Students will discover the carbon component in soils, the role carbon plays in soil health, and the role that regenerative agriculture practices play in soil health and climate change.
Material Type: Unit of Study
Students explore the phenomena of how a tree gets its mass. They are encouraged to think back to what they know about photosynthesis and explain what they know and what they wonder about the phenomena of a seed transforming into a large tree and having mass. Specifically, carbon is taken in from the atmosphere in the form of CO2 and transformed into glucose to provide energy and ultimately building material (cellulose). In this storyline, carbon sequestration refers to the removal of carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. Carbon storage refers to the amount of carbon bound up in woody material above and below ground. Carbon sequestration occurs in trees, other plants, the ocean, and soil. Not all plants sequester the same amount of carbon, for example, there’s a difference in the amount of carbon sequestered between young and old trees, and between different species of trees. This has implications for working forests and old growth forests. Using information from this storyline, students will draw conclusions about the value of managing forests to benefit human needs and natural needs.
Material Type: Unit of Study
Food waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas. Wasted food and the resources to produce that food are responsible for approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In this storyline, students learn about the resources required to produce food through following the carbon cycle and discover how food waste contributes to climate change. They will also learn the farm to table transport chain as well as how to conduct a food waste audit. Finally, the students will research solutions to the problem of food waste that can be applicable to their own lives, their school, and their community.
Material Type: Unit of Study
Wildfires are a contributing factor to greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists estimate that wildfires emitted 8 billion tons of CO2 per year for the past 20 years. Wildfires have risks and benefits that humans are impacted by. In this storyline, students will learn about the risks and benefits of wildfires, the science behind how fire occurs and the conditions that make a fire catastrophic. Students will evaluate local/regional fires to determine how human activities contribute to wildfires. Students will research how forest management decisions are made to decrease the negative impacts of wildfires and to decrease the amount of CO2 that is emitted from those fires.
Material Type: Unit of Study
The High School Integrated Conceptual Science Program (ICSP) is a NGSS-aligned curriculum that utilizes the conceptual progressions model for bundling of the NGSS, High School Conceptual Model Course 1 and strategies from Ambitious Science Teaching (AST) to focus on teaching practices needed to engage students in science discourse and learning. Course 1 is the High School Integrated Physics and Chemsitry Course. The goal of these units is to encourage students to continue in STEM by providing engaging and aligned curriculum. The focus of this year long course is on the first year of high school (freshman). While the course is designed to be taught as a collection of the units, each unit could be taught as a separate unit in a science course. A video about the new course shared its unique approach to learning and teaching. Wenatchee School District, one of the participating districts, wanted a way to share the program with the community. https://youtu.be/9AGk19YUi2oCourse 1 of the ICSP development was funded by Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pipeline (NESSP) which is funded through the NASA Science Mission Directorate and housed with Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium at the University of Washington.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Full Course, Lesson, Module, Unit of Study
The students will be introduced to a historical account of global climate change and the human events that may have impacted those changes. Fire has been used by humans throughout history to modify their environment, particularly forests, for human benefit. Over time, the management of forests has changed and the result is an increase in catastrophic wildfires. This storyline explores the use of fire as a forest management tool to improve the health of forests thereby decreasing the incidence of catastrophic fires and the role fire plays in climate change.
Material Type: Unit of Study
Students will be learning about the practices of regenerative agriculture and how regenerative agriculture is a solution to climate change. Embedded in the storyline are scientific concepts relating to carbon cycling and soil microbial activity. The storyline culminates with students creating an infographic that is intended for educating the community about regenerative agricultural practices.
Material Type: Unit of Study
Food waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas. Wasted food and the resources to produce that food are responsible for approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In this storyline, students learn about the resources required to produce food through following the carbon cycle and discover how food waste contributes to climate change. They will also learn the farm to table transport chain as well as how to conduct a food waste assessment. Finally, the students will research solutions to the problem of food waste and, as a final project, present one solution that they have thoroughly researched that can be applicable to their community. For CTE teachers, this storyline provides the basic knowledge needed to develop a deep understanding of WHY reducing food waste is an important solution to climate change. There are several potential extensions that Family Consumer Science teachers can utilize as well as Ag teachers and even Business teachers. There is a partial list at the end of the learning progressions.
Material Type: Unit of Study
The goal of the high school carbon sequestration in forests storyline is to build on the science of carbon sequestration from the middle school storyline. In this storyline, carbon sequestration refers to the removal of carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. Carbon storage refers to the amount of carbon bound up in woody material above and below ground. High school students will develop an understanding of the variables and considerations that arise from managing forests for different purposes including carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services.
Material Type: Unit of Study
While food waste is not typically seen as contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, it is a major contributor. Reducing food waste ranks as the 3rd most beneficial drawdown solution. Wasted food, and the resources to produce that food, are responsible for approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. When individuals and groups reduce food waste, it has a huge impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste awareness is applicable to every person and community. In this storyline, students connect with cultural values around food, impacts of food waste and solutions to food waste issues.
Material Type: Unit of Study
Wildfires are occurring at an increasing rate in Washington state. Students often have questions regarding forest habitats, safety and the prevention of wildfires. In this storyline students will learn about native ways of knowing through oral storytelling, trees as part of habitats local to them, and wildfire prevention. Students will participate in integrated science and literacy lessons to build their understanding of how wildfires are connected to weather and to communicate solutions to prevent human initiated wildfires.
Material Type: Unit of Study
In the 2018-2019 school year, Northwest Educational Service District 189 brought together a design team of six Pre Kindergarten - Kindergarten educators through a ClimeTime grant to find play-based, and engaging ways to teach climate science to early learners. This course shares out the findings of the team, including some work around designing for equity and 3-Dimensional Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) alignment. You will engage in activities to use with students including a puddle walk, soil permeability tests, and lesson examples. Phenomenon based lessons will be shared as well as a list of resources and recommended books compiled by our design team.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Module, Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy
This slideshow provides basics to understanding and using Next Generation Science Standards.
Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy
Earth Systems and Changes from Educational Service District 123, provides professional learning resources for K-5 teachers around elementary Earth Science and Climate Science related standards content. It also provides learning to assist in the development of classroom tasks: Claims, Evidence Reasoning, and Models and Explanations, that can be used formatively to elicit student ideas and to support changes in student thinking over time. License: License: Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) Except where otherwise noted, this template by Educational Service District 123 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All logos and trademarks are property of their respective owners. Content within template is the copyright of the creator.
Material Type: Module
ClimeTime is a state-led network for climate science learning that helps teachers and their students understand climate science issues affecting Washington communities. OSPI manages the network and the grant funding flows through all nine Educational Service Districts (ESDs) in Washington ($3 million) and seven community-based organizations (CBOs) ($1 million) which are launching programs for science teacher training linking Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and climate science. In addition to teacher professional development, the project supports the 16 grantees to develop instructional materials, design related assessment tasks and evaluation strategies, and facilitate student events.
Material Type: Case Study
Exploring Climate Science With Virtual Reality, a Teacher/Scientist Partnership experience. High school teachers engage with working scientists and engineers to for content learning for climate science and virtual reality and engage in follow-up sessions with professional development facilitators to develop pedagogical expertise for use in creating formative classroom tasks that are formative and productive. It is a three day initial workshop with four follow-up days to 1) deepen teacher understanding by learning with climate scientists to understand climate science standards content knowledge 2) increase awareness and knowledge of the use of virtual reality devices in climate science learning 30 to co-develop a climate science simulation game for use on Oculus Go devices with teachers, their students and a virtual reality scientist/engineer team 4) to develop and implement embedded formative classroom tasks that complement climate science learning by using a relevant, place based phenomena, and provide insights into student thinking and productive next steps in learning. Creative Commons License CC BY Exploring Climate Science With Virtual Reality Professional Learning Module by Georgia Boatman, ESD 123 and Peggy Willcuts PNNL is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Material Type: Unit of Study
This learning resource will engage you and your colleagues in learning more about the importance of NGSS. You will build awareness and learn more about how to implement the Next Generation Science Standards in your own setting. We envision this professional learning taking place in an ongoing community of practice. We encourage you to determine and proceed at your own pace that reflects the needs of your team. Image by Gorkhs from Pixabay
Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy
This learning resource will engage you and your colleagues in learning more about the importance of learning and teaching climate science as part of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). You will hear from multiple stakeholders about the importance and impact of learning about climate science, as well as engage with learning tools and reflection questions to deepen your learning and position you to take action in your setting. We envision this professional learning taking place in an ongoing community of practice. We encourage you to determine and proceed at your own pace that reflects the needs of your team. Image by ejaugsburg from Pixabay
Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy
Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects is a statewide Clime Time collaboration among ESD 123, ESD 105, 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 integration 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) focused on grade level Performance Expectations, and 2) leverage ELA and Mathematics Washington State Learning Standards.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Reading
Elementary Science and Integrated Subjects is a statewide Clime Time collaboration among ESD 123, ESD 105, 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 integration 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) focused on grade level Performance Expectations, and 2) leverage ELA and Mathematics Washington State Learning Standards.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
