OSPI ClimeTime Grant. A slide deck and accompanying handouts supplement the course outline for a complete picture. 

These five modules introduce secondary science teachers to a powerful resource, from the Washington State Department of Health, entitled the “Washington Tracking Network” (WTN).  This is a tool for mapping (a) the distribution of numerous factors that influence public health, and (b) the inequitable distribution of health outcomes. This wonderful system naturally invites us to inquire about the intersections of biological, societal, and environmental issues. The overarching goal of these five  modules is to support teachers to design student activities that (1) inspire and connect students to real world health & environmental data, and each other, (2) promote clean air, land, and water, (3) promote the use of the Washington Tracking Network data mapping system, (4) support equitable, 3-dimensional learning, including the use of community wisdom to solve public health issues, and (5) use science for student action and leadership in response to current and historical misuses of science. These modules were created in collaboration with epidemiologists and communications professionals from the Washington Department of Health.

Purpose of UnitThe purpose of this Climate Science NTC Project GLAD® unit is a call to action, providing equity of access for all students. Through a model of instruction that promotes language development within core content, the Voices of Hope unit teaches students the science behind climate change and equips them with the tools necessary toward making a positive impact on our planet. This unit was written for 4th - 7th grade.

This Climate Justice Storyline includes four lessons which support middle school students (grades 6-8) in exploring issues of water scarcity and access to clean water.

This elementary storyline developed for remote and hybrid teaching was made available through the Growing Elementary Science Project a part of the Washington State ClimeTime initiative. This storyline is developed for 3-5 grade students and presents a weather phenomena in the form of a annual precipitation map from Washington State. Students analyze and interprete the graphical representation and ask questions about the difference between weather and climate. The storyline builds interest and student engagement through an interesting phenomena and then supprorts investigation to consider what is weather and what is climate.

This professional development course consists of a series of workshops focused on NGSS-aligned & local phenomenon-centered curriculum, developed by IslandWood with funding from the OSPI ClimeTime Grant. It is currently structured to be delivered online and for Upper Elementary (3-5) educators. A slide deck and accompanying handouts are available to complement the course outline.