We will present activities developed for high-need urban schools (elementary and middle school focus) that lead to weather, ecology, life cycles, and water quality classroom discussions and ask attendees to challenge us to match activities to their needs.

TAKEAWAYS:
No matter what a school’s environment, urban or rural, students can be engaged in Earth systems study to prepare them to be stewards of the Earth.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Feit (Research Scientist - Project Manager: Boston, MA), Peter Garik (Boston University: Boston, MA)

This presentation will use children's literature to identify topics related to sustainability and human impact on the environment along with how to use creative, hands-on activities to apply the concepts and inspire young, planet-conscious citizen scientists.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learning about sustainability and environmental issues shouldn't be boring or negative. Explore quality children's literature that focuses on these topics in age-appropriate ways as well as engaging activities designed to help make real-world connections.

SPEAKERS:
Kerry Teeple (University of Findlay College of Education: Findlay, OH)

Participants will use Antarctic fossil images and descriptions to deduce how the the Antarctic environment changed over time. They will then look at Cretaceous-era fossils from Central Texas to infer how the geography differed from today. Fossil images and 5E Lesson plan will be provided.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to use fossils as evidence for climate change in a student-centered inquiry lesson.

SPEAKERS:
Gail Dickinson (Texas State University: San Marcos, TX)

We have worked with more than 40 current and future K-8 teachers across our state as part of a PD and curriculum project. We used a place-based approach to explore marine science, climate change, and the NGSS. We will share our PD model and strategies for successful implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will present an overview of our PD model, which provides a series of workshops on climate change, marine science, and the NGSS K-8. Attendees will have access to our growing database of NGSS-aligned grade-level specific science lessons exploring marine science and climate change.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Madden (The College of New Jersey: Ewing, NJ)

Learn how we leveraged the UN Sustainable Development Goals and global partnerships to create authentic three-dimensional summative assessment experiences for our elementary students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to unpack NGSS Performance Expectations, match them with UN Sustainable Development Goals and create high quality standards-based assessments that incorporate authentic audiences.

SPEAKERS:
Jennifer Ricks (American Community School of Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

Creating connected learning pathways for youth starts with connecting and supporting their educators. Learn about essential elements of building learning ecosystems and stories of the collaborative work that is coming out of Learning Ecosystems Northeast's Connected Learning Ecosystems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about essential elements of building supportive learning ecosystems. Local educator leaders will share stories of some of the collaborative and complementary work that is coming out of Learning Ecosystems Northeast's Connected Learning Ecosystems.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Spooner (Van Buren District Secondary School), Diana Allen (Sanford Junior High School: Sanford, ME), Molly Auclair (Gulf of Maine Research Institute: Portland, ME)