EarthGen (Formerly Washington Green Schools)
EarthGen engages hundreds of teachers annually through engaging, hands-on trainings, wherein NGSS instruction is anchored in local climate phenomena that model effective classroom pedagogies, which lead to deep learning and relevant understanding. Through these trainings, teachers explore the relationship between climate science and a local environmental topic (e.g., fires, coastal hazards, agriculture, human health), engaging in science and engineering practices (e.g., argumentation with evidence, asking questions and defining problems) and planing an integration of a learned activity or resource with their students.
Teacher Professional Development
STEM Seminars
In partnership with ESD 112, EarthGen created STEM Seminars, a “best practice” in professional development, where teachers are challenged to engage in adult learning around climate change locally. A “hook” is used to kick off the day and anchor learning around a local environmental issue. The training balances content around how we know the climate is changing with Ambitious Science Teaching strategies. At each seminar, teachers analyze current and vetted data with climate scientists who have first-hand experience conducting research in Antarctica and Greenland. As a complement to this elevated educational experience, a local speaker specializing in the topic at hand speaks to the regional perspective of the climate challenge being addressed and discuss approaches to mitigate and adapt to climate change locally. Structured planning time is also embedded into the day to allow for application of what has been learned into the classroom. In its inaugural year, EarthGen served 370 teachers through STEM Seminars.
Migrant Education Summer Program
Working with school districts with high migrant student populations and low-income rates, EarthGen created a new summer experience for the Migrant Education Program in Grandview, Prosser, and Kiona-Benton school districts. The program included leveraging lessons from Zombie Guacamole, a 5th grade curriculum about decomposition, ecosystems, and waste, while introducing a digital storytelling component that captured and shared student voices. Field experiences to the local landfill and arboretum also helped create a rich and highly relevant summer school experience for nearly 100 migrant youth.
Zombie Guacamole
With connections to our food choices and their effects on climate change, EarthGen is working to create professional development opportunities for primary school teachers using Zombie Guacamole, a NGSS-driven curriculum for 5th grade. Connecting these lessons to school grounds and gardens and food waste behaviors, these full-day and multi-day experiences will connect what teachers learn in these trainings to their classrooms…and out onto the school campus where they and their students can take action to promote environmental sustainability.
Upcoming Classes
Partners & Collaborators
UW Climate Impacts Group
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
Southwest Clean Air Agency
Seattle Public Utilities
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Cowlitz County Public Works
WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
This was seriously the best PD I have attended since I started teaching 14 years ago! Relevant, useful, and great resources!
I felt that this training gave me real-life connections to bringing climate change instruction into the classroom.
Success Stories from EarthGen (formerly Washington Green Schools)
Using Shellfish to Teach Climate Change
Shellfish are an important traditional food source with cultural significance for coastal Native people and the foundation of an iconic industry for Washington state. The shellfish industry here generates hundreds of millions of dollars each year and employs thousands...
Climate Justice League
The Climate Justice League is a cohort-based professional learning experience that supports secondary teachers in designing and implementing science learning activities that highlight social justice and environmental justice connections.
Connecting Lessons of COVID and Climate Change
A new virtual training, COVID and Climate Change helps teachers explore the relationships among climate change, COVID, and social injustice. This professional learning workshop, a collaboration between EarthGen and ESD 112, was first offered on January 23 and attended...