SD Pathways brings STEM career talks to U.S. high school classrooms.

SD Pathways introduces students to clean energy and STEM careers by connecting them with U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® alumni. Alumni mentors cultivate conversations related to the built environment and renewable energy, share their own educational paths, and highlight career opportunities in the STEM and buildings sector.

If you are a Solar Decathlon alum or high school educator interested in participating in SD Pathways, complete the interest form.

Schedule a free and engaging STEM career talk for your students!

Content in the USGBC online catalog.

In these easy-to-use lesson plans, teachers will help students learn how trees produce oxygen, find insects and animals that live in the ground, and learn about household waste and recycling.

Next Generation Science Standards covered are:

• K-ESS3-1. Earth and Human Activity
• K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive
• K-ESS3-3. Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment

These interactive and engaging activities will help students understand how trees stop floodwater. They will also examine heat islands and learn how to reduce them, use rain gauges to measure and calculate water runoff, and test hypotheses around dust and learn how it’s managed.

Next Generation Science Standards covered are:

• MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

A backyard wildlife habitat scavenger hunt, learning about the water cycle, and putting on a dramatic play to defeat carbon creep await students in grades 3-5 in these fun lesson plans from TurfMutt.

Next Generation Science Standards covered are:

• Standard 3. Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Environmental Impacts on Organisms (Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all)
• 4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction
• 4-ESS3-2. Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans

Environmental action is about making a difference, but how can we help students understand what kind of difference they’re making? This module gives introductory, free resources to explore using the Arc platform to use benchmarking, goal-setting, and sustainability metrics as powerful tools for student learning. It is part of the Building Learners series of modules, through which additional guidance, training, and mentoring are available to educators who would like support in bringing these concepts into the classroom.

Arc + Schools Digital Playground
This website provides a walk-through of the Arc platform that has been specifically designed for K-12 educators. It gives users a window into how the platform works and how it might be used in the classroom. Throughout the walk-through, lessons on Learning Lab that are available to users at no cost are called out as resources to prepare students to engage with the elements of sustainability measurement contained in Arc. Visit the Arc + Schools Digital Playground now: www.schools-app.arconline.io

Learning Lab lessons referenced in Arc + Schools Digital Playground
The Arc platform demonstration site references several lessons that can be used to give students the foundation of knowledge they need to work with sustainability metrics and benchmarking. These lessons were created by Learning Lab partners and can be accessed at no cost.

* Earth Waters Our Lives (created by EcoRise and RIS): This unit is comprised of 3 lessons for grades 5-6, including approximately 240 minutes of teaching time. It addresses the human and natural causes of drought, as well as the ways that water is used in everyday life and wasted through human activities.
* Waste Eco-Audit (created by EcoRise and RIS): This unit is comprised of 4 lessons for grades 9-12, including approximately 605 minutes of teaching time. It leads students through the purpose of a waste audit, the process of conducting an audit at the school, and the methods for composing and communicating their results and recommendations.
* Energy Vampire Hunt (created by The Energy Coalition): This lesson for students in grades 9-12 includes 45 minutes of instructional time. In it, students plan and carry out an investigation of energy vampires using an Energy Monitor to measure the energy consumption of different electrical devices. Students then collect and chart the data from their investigation and calculate how much money could be saved by unplugging energy vampires.
* Transportation in Arc
* Indoor Environmental Quality in Arc

See CE courses and other education content from the Center for Green Schools.

Power Up: Kickoff Lesson 6-8: Students will discuss the value of electrical energy in their everyday lives. Using a power plant diagram and web-based sources, students will analyze steps to the electrical generation process and research information on renewable (alternative) energy sources.

Energy Vampire Hunt 6-8 (Lesson One): Students will plan and investigate energy vampires using an Energy Monitor to measure the energy consumption of different electrical devices. Students will collect and chart the data from their investigation and calculate how much money could be saved by unplugging energy vampires.

Under the Sun 6-8 (Lesson Two): Students will use solar panels, fans, light bulbs, and buzzers to create circuits. Students will analyze their communities use of solar and make suggestions for added solar energy usage.

Solar Master Planning 6-8 (Lesson Three): Students utilize design tools (e.g. online drafting tools) to assess their campus’s capacity and need for solar energy. Students will design a solar master plan to present to their district’s energy management team. For schools that already have solar photovoltaic energy, students can create a master plan for another building or campus in their community.

Community/Career Connections: Students will utilize localized climate data and news from their communities to learn more about what’s going on in their own backyard. Students will have access to various resources to understand the environmental justice history of their area and start to plan their Student Action Project.

Learn to recognize, adopt, and implement practices that keep teachers and students focused, alert and ready to learn. Complete the course in the USGBC online catalog.

Students use Google Earth to compare forests that have been logged selectively with those that have not. For an outdoor activity, students create a comprehensive list of all the tree species in their study area.