Since 2017, Educating for Environmental Change (EfEC) has provided professional development programs to help K-12 science educators effectively teach the science and policy of climate change. Utilizing hands-on activities co-designed by IU environmental scientists, EfEC helps elucidate and deepen educator understanding of key concepts related to climate change including its causes, impacts, and steps we can take to mitigate its severity. EfEC is a collaboration between Indiana University faculty, K-12 educators, and the WonderLab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology. In 2020, EFEC received Indiana’s top environmental award, the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence, for “extraordinary initiatives in protecting the environment.”
Educating for Environmental Change (EfEC)
Contact us
J. Adam Scribner
Director of STEM Education
ED 2068
(812) 856-8252
jascrib@iu.edu
This workshop has been mind-blowing, overwhelming (in a good way), and exciting. It has absolutely given me the confidence to teach climate change.
EfEC Participating Teacher, 2020
2023 Educating for Environmental Change Summer Science Institute
We are excited to host a new five-day Educating for Environmental Change Summer Science Institute at IU Bloomington’s School of Education. Learn in-depth science content and participate in hands-on, classroom-ready lessons led by IU faculty that align to Indiana state and Next Generation Science Standards. All participating teachers will receive classroom resources and materials, lodging (if you choose to stay on campus), daily meals, and a $500 stipend.
This FREE program will be open to middle and high school science educators. Daily workshops will take place from 9am to 3pm with a continental breakfast starting at 8:30am. Lodging, dinner, and evening activities will be provided for those who stay on campus.
One-Day Workshops
In addition to our popular summer science institutes, we are currently offering new one-day, in-person workshops on the following topics:
9am–3pm
Breakfast starting at 8:30
Social Science Research Commons Grand Hall (in Woodburn Hall)
Indiana’s new science standards emphasize the use of models by students. Climate scientists use climate models and supercomputers to understand our changing climate, and to make projections about our future. But what climate models can students use?
This workshop will introduce teachers to a collection of models that can be used to teach students about climate processes and how humans are causing climate change. These models can be accessed from any connected computer or smartphone, and teach students that a model does not need to be complicated to be powerful, and all models – from the simple to the complex – have strengths and limitations.
Teams of middle and high-school science teachers are encouraged to apply, but all educators who have an interest in the topic are welcome. Participating teachers will need to bring a connected device.
Participating teachers will be provided with hands-on materials and resources, $150 stipends, breakfast and lunch, and follow-up support. This workshop is generously funded by two anonymous foundations and the support of the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
9am–3pm
Breakfast starting at 8:30
IU School of Education
How can we help students and teachers build climate resilience by problem-solving for a better world?
Join Dr. Kirstin Milks for exemplar lessons that harness the healing power of cutting-edge climate science by having students dream up sci-fi worlds of the future -- and how humans in those worlds can not only survive but collaborate to thrive!
This interdisciplinary workshop is designed to foster student interest in climate science, politics, economics, and culture by bringing standards-aligned science lessons and play-informed activities, plus a renewed sense of hope andpurpose, to your classroom. Teams of elementary and middle-level teachers from many disciplines (ELA, art, social studies, and science) are encouraged to apply, but all educators who have an interest in the topic are welcome.
This workshop will be held at the IU School of Education from 9 am to 3 pm with breakfast starting at 8:30. Participating teachers will be provided with hands-on materials and resources, $150 stipends, breakfast and lunch, and follow-up support. Parking is available in the Eagleson This workshop is generously funded by two anonymous foundations and the support of the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
9am–3pm
Breakfast starting at 8:30
IU School of Education
From extended heat waves to flooding to drought, climate change is already impacting the lives and livelihoods of Hoosiers. And climate change is increasingly a priority of health care professionals and the medical training community as people are suffering from pulmonary and heart disease as well as stress and mental health issues. This workshop will focus on what we can do to mitigate those human health impacts by discussing the science behind them, the ways that local and regional planning impacts environmental and personal health, and the educational tools that can be developed to frame the key challenges. This workshop will be led by Dr. Gabriel Filippelli. It will be held in the Social Science Research Commons Grand Hall (in Woodburn Hall) from 9 am to 3 pm with breakfast starting at 8:30. Participating teachers will be provided with hands-on materials and resources, $150 stipends, breakfast and lunch, and follow-up support. This workshop is generously funded by two anonymous foundations and the support of the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
Past Workshops
9am–3pm
Breakfast starting at 8:30
IU School of Education
This workshop will build on the successes of previous workshops offered to EfEC teachers by incorporating social dimensions of climate change and environmental concerns. This module will help teachers explore how racial and social inequality is related to climate change, environmental harms, and the energy system. This workshop is ideal for middle and high school science educators.
This workshop will be held at the IU School of Education from 9 am to 3 pm with breakfast starting at 8:30. Participating teachers will be provided with hands-on materials and resources, $150 stipends, breakfast and lunch, and follow-up support. This workshop is generously funded by two anonymous foundations and the support of the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
This workshop will present a Climate Engineering Teaching Module co-designed by Indiana University atmospheric scientists and educators for the Educating for Environmental Change (EfEC) program. This module consists of five complete lessons, including engineering activities that encourage creative technological designs that can be used to slow global warming: including in-class experimentation demonstrating the potential cooling effect resulting from brightening marine clouds. The hands-on activities will be supplemented with knowledge about current climate engineering research and how it may help limit the negative impacts of climate change. Each lesson aligns with Indiana state science standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. This workshop is ideal for middle and high school science teachers who already teach climate change topics or who have already attended the EfEC summer science institute.
This workshop will be held at the IU School of Education from 9 am to 3 pm with breakfast starting at 8:30. Participating teachers will be provided with hands-on materials and resources, $150 stipends, breakfast and lunch, and follow-up support. This workshop is generously funded by two anonymous foundations and the support of the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
Fall 2022 “First Tuesdays” Programs
Starting November 2022, we will be offering shorter evening science education workshops focused on topics pertaining to climate change on the first Tuesday of each month. Some of the workshops will be held virtually while others will be held in-person. Each program is designed to be fast-paced, interesting, and educational.
7:00–8:30pm
The Irish Lion Restaurant, Celtic Room
212 West Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN
"The Future of Nuclear Power." Two professors of nuclear physics, Dr. Tim Londergan and Dr. Steven Vigdor will present “the future of nuclear power”. Nuclear power is one among several alternatives for carbon-free energy production to address global climate change. There are two basic types of nuclear power, utilizing the fission of heavy nuclei or the fusion of very light nuclei. Past serious accidents at fission reactor plants and the daunting engineering problems facing attempts to harness thermonuclear fusion in power plants have led to great public skepticism about the future role of nuclear power. However, renewed interest in the design of small modular fission reactors and recent technical breakthroughs in achieving fusion energy have spawned a new nuclear industry featuring many start-up commercial companies. This program will describe the advances, challenges, and prospects for modular fission reactors and nuclear fusion power plants and how they can play an important part in our carbon-free energy future. For more information, please contact Adam Scribner (jascrib@iu.edu).
7:00–8:30pm
Virtual
River floodplains and deltas are some of the most dynamic surface environments on Earth. However, because these landscapes are flat, it is difficult to perceive with the naked eye how fast they change over time, and how they are responding to a warming climate. Dr. Eric Barefoot will showcase some of the techniques geologists use to measure the impact of changing climate on these sensitive landscapes. The methods range from the high-tech (lasers mounted on satellites and drones), to the extremely low-tech (shovels and sticks). By combining different methods, we will see how seemingly flat, quiet marshlands transform in slow-motion, sometimes with disastrous outcomes.
Past First Tuesday Programs
7:00–8:30pm
The Irish Lion Restaurant, Celtic Room
212 West Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN
"Three Billion Missing Birds, What Can We Do?" Dr. Ellen Ketterson and researcher Sarah Wanamaker will share their knowledge of the extent of the decline in bird populations in North America and globally over the past 50 years including the causes of the decline and information on what individuals can do to help. They will also share tools for students and adults to identify birds by sound and sight. For more information, please contact Adam Scribner (jascrib@iu.edu).
7:00–8:30 pm (Online)
Dr. Michael Hamburger, Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Indiana University will present “The Pandemic, Natural Disasters, and the Teachable Moment”. This program will help teachers turn recent disasters -- whether in our city or a thousand miles away – into meaningful classroom discussions for our students. The program’s driving questions are how can we be prepared, as teachers, to discuss these recent events, to share the science behind them, and to use these events to connect our students to the science that we study? To attend, please RSVP to Adam Scribner (jascrib@iu.edu).
About past institutes
2021: EfEC teacher workshops host educators from across the country
2020: Educating for Environmental Change garners Indiana’s top environmental award
2019: Summer Science Institute Helps Indiana Educators Teach About Climate Change
2018: Indiana teachers get a hands-on look at environmental change at IU Summer Science Institute
This project is supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute and Indiana University’s Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge initiative. The project is generously funded by the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement and two anonymous foundations.
Our Team
Affiliated Faculty
- PI, Adam Scribner, Director of STEM Education Initiatives, School of Education
- Co-PI, Michael Hamburger, Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
- Daniel Beverly, Postdoctoral Fellow, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
- Gabriel Filippelli, Chancellor’s Professor, IUPUI School of Science, Executive Director, Environmental Resilience Institute
- Paul Goddard, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Ellen Ketterson, Distinguished Professor, Biology
- Cody Kirkpatrick, Lecturer, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
- Ben Kravitz, Associate Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
- Tim Londergan, Professor Emeritus, Physics
- Sarah Mincey, Director for Integrated Program in the Environment and Managing Director of the Environmental Resilience Institute
- Kim Novick, Professor, Paul H. O’Neill Chair, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
- Richard Phillips, Professor, Biology; Science Director, Research & Teaching Preserve
- Paul Staten, Associate Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Steven Vigdor, Professor Emeritus, Physics
Project Partners
- Eve Cusack, Elementary School Lead Teacher, Bloomington Montessori School
- Karen Jepson Innes, Executive Director, WonderLab Museum of Science, Health and Technology
- Jessica McKinney, Education Manager, Wonderlab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology
- Kirstin Milks, Secondary Science Teacher, Bloomington High School South
- Deirdre Sheets, Education Director, WonderLab Museum of Science, Health & Technology
Graduate Students
- Sander Denham, PhD candidate, Environmental Science, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
- Deidra Miniard, PhD Candidate, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
- Qiu Zhong, Graduate Student, School of Education