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 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. 

Shellfish like oysters and clams are an important part of Washington State native traditions, the economy and coastal ecosystems. Shellfish have faced and continue to face many challenges including overfarming, pollution and ocean acidification. Shellfish also have an important role in addressing these challenges because of their ability to provide habitat for other species and filter pollutants, bacteria and excess nutrients from the water.In this unit students learn about the stakeholders, history, economics and cultural importance of shellfish in the Puget Sound/Salish Sea regions. Then they learn about how shellfish interact with their environment and their importance in local ecosystems. Finally they learn about some of the current environmental challenges and some solutions linked to shellfish. They will create a persuasive product from the viewpoint of one of the stakeholder groups. They should argue from evidence why shellfish are important to that group and what should be done with shellfish in the future. 

Hands-on outdoor lesson plan for students to understand the meaning and components of climate change, and engineer and model how greenhouse gasses cause heat trapping.

Students will be exploring the idea of ecosystems and wildfires. They will become familiar with what an ecosystem is and how to keep them healthy. Students will also see the positive and negative effects of wildfires on ecosystems. Also how wildfires influence the local government and federal government when it comes to land management.

An important need in climate education is to include youth voices in the planning and development of climate science education programs across Washington. EarthGen’s Youth Fellowship hosts a small group of high school students in service to this need.  Fellows complete approximately 50 hours of training, research, and implementation over the course of the school year. In the first part of their fellowship, youth receive approximately 20 hours of training about climate change and climate justice in asynchronous and synchronous formats. During the second part of their fellowship, the youth develop a research question and collect data on what students across Washington would like to see included in climate science education. Data collection includes focus groups, interviews, and surveys. At the culmination of the experience, Youth Fellows analyze their findings and share their results in a creative format. Each youth has an adult sponsor to support their work and are awarded a stipend.