Designed by award-winning science educator, author, and Michigan Teacher of the Year Gary Abud, Jr. in partnership with PBS, this session will focus on instructional strategies, high impact core teaching practices, and amazing learning resources about the Great Lakes from Detroit Public Television's award-winning show Great Lakes Now. In this session, you'll learn how to help your students explore the Great Lakes like never before and engage in productive discussions, engineering challenges, and intriguing investigations that they'll never forget. From fatbergs to watersheds to invasive species, biodiversity, climate change, and much more, you'll see how the Great Lakes makes for a GREAT way to teach myriad science concepts and engage students in the science and engineering practices of the NGSS no matter where they are learning, because the blended learning activities can go with you anywhere!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to explore the Great Lakes with your students while incorporating multimedia, cognitive science, and student discourse.

SPEAKERS:
SANDRA SVOBODA (Program Director, Great Lakes Now: , MI), Gary Abud Jr (Nourish the Future - Education Projects, LLC: Columbus, OH)

Participants will investigate relationships between variables such as barometric pressure and precipitation, using data from a wide range of geographical stations in the United States. Selected stations represent sites with contrasting latitudes, altitudes, proximity to water bodies, and other elements, in order to best study the effect of these variables on weather and climate. The session will analyze data to look for patterns of change over time and to investigate regional patterns and region-specific effects of climate change. Data from Los Angeles & San Diego weather stations will also be included. The graphing tool is a freely accessible webpage that works on laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets. An internet connection at the session would additionally allow for participants to see a live demonstration as well as explore their own investigation questions. http://uanyc.science/pwc

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session attendees will learn to analyze and interpret weather and climate data using a custom designed graphing tool that simplifies visualizing and analyzing data on time scales of hours, days and weeks (weather) to decades and centuries (climate).

SPEAKERS:
Rachelle Travis (P.S. 288 The Shirley Tanyhill: Brooklyn, NY)

Harness the power of technology with student designed solutions for a changing climate.

TAKEAWAYS:
Use technology to expose students to coding and engineering design solutions for severe weather.

SPEAKERS:
Stacy Thibodeaux (Southside High School: Youngsville, LA), Jessica Kohout (Educational Consultant: Voorhees, NJ)

We will dive into hands-on, STEM-based activities and technology resources such as ArcGIS and web apps, that educators can use right away to help students understand the sustainability and climate justice issues most relevant to their school and local community. We will present best practices for executing a successful eco-audit and using design thinking methodologies to foster critical thinking and problem solving. These methodologies will help students tap into community funds of knowledge by engaging local stakeholders in their process. These K-12 activities help students cultivate sustainability and climate science literacy while exploring the uneven and inequitable impacts of climate change on the communities that have the fewest resources to respond. Teachers will explore how to foster student action through the creation of data-driven policy or use student-driven Eco-Audit resources to implement a climate solution at their school.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will explore how ArcGIS StoryMaps and other EcoRise resources related to climate data, mapping and climate justice can shape students’ understanding of the causes and impact of climate change within their community and foster student action.

SPEAKERS:
Brynn Johnson (Program Manager), Zakhia Grant (EcoRise: No City, No State)

Learn about Educating for Environmental Change, a free Indiana University program that helps educators teach the science and policy of climate change and participate in an exemplar ice core activity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Science teachers have stated that standards like the NGSS are a principal reason for teaching climate change in their classroom. This workshop will engage participating teachers in hands-on, exemplar climate change activities that align with the NGSS and emphasize science practices.

SPEAKERS:
Adam Scribner (Indiana University Bloomington: Bloomington, IN)

As Earth’s climate warms, the heat and humidity are rising, with major consequences for ecosystems. NASA scientists are tracking heat stress that can warn us of harmful conditions. Explore interactive inquiry-based lessons and participate in a heat island experiment.

TAKEAWAYS:
NASA provides free earth science resources and engaging interactive climate change lessons.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Kohler (NASA Glenn Research Center: Cleveland, OH)

Come explore teaching strategies and supports for engaging in climate justice centered phenomena and issues. Youth are seeking this type of socio-ecological learning opportunities!

TAKEAWAYS:
Climate Ed Tools contain strategies to engage in climate justice instruction, to support climate change learning and communication among educator peers, and to get ideas for how to do this type of instruction in your own classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Philip Bell (University of Washington: Seattle, WA), Deb Morrison (Educator and Learning Scientist: Seattle, WA)

Climate change has exacerbated the urban heat island issue. Understanding the issue at different spatial scales helps us clarify the problem and identify solutions. Participants unpack the science of urban heat islands at local and regional scales, and identify solutions to reduce the impacts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Urban heat islands are studied at local and regional scales using simple instruments, and remote sensing data to view the impact over time and space. Understanding the causes and effects of urban heat islands at different scales will ensure effective solutions are implemented to reduce the impacts.

SPEAKERS:
Desiray Wilson (Science Systems and Applications, Inc.: Hampton, VA), Missy Holzer (Chatham High School: Chatham, LA)

Attendees will participate in a lesson designed to engage students in the issues created by climate climate change and inequity in different communities. Students will use technology, visual literacy skills by evaluating graphs and maps to find meaning; constructing explanations and share ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students will be able to use a Social-Scientific Issue related to climate change to foster interest in the science of climate change. We will use the Philadelphia temperature data to interpret and identifying the impacts of climate change differ by income level, as well as how nature plays a role.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Beech (William Penn School District: Lansdowne, PA), James Whetzel (The School District of Philadelphia: Philadelphia, PA), Eric Gold (School District of Philadelphia: Philadelphia, PA), Susan Chan-Peter (William Penn Charter School: Philadelphia, PA)

People learn better when they are having fun. This session will use Project WET’s guide—Climate, Water and Resilience—to effectively teach about local and global climate change using fun, hands-on, interactive lessons for middle and high school educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will feel more comfortable teaching about climate change using fun, hands-on activities such as the ones demonstrated in this session.

SPEAKERS:
Julia Beck (Project Wet Foundation: Bozeman, MT)