Water: The Essential Resource

Water is an essential theme in social studies, science, and geography. Whether teaching about natural or human systems, water is part of the story. This course, framed around California's Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI), focuses on ocean and freshwater topics, and instructional strategies for teaching environmental content in Grades 4-8. Resources and support are provided for how to use EEI to implement Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy.

The goal of this course is to increase environmental education in classrooms. The course aims to provide support for teachers to integrate this content into their teaching. Teachers taking this course will:

• increase environmental science content knowledge
• increase environmental literacy around issues of water
• prepare to implement environmental content in their classroom using engaging, and effective instructional strategies
• share and reflect about their practices in a collaborative online environment

Session 1: Water: Earth’s Essential Resource
Session 2: Aquatic and Marine Ecosystems
Session 3: From Mountain to Ocean
Session 4: Water Quality
Session 5: Consequences of Human Water Use
Session 6: The Ocean
Session 7: Water Stewardship: Adaptation and Mitigation
Session 8: Water Reflection