Stockton University will continue to provide K-12 teachers free climate change instruction thanks to a $650,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Education.<\/p>\n
This is the third year the university\u2019s Southern Regional Institute and Educational Technology Training Center (SRI & ETTC) received funding from the state to support climate change education for a total award of $1.9 million.<\/p>\n
The project, which led to the creation of the\u00a0Climate Change Learning Collaborative, provides access to resources and professional learning opportunities to help instructors in eight southern counties address New Jersey\u2019s student learning standards for climate change education.<\/p>\n
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In June, K-12 teachers participated in several hands-on programs, including a day at the Community Garden at Fishermen\u2019s Park in Atlantic City to learn about growing food on a barrier island and responding to coastal flooding.
\n(Courtesy of Stockton University)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe use this foundation to help K-12 educators learn to create, assess and teach project-based learning units of study focused upon climate change causes, effects and responses,\u201d said Patty Weeks, director of the SRI&ETTC and co-director of the collaborative.<\/p>\n
The Stockton collaborative serves Atlantic,\u00a0Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean and Salem counties. Ramapo College, Rutgers and Monmouth University provide similar services in other parts of the state.<\/p>\n
Weeks said Stockton is perfectly situated to help K-12 teachers implement climate change education standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cStockton\u2019s location is unique to study the many effects of climate change thanks to its proximity to both the Atlantic coastline as well as being located within the 1,600 acres of the Pinelands National Reserve,\u201d she said. \u201cThe university\u2019s long history of environmental education has helped its students become stewards of the amazing natural resources of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Climate Change Learning Collaborative utilizes Stockton faculty from the\u00a0School of Education,\u00a0School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics\u00a0and the\u00a0School of Arts and Humanities\u00a0to assist teachers. Kimberly Lebak, professor of Education and co-director for the CCLC project, designed a unique professional development program that provides K-12 educators with strong content knowledge on how climate change directly impacts South Jersey.<\/p>\n
Hands-on, experiential learning experiences with community-based organizations \u2014 including the Wetlands Institute, Save Barnegat Bay, NJ Audubon, the Center for Aquatic Sciences, Sustainable NJ, Communities Revolutionizing Open Public Spaces (C.R.O.P.S.), and Stockton\u2019s\u00a0Marine Field Station\u00a0\u2014 provide connections to the knowledge introduced by Stockton faculty.<\/p>\n
In June, K-12 teachers participated in several hands-on programs, including a day at the Community Garden at Fishermen\u2019s Park in Atlantic City to learn about growing food on a barrier island and responding to coastal flooding. Teachers also joined the Center for Aquatic Sciences for a guided kayak paddle along the Delaware River\u2019s Back Channel and Cooper River where they learned about the impact of climate change on the Camden and the Delaware Watershed.<\/p>\n
In July, Education Specialist Debby Sommers led a group of 12 teachers through a tour of Mr. B\u2019s Outdoor Classroom between Reeds Road Elementary School and Galloway Township Middle School. Teachers were encouraged to think about how they could alter their curriculum to find ways for students to interact with the outdoors.\u00a0Sommers talked about the benefits of bringing students outside and how students with attention issues might find it easier to focus outdoors.<\/p>\n
Workshops are available now through April 2027. Sign up through the\u00a0collaborative\u2019s website, and for questions email\u00a0climatelearning@stockton.edu.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Courtesy of Stockton University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stockton University will continue to provide K-12 teachers free climate change instruction thanks to a $650,000 grant from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[110596,69,71,70,110595],"class_list":["post-260838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-000-grant-to-support-climate-change-education","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-state-awards-stockton-650"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}