All resources in EarthGen

The Story of Land and Water (2nd Grade) - Curricular Supplement

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The Story of Land and Water is an early elementary unit. For this unit, we offer professional development training and assistance with implementation. If you are interested in implementing this program at your school or district, please let us know! Please contact info@earthgenwa.org for more information.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Full Course

Authors: EarthGen Washington, Washington OSPI OER Project

In the Dark (MS) - A Curricular Framework

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In the Dark is a Middle School curricular program framework created by EarthGen. For this unit, we offer professional development training and assistance with implementation. If you are interested in implementing this program at your school or district, please let us know! Please contact info@earthgenwa.org for more information. 

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: EarthGen Washington

Agricultural Connections (MS) - A Curricular Framework

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Agricultural Connections is a middle school curricular program framework created by EarthGen. For this unit, we offer professional development training and assistance with implementation. Please let us know if you are interested in implementing this program at your school or district! Please contact info@earthgenwa.org for more information. 

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: EarthGen Washington, Washington OSPI OER Project

Zombie Guacamole (5th)

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Zombie Guacamole is an upper elementary curricular program created by EarthGen. For this unit, we offer professional development training and assistance with implementation. If you are interested in implementing this program at your school or district, please let us know! Please contact info@earthgenwa.org for more information. In Zombie Guacamole, students build an evidence-based explanation of why a bowl of guacamole was found at the bottom of a 25-year-old landfill, still fresh! The focus of this program is decomposition: what is required for it to occur, its importance to ecosystems, and how waste systems are linked to the health of people and the environment. Students develop explanatory models to describe the movement of matter in an ecosystem and work in groups to manipulateconditions for decomposition in an investigation. Beyond that, students also build knowledge of natural and human-made systems of food production and waste management to inform action in their school community to protect Earth’s resources and environment. Through Zombie Guacamole, students can combine scientific understanding, environmental consciousness, and action to become leaders for a more just and sustainable future.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson, Unit of Study

Authors: Cameron Foy, EarthGen Washington, Washington OSPI OER Project

Breathing Easier (5th)

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Breathing Easier is a 5th-grade curricular program created by EarthGen. For this unit, we offer professional development training and assistance with implementation. If you are interested in implementing this program at your school or district, please let us know! Please contact info@earthgenwa.org for more information.EarthGen and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency have partnered to develop opportunities for learning about local air quality (AQ). Using interactive maps, multimedia resources, classroom discussions, community science, and data analysis, students will explore the causes of air pollution and its relationship to environmental justice. These lessons are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and encourage students to engage in argumentation from evidence and propose solutions to socio-ecological issues of air quality and public health for communities in Washington.  

Material Type: Full Course

Authors: Cameron Foy, Washington OSPI OER Project, Becky Bronstein, EarthGen Washington

Youth Fellowship - A Template for Supporting Youth Action

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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.  

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: EarthGen Washington

Climate Change in Every Classroom - Asynchronous Course Template

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In this fully asynchronous professional development opportunity designed for teachers, participants will have a chance to engage with activities and experts as they grow their understanding of how climate change has and will impact their community. Teachers analyze and interpret recent climate science data from Dr. Kat Huybers, a climate scientist and lecturer from the University of Washington. The training guides understanding on the most salient climate change indicators in Washington. Participants review topics related to various themes including air quality, heat, agriculture, and first foods and connect content to their specific subject area and grade level.

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: EarthGen Washington

Climate Justice Book Group - Instructional Template

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This resource is a professional development template for facilitating synchronous learning for educators based on shared reading of a book. This template showcases a book group focused on the essay anthology All We Can Save. Teachers read sections of the book in preparation for each of the four sessions, with the option to focus on specific chapters. Each session addresses a key theme through open-ended discussion prompts and an arts-based storytelling activity. In this template, presenters can reference a sample agenda for a book group session, including example prompts that were provided to participating teachers. We encourage you to adapt the structure and content to fit the needs of educators you support!

Material Type: Module

Author: EarthGen Washington

BIPOC Voices

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The BIPOC Voices project supports educator and student learning about Black, Indigenous, and People of Color scientists and community advocates. This project comprises a set of multimedia resources, including video interviews and an activity guide, that are designed to inspire critical conversations about BIPOC representation, justice-related professional pathways, and the role science can play in helping communities to thrive. Educators engage online with an asynchronous course to deepen their own learning, prepare for classroom implementation of the resources, and reflect on their experiences facilitating activities with students.

Material Type: Module

Author: EarthGen Washington

EarthGen COVID & Climate Change Virtual STEM Seminar Template

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In this virtual professional development opportunity designed for teachers, EarthGen explores two global crises taking place concurrently - the climate crisis and COVID-19. What are the connections between the two? Why are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities disproportionately affected by both? Educators receive foundational information around climate justice, analyze the variables associated with vulnerability, exposure, and risk, and explore educational resources to bring this content into their classrooms.Contact EarthGen at info@earthgenwa.org for more information.

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: Becky Bronstein, Kailyn Wentz, Washington OSPI OER Project

Climate Science STEM Seminar Teacher Virtual Professional Development Template

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In this virtual professional development opportunity designed for teachers, participants will have a chance to authentically engage with activities and experts as they grow their understanding of how climate change has and will impact their community. Teachers analyze and interpret recent climate science data and progress understanding on the most salient climate change indicators in Washington. Additionally, teachers explore the efforts to conserve and protect a local species, its cultural significance and how these efforts are indicative of a greater effort to address climate change. Teachers leave this training with increased preparedness to leverage a local species or climate change impact in their classroom to spur action in their community. Contact EarthGen at info@earthgenwa.org for more information.

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: Becky Bronstein, Washington OSPI OER Project, Kailyn Wentz, EarthGen Washington

Monarch Mystery (Kindergarten)

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Welcome to Monarch Mystery! This curriculum for Kindergarten students is grounded in a local phenomenon about missing Monarch butterflies and is shared through the eyes of a young migrant girl named Violeta, who is currently living in Naches, Washington after moving from Mexico with her family to be farm workers. This unit, while anchored in science, is also grounded in practices of culturally responsive pedagogies that center, acknowledge, and honor the profound knowledge, experiences, historicities, and cultures of migrant and bilingual youth and their families and communities. This also allows the curriculum to be taught in ways that integrate other content areas like English Language Arts and Geography. Ultimately, science is taught within a respective context that promotes students’ sense of belonging and identities. Additionally, this unit, like all units from EarthGen, prepares teachers and students to apply their newfound knowledge toward a culminating student-led action project that supports their community and addresses local environmental challenges of relevance and importance to them.  

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Full Course

Author: EarthGen Washington

Climate Justice League Professional Development Template

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This resource is a professional development template for facilitating a hybrid professional learning community for educators. Through a combination of in-person gatherings, Zoom sessions, and asynchronous activities, teachers learn about climate justice and environmental justice topics that are relevant in their communities. They learn and collaborate with their peers in the CJL and are supported to design and implement a community action project with their students. This professional learning community was designed and facilitated in partnership with Stacy Meyer and Educational Service District 112.In this template, presenters can reference an outline of the learning experience. In addition, feel free to review "Climate Justice League - Community Action Project Examples" to get a sense of the types of projects that teachers implement, or to check out "Climate Justice Gallery Walk" as a sample learning activity. We encourage you to adapt the structure and content to fit the needs of educators you support, especially by incorporating locally relevant resources and examples!

Material Type: Module

Authors: Becky Bronstein, EarthGen Washington