Standing in the shadows of giant wind turbines, it’s hard not to be awestruck. For Yakima-area teachers, a field trip to the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility outside Ellensburg not only inspired wonder, it connected them with local resources to engage their students in climate science. Teachers also learned that their region, with its ample sun and wind, produces essential renewable energy for Washington’s communities.
The Wildhorse field trip was part of a two-day workshop led by Washington Green Schools, in partnership with ESD 105. Teachers engaged in lessons around energy resources and their connections to climate change and explored how to have students make meaning out of different kinds of scientific data. Highlights also included a visit from an electrical engineer from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who discussed a diverse range of STEM career pathways for students. Teachers even got to try Climate Island, a new virtual reality app, to design a sustainable community.
According to one teacher, this training helped me see the value of helping students “solve local problems instead of always thinking globally.” Thanks to ClimeTime, teachers across Washington are now equipped to engage their students in local and global solutions to climate change.