• What: Professional development for K–12 educators in Pennsylvania
• When: From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on September 27, October 4, 11, 18, 25, and November 1 and 15, 2022.
• Where: Online.
• Cost: Free. Participants will receive a stipend and be eligible for up to 30 hours of Act 48.

Registration closes on Monday, September 12, 2022. Confirmation and course site login information will be sent during the weeks of September 12-23.

Have you been searching for the missing link that helps bridge the gap between environmental content and environmental literacy development? Are you hoping to help your students understand their connections to their local environment but are limited by established curriculum sequences? Have COVID restrictions on classroom and lab experiences limited your ability to design real-world STEM explorations using the environment as an integrative concept? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this is the professional development (PD) opportunity for you!

Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geospatial technologies to explore complex interdisciplinary phenomena, such as environmental issues, has been demonstrated as a highly effective method for teachers and students to better understand connections within the natural world at all grade levels.

Connecting spatial representation and explorations to local field-based inquiry further improves understanding in a tangible way while creating a sense of place and connection to the issue. Yet, knowing which GIS tools to use and how to use them to enhance a new existing curriculum can initially be quite daunting to educators. 

Program Details

We are seeking K–12 educators in Pennsylvania to participate in an innovative professional development series designed to enhance educators’ Watershed Inquiry and Environmental Literacy Classroom Practices.

The PD structure includes 15 hours of synchronous and asynchronous instruction with an additional 15–30 hours of assignment work. Participants are expected to:

• Complete the entire training.
• Complete pre-, post-, and follow-up surveys.
• Design and implement an inquiry-based unit plan which utilizes select GIS tools within six weeks of the course completion.

Questions? Contact Tamara Peffer, tpeffer@pa.gov, 717-772-0842.https://seagrant.psu.edu/