Sustainability Education and the Next Generation Science Standards

 Pillar 1 - Environmental Impact - Buildings, grounds and operations Ultimate Pillar Goal: The school has a net zero Ultimate Pillar Goal: The school has a net zero environmental impact. environmental impact.  Pillar 2 - School environment supports healthy, safe students and staff Ultimate Pillar Goal: The school environment has a "net positive" impact on health, safety and performance of students and staff. Ultimate Pillar Goal: The school environment has a "net positive" impact on health, safety and performance of students and staff.  Pillar 3 - Education for Sustainability: Environmental and Social Literacy Ultimate Pillar Goal: 100% of graduates are environmentally and socially literate. Ultimate Pillar Goal: 100% of graduates are environmentally and socially literate.  Pillar 4 - Social Sustainability Ultimate Pillar Goal: Students and staff are active participants in a healthy, just, sustainable school and local community. Ultimate Pillar Goal: Students and staff are active participants in a healthy, just, sustainable school and local community.

Element 3 B: Students develop STEM knowledge and thinking skills through study of environmental and social sustainability

Students are engaged in the study of the environmental and social sustainability by:  Asking questions  Developing and using models  Planning and carrying out investigations  Analyzing and interpreting data  Using mathematics and computational thinking  Constructing explanations  Engaging in argument from evidence

Science Framework A joint effort between the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Achieve is underway to create the foundation for all students to have a solid K-12 science education.

Organizes Science Education around 3 Interconnected Dimensions:  8 Key Scientific and Engineering Practices  7 Crosscutting Concepts  Core ideas in 4 Content Areas

1. Asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering) 2. Developing and using models 3. Planning and carrying out investigations 4. Analyzing and interpreting data 5. Using mathematics and computational thinking 6. Developing explanations (science) and designing solutions (engineering) 7. Engaging in argument from evidence 8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information 8 Key Scientific and Engineering Practices:

7 Crosscutting Concepts: 1. Patterns 2. Cause and effect 3. Scale, proportion, and quantity 4. Systems and system models 5. Energy and matter 6. Structure and function 7. Stability and change

4 Criteria for Core Ideas  Broad importance across multiple disciplines or be a key organizing principle. (Big Ideas)  Provide a key tool for understanding or investigating more complex ideas and solving problems. (Critical Thinking)  Relate to the interests/life experiences of students or connected to societal/personal concerns that require scientific/technical knowledge. (Relevant/Real World)  Be teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of depth and sophistication. (Learning Progressions) (Learning Progressions)

Disciplinary Core Ideas  Physical Sciences –PS 1: Matter and its interactions –PS 2: Motion and stability: Forces and interactions –PS 3: Energy –PS 4: Waves and their applications in technologies for information transfer  Life Sciences –LS 1: From molecules to organisms: Structures and processes –LS 2: Ecosystems: Interactions, energy, and dynamics –LS 3: Heredity: Inheritance and variation of traits –LS 4: Biological evolution: Unity and diversity  Earth and Space Sciences –ESS 1: Earth’s place in the universe –ESS 2: Earth’s systems –ESS 3: Earth and human activity  Engineering, Technology, Applications of Science –ETS 1: Engineering design –ETS 2: Links among engineering, technology, science, and society

How can you school’s sustainability plan support STEM education?