Originally published May 2024 This post is sponsored by the Canadian Public Health Association Contests are a great way to inspire students and enhance their understanding of a topic area. They play a role in motivating students to perform and excel, and offer a lot more reward than just the winning prize. That is why the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) developed and ran a national Grade 6 Poster Contest on infectious disease and climate change for the past four years. This contest was an opportunity for teachers and students to learn more about climate change and the impact it is h ..read more

Originally published April 2024 The Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center in Philadelphia, is hosting a free, fine art exhibition centered on artists’ observations of the region’s watershed. The curated selection of vintage and contemporary drawings, paintings, and photography by local artists captures impressions of the rivers, streams, wildlife, and tidal wetlands. The purpose of WANDERING: Observations of Our Watershed, is to encourage exploration and discussion of the delicate and crucial balance of an ecosystem in an urban setting. According to Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Cent ..read more

Originally published April 2024 As part of its yearlong Earthshot spotlight dedicated to climate solutions and sustainability, the Museum of Science has developed a suite of interactive curricula and educational games to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and passionate problem solvers. Available in English and Spanish, the new Earthshot educational resources span grades preK-12 and formats, including Youth Engineering Solutions (YES), Engineering is Elementary (EiE), Kahoot!, and TinyTap, encouraging students of all ages to imagine and design innovative ..read more

Originally published April 2024 On April 8th, a total solar eclipse will be visible across much of North America. This rare celestial event occurs when the moon is closer to the Earth than usual, so as it passes between the Earth and the sun at just the right alignment, it is big enough to completely block out the sun’s light. When this happens, parts of North America will be plunged into darkness for a few minutes. The next total solar eclipse that can be seen in North America won’t take place for another 20 years, so you won’t want to miss this one! To help you and your students get re ..read more

Originally published in TEACH Magazine, 100 Years of the Williams Treaties Special Issue, 2023 By Joseph Filiplic All people living collectively in Canada are “treaty people,” meaning that we all have rights and responsibilities for this land we call home. Treaties are a foundational part of our country. Every city, town, road, and building that exists in a treaty area today is only possible because of a treaty that was signed in the past. Today, these treaties reflect an ongoing relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. As treaty people, we must take the responsibility of l ..read more

Originally published in TEACH Magazine, September/October 2023 Issue By Adam Stone At KIPP BOLD Academy, a school for Grades 5–8 in Newark, NJ, educator Winston Roberts teaches financial literacy. Lately he’s been using a new tool to get the job done—Artificial Intelligence (AI). “I wanted [students] to research a bunch of different businesses that have made questionable business-ethics decisions,” he says. “I had ChatGPT generate a list of some of the most infamous business scandals that were instigated by profit motives, and also had it suggest Google search terms so kids could look up more ..read more

Originally published October 2023 By Adam Stone At Willingboro Public Schools in New Jersey, Assistant Principal Bobby Morgan expresses increasing concern about kids’ safety online. “On the heels of distance learning, our students’ screen times have increased astronomically,” he says. “Children are immersed in a world that they are ill-prepared for.” Morgan and others in K–12 have good reason to worry. Some 72% of tweens and 85% of teens say they have experienced online bullying, according to the Internet-safety advocacy group Enough Is Enough. One in five teens say they’ve encountered predat ..read more

Originally published in TEACH Magazine, September/October 2023 Issue With National Wildlife Day having just passed on September 4, and World Animal Day coming up a month later (October 4), now is the perfect time to raise discussions with students about animal welfare, endangered species, and the incredibly diverse array of wildlife that exists on this planet. And so, we’ve gathered a collection of books that will encourage readers to recognize different species of animals in a wide variety of environments all across the globe. These books also touch on themes of sustainability, conservation ..read more

Originally published in TEACH Magazine, July/August 2023 Issue By Krystal Kavita Jagoo The next generation is often thought of as the trailblazers of the future, but what does that mean when the future of our planet looks uncertain in terms of the vast impacts of climate change? In April 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report called “Climate Change and Children’s Health and Well-Being in the United States,” which looks at the expected effects of the climate crisis on the education and physical development of children. It notes how extreme heat, poor air quality, flo ..read more

Originally published in TEACH Magazine, May/June 2023 Issue By Sunaina Sharma What makes a good question? We ask students questions all day long, but how do we know they are actually helping students learn and, more importantly, getting them to think? Being able to think for themselves, and especially to think critically, is one of the most important skills students will ever use—both in the classroom and beyond. Critical thinking is the process of objectively analyzing information to form a judgment. It requires students to read, consider, observe, interpret, evaluate, reason, and conclude ..read more