ESD 112
Emergency Messages as of 3:55 am, Thu. Mar. 28
No information currently posted.
Subscribe to receive FlashAlert messages from ESD 112.
Primary email address for a new account:

  


Manage my existing Subscription

News Release
ESD 112 Uses WA State Climate Science Grant to Connect Local Businesses, Scientists, and SW Washington Schools to Teach Kids the Effects of Our Changing Climate - 10/16/18

As part of a $3 million Climate Science grant from Governor Inslee, ESD 112’s STEM experts will be taking classroom teachers this Friday to a local oyster farm to learn how climate change is impacting their business. This is just one activity to connect the work of scientists and the real effects of a shifting climate on local businesses with classroom curriculum for public schools in SW Washington. This grant, along with an additional $1 million for partnering non-profits, makes Washington the first state in the country to dedicate significant funding for climate science education and NGSS.

With an allocation of $304,140, ESD 112’s work includes a series of teacher trainings and seminars aimed at helping K-12 educators develop authentic learning opportunities for students; bringing current events together with science for the benefit of public education. Throughout the school year, there will be six 1-day externships for teachers developed in collaboration with local climate-related STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) businesses or organizations. Participating teachers will spend the first part of the day visiting the business and learning about the impacts of climate change on their work. During the second half of the day, teachers will collaborate in small grade-level teams to develop a classroom task based on their new learning.

There will also be six STEM seminars in which scientists and researchers present the impacts of climate change on their work to a group of teachers.

Upcoming Events

  • Friday, October 19, 2018, 9:00 – 11:30 am: nPower Teachers externship #1, Goose Point Oysters, Naselle, WA – How our changing climate is effecting this local oyster farm (for background, watch this Smithsonian video with the owners of Goose Point Oysters: https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/facing-climate-change-oyster-farmers)
  • Monday, October 29, 2018, 8:30 – 11:30 am: STEM seminar #1, Fire and our Future, Columbia River Gorge Interpretive Center and Museum, Stevenson, WA
  • Thursday, November 15, 2018, 8:30 – 11:30 am: STEM seminar #2, Coastal Hazards and a Changing Climate, Adrift Hotel, Long Beach, WA
  • More externships and seminars to be announced…

The media is invited to attend these events and follow along with how the State of Washington and ESD 112 are bringing climate science to life for SW Washington students.

Partners and collaborators for these events include Washington Green Schools, Climate Impacts Group at University of Washington, Cascade Volcano Observatory, Water Resource Center, Friends of Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, Pacific Education Institute, Clark County Public Health, Goose Island Oysters, Mount St. Helen’s Institute, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Clark County PUD, and SW Clean Air Agency.

 

About the Climate Science Grant

All nine Educational Service Districts (ESDs) in Washington are launching programs for science teacher training around Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and climate science, thanks to grant money made available to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) by Governor Inslee. Distributed by OSPI, the ESDs are sharing $3 million from the state’s general fund for teacher professional development, development of instructional materials and student events. With an additional $1 million provided to community-based nonprofits to partner with public schools around NGSS, the $4 million appropriation makes Washington the first state in the country to dedicate significant funding for climate science education and NGSS.

View more news releases from ESD 112.