It has been almost a year since I first attended the San Mateo Environmental Learning Collaborative (SM ELC). Focused on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), SM ELC is a unique opportunity hosted by Ten Strands, SEER, and the San Mateo County Office of Education—STEM Center offered to K–8 teachers. As part of SM ELC, […]
California just did something big. It didn’t get a lot of headlines, clicks, or television news coverage, but it will fundamentally transform the way we teach our 6.2 million students. The California Board of Education voted to include five key Environmental Principles and Concepts as part of the state’s new framework for how to teach […]
At the beginning of the San Mateo Environmental Education Learning Collaborative (SM ELC) workshop, Dr. Gerald Lieberman asked us who didn’t feel comfortable or knowledgeable applying the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The majority of teachers in the room raised their hands. Before we joined the SM ELC, I would have raised my hand as […]
A Non-Science Person’s Perspective I’ve never been a “science person.” By this I mean I didn’t care for science classes when I was a student. I remember taking physical science, biology, and chemistry in high school because they were required to attend university, but I don’t remember enjoying them. I’ve always chocked this up to […]
Mention frog mucus to a group of tenth-graders and you might expect to hear a collective “yuck.” To a class of sophomores from Kearny High’s School of Engineering, Innovation and Design in San Diego, the slimy substance on frogs’ skin could be the clue to solving a big agricultural dilemma, using an emerging design practice […]
Back in April I had the opportunity to talk about the importance of environmental literacy in front of the California Legislative Black Caucus, along with Will Parish from Ten Strands and Gina Fromer from the Trust for Public Land. My presentation focused on how students in schools with programs that use the local environment as […]
When I teach environmental literacy in my class I feel like I am opening a door for students to walk through. This door opens to empowerment, knowledge, and stewardship. Children want to be big thinkers. The more I challenge them with big ideas the more they rise to the occasion, and learning about the environment […]
(This is part two of teacher Julie DiMaio’s blog. In part one Julie describes her participation in the San Mateo Environmental Learning Collaborative summer 2015 teacher institute. In part two she shares the outcome of her work and the impact the unit she developed had on her students.) Once Jerry told us that the Environmental […]