The South Shore Natural Science Center, celebrating its 57th year of service to the South Shore, is proud to announce that it will hold three eight-day workshops for elementary school teachers this July and August entitled “Hot Topic: Climate Change in the Classroom.”
These workshops will introduce 45 third-to-fifth grade teachers to climate change science projects they can conduct in their classrooms and schoolyards. They will include numerous citizen science projects teachers can use to excite, educate and engage their students about environmental science, and through which they may see the effects of global climate change in local habitats and backyards. Participants will learn from guest lecturers and take field trips to partner organizations, including Manomet, the National Weather Service, NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Wade Institute for Science Education, North and South Rivers Watershed Association, and the Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research. The content and materials will support the new Massachusetts STE (science, technology and engineering) Frameworks.
The teachers, working in groups, will be challenged to develop and facilitate the implementation of a hands-on participatory climate change project for kids to be used as a demonstration at a free family STEM event in November. The workshops will run weekdays in three separate sessions at the South Shore Natural Science Center at 48 Jacobs Lane in Norwell:
Session I: Tuesday, July 9 through Thursday, July 18.
Session II: Tuesday, July 23 through Thursday, August 1.
Session III: Tuesday, August 13 through Thursday, August 22.
Professional Development Points will be provided by the Wade Institute for Science Education, and each teacher who completes the program, including school year follow-ups, will receive a $250 stipend for his or her classroom. All participants will receive climate change education kits for use in their schools. This program is made possible by grants from Cedar Tree Foundation and Battelle.
To apply for the program, please fill out the application form found on www.southshorenaturalsciencecenter.org. The deadline to apply is May 1, 2019.
To learn more, visit southshorenaturalsciencecenter.org/2019-climate-change-workshop. Please direct any questions to Chris Jacobs, Executive Director, at 781-659-2559 or cjacobs@ssymca.org.
