Climate Science Learning WA January 2019 Newsletter
ClimeTime Initiative
ClimeTime is a Washington state-level network developed to build the capacity of science teachers helping to help youth understand climate science and promote a thriving and sustainable environment. The ClimeTime work is facilitated by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) through an initial Washington State legislative proviso of $4 million in 2018-2019. OSPI manages the network with the grant funding flowing through all nine Washington Educational Service Districts (ESDs) in ($3 million) and seven community-based organizations (CBOs; $1 million) which are launching or expanding programs for science teacher training supporting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and climate science education. In addition to teacher professional learning and training, the project supports the 16 grantees to develop instructional materials, design related assessment tasks and evaluation strategies, and facilitate student events in collaboration with the Institute of Science and Math Education at the University of Washington. Get background on the ClimeTime initiative from this article on Launching K-12 Climate Science Literacy to Scale in Washington State.
Project Updates - A selection of current activity within ClimeTime
The Capital Region ESD (#113) in Tumwater, WA, is launching Climate Science Canvas courses for cohorts across K-12 bands entitled, Climate Science: Engaging in Argument from Evidence. The course registration was launched December 3, 2018 in pdEnroller. Participants will learn a protocol for conducting student-centered, whole-class discourse. The protocol, along with the skills and knowledge learned, will be transferable to other content areas beyond science; though during this course the protocol will be applied to a climate science topic.
Washington Green Schools and ESD 112 in Vancouver, WA partnered to host two STEM Seminars this fall. The STEM Seminars provide opportunities for K-12 teachers to learn about how their community is being impacted by climate change so that they can provide students with authentic, climate-related problem-solving experiences. Teachers work with climate scientists and researchers to make sense of current climate data and collaborate in grade-level groups to integrate climate science learning activities into their classroom. The first seminar, Fire and Our Future, took place October 29th in Stevenson, WA. The second seminar, Coastal Hazards and Our Changing Climate, took place November 15th in Long Beach, WA. One of the teachers at the Coastal Hazards seminar had this to say about the event: “This was seriously the best PD I have attended since I started teaching 14 years ago! Relevant, useful, and great resources!” Keep an eye out for more STEM Seminars this winter and spring! Future topics will include Climate Change and Human Health, Floods and Droughts, and Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture.
The Northwest ESD (#189) in Anacortes WA is approaching equity in access to climate science learning through the spheres of P-K learning, indigenous ways of knowing science, and pedagogical tools that engage all learners. They have multiple projects underway including two courses: one aimed at elementary educators and the other directed at educators and educational leaders. The elementary educator course is designed to support PreK-5 teachers in understanding the nature and practices of science, specifically when learning about climate science. The educator and educational leader professional learning workshop is designed to support engagement with first nations in local contexts to deepen all learners understandings of indigenous ways of knowing as they pertain to climate science in local place based contexts. Course registrations can be accessed via pdEnroller.
PEI in collaboration with teacher Candy Kristovich, the Stevens County Conservation District, Braided Education Consulting, the Spokane Tribe, and Chewelah City leaders have engaged students in examining Food Waste relative to climate impacts. See this article from Chewelah Independent News for more information. This is an example of how to implement projects that don't focus on problems so much as how to implement the solutions that have already been identified: Solutions Oriented Learning.
Announcements
The NSTA western regional meeting will be held in Seattle December 12-14, 2019. We encourage all Washington educators to submit proposals by the upcoming deadline January 15, 2019. Please use https://www.nsta.org/conferences/sessions.aspx to find the Seattle submission information.
The Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future (InTeGrate) Project (https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/index.html) has produced teaching materials that could be used in secondary, undergraduate, and teacher learning contexts to support increased understanding about complex Earth system issues.
UCAR SciEd
The UCAR Center for Science Education (UCAR SciEd; https://scied.ucar.edu) serves the geoscience community by amplifying and complementing the work of the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).
NOAA Climate Education
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a climate education specific set of resources (https://www.noaa.gov/climate-education) useful for a range of educational contexts and professional learning.
The Northwest ESD (#189) ClimeTime - Stories of us and the World: How we see Ourselves in Relation to our Environment course this spring. Enroll in pdEnroller.
Washington Green Schools and ESD 112 hosted STEM Seminars this winter and spring! Future topics will include Climate Change and Human Health, Floods and Droughts, and Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture.
Have a look at this Climate Reality story featuring Laura Tucker (working with PEI in the ClimeTime initiative) to get beyond despair and explore hope within in climate change related work.