These stories are a collection of educator professional learning experiences and opportunities provided by ESD, CBO and Tribal School partners.
Puget Sound ESD works with school district science leaders and regional community-based organizations (CBOs) to bring climate science concepts through NGSS-aligned, phenomena-based teaching to students across the region. Our greatest area of leverage is the science leaders and teacher leaders in our local school districts who can engage greater numbers of colleagues in racially just, solutions-oriented climate science learning and teaching.
This Spring, teachers used a simple clump of dandelions to anchor a Next Generation Science Standards-aligned storyline that motivated their students to go outside and engage with outdoor science observations and investigations. They questioned their own conceptions...
This spring, IslandWood launched a new teacher professional development course called Community-Centered Climate Action, geared towards Third through Fifth grade teachers from around the Puget Sound. During the five-part Community-Centered Climate Action Course,...
PreK-2 Teachers came together in the Fall to explore how plants, animals and people interact with seasonal patterns and consider the impact of climate change. They learned to incorporate schoolyards and communities into their classroom learning and reflected on how...
During this two-month course, teachers learned about the impacts of climate change on snowpack in the Snohomish Valley, specifically the impact that Snohomish River flooding continues to have on nearby human and nonhuman communities. This is the second year IslandWood...
At our book study sessions, teachers meet in a cross-grade breakout to make sense of the computer science ideas embedded in the readings. They then meet in grade banded breakouts to apply their new understanding to learning opportunities that they share with their...
Food justice classes and mock G7 summits are on the curriculum in the first US state to fund “climate change education” in public schools. In science teacher Ali Coker’s sophomore biology class, students became farming activists attending a G7 summit. Coker wove in...
When Celia Cummings started teaching Waterville High School’s first environmental science class, she discovered that many of her students came from families that doubt the science of climate change. Celia was enrolled in a climate justice focused professional...
During the 21-22 school year, educators Dave Ketter and Lisa Eschenbach worked with science & social studies teachers at Bellingham High School to replicate elements of the Washington Climate Assembly during a civics unit. As with the Washington Climate Assembly,...
Teacher Casey Jones’ family includes migrant farmworkers, whose lives are directly affected by climate change and social injustice. The students at Rowena Chess Elementary School where Casey teaches also see the effects of these twin crises in their daily lives....