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. 

Students will learn about where different types of food come from, why nutrition is important, and how to grow their own food. Students will also learn the basic conditions required for plants to grow, and the importance of human action in maintaining the availability of these conditions.

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.

This lesson uses a hands-on approach to teach about renewable energy with a case study in wind turbines. This lesson also uses engineering design to help situate renewable energy within a practical human society.

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.