Green Duwamish Watershed – Curriculum Design Lab

The purpose of this Lab is to support teaching teams from different school districts within the boundaries of the Green-Duwamish Watershed in developing and disseminating problem-based units of instruction that meet academic standards while serving watershed/community goals. Existing units developed through previous Labs will be shared with an emphasis on refinement, local relevance, and community impact. We are interested in advancing district-wide models.

Key issues include climate change, climate justice, water quality, salmon recovery, flood control, and food systems. We are interested in multiple curricular lenses including science, civics, history, economics, geography, math, ELA, and STEM literacy for career-connected learning. Read on for Learning Outcomes..

Lists of inspiring ideas for student impact projects will be shared along with instructional strategies for coaching effective project design. We will emphasize the authentic integration of meeting academic standards in context of meeting local watershed/community performance measures.

The Lab features interaction with technical experts from local government, academia, industry, and the nonprofit sector, and supports intergenerational learning by engaging a team of highly capable students from the Sustainability Ambassadors Youth Leadership Program.

This is not a workshop or a training. It’s a lab. The learning environment is problem-based, collaborative, and applied to increasing rigor in the classroom by tracking impact in the community.

EXPERIENTIAL AGENDA (It’s a Lab!) Our daily work will include…

• Explore distance learning strategies around problem-based design
• Integrate NGSS, authentic STEM experiences, and career pathways
• Integrate literacy, history, civics, economics, and geography
• Integrate systems thinking: climate, ecology, water quality, stormwater, wastewater

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Demonstrate an understanding of Educating for Sustainability. (Problem solving for  positive ecological, economic, and equitable outcomes across systems and for all people.)
2. Apply STEM literacy across disciplines and promote college/career pathways to inspire students.
3. Develop, adopt, or refine one or more lessons that authentically integrate academic standards in context of local community performance measures. (Emphasis on students designing impact projects that meet academic standards in context of community performance measures.)
4. Develop a plan for district-wide dissemination of selected curriculum pathways.

Questions?  Email: Peter Donaldson