Resources

Understanding Sustainability

Understanding Sustainability is a flexible 1-2 week curriculum unit for Washington state middle school science educators to teach sustainability issues. This curriculum features hands-on activities that explore sustainability issues, such as energy consumption, water scarcity, and transportation choices, and potential solutions. Understanding Sustainability is aligned with Washington state middle school science GLEs and includes updated previously released Facing the Future lessons, as well as new lessons and supplementary readings. The unit includes a sequence of activities for each day, student readings, homework assignments, critical thinking questions, and assessment rubrics. Lessons link to relevant and easy-to-implement action projects, including a sustainability audit in which students investigate and make recommendations about the school’s energy, water, trash, and transportation use.

Climate Change: Connections & Solutions

These 2-week curriculum units, one for middle and one for high school, encourage students to think critically about climate change and to collaborate to devise solutions. Students learn about climate change within a systems framework, examining interconnections among environmental, social, and economic issues. Educators and students throughout the U.S. reviewed and tested the lessons and experts from the University of Washington, the Hewlett-Packard Company, and the World Wildlife Fund reviewed the student readings. Thanks to generous funding from Hewlett-Packard Company, this curriculum valued at $24.95 is available for FREE at www.facingthefuture.org. Climate Change: Connections and Solutions is an interdisciplinary curriculum unit. Lessons are aligned with national science and social studies standards but may be used in other classes as well. The units include: 9 hands-on activities 5 student readings Overview of daily activities Homework assignments Reproducible handouts Assessments Educators and students throughout the U.S. reviewed and tested the lessons, and faculty from the Program on Climate Change at the University of Washington reviewed the student readings. The first week of this 2-week unit lays the foundation for understanding some of the forces behind climate change. Students review basic scientific phenomena related to climate change, beginning with the greenhouse effect and concluding with an analysis of different fuel types. The second week widens and deepens students’ comprehension of climate change with an exploration of its connections to various social, economic, and environmental factors. By the end of the unit, students will understand and be able to communicate complex and interconnected issues related to climate change.

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