IslandWood Teacher Professional Development in PSESD
On January 26th 24 teachers met at King County South Treatment Plant in Renton and practiced the engineering design process on local stormwater problems, and later applied it to practical small-scale solutions to community problems. Two University of Washington representatives joined to photograph and film this workshop for IslandWood’s ClimeTime work.
Over the course of the workshop, teachers investigated the cause of a puddle in the schoolyard and researched and designed solutions back in the classroom. They also explored how a local engineering problem could become a service learning project with their students and began planning for what that might look like at their school.
“The hands-on activities were amazing! Loved the models, walking around the pond, etc. It was very engaging and applicable.”
This workshop was designed to help teachers understand how incorporating local engineering problems into their science classroom, is both integral to the Next Generation Science Standards and a great way to engage students who are not typically interested in science. In a follow up survey, 94% of responding teachers reported that they left with an understanding of how incorporating engineering design supports greater equity and more than 90% had specific ideas on how the addressing of a local problem could be a part of their science curriculum.
