Ripple Effects: STEM and Sustainability Educator Workshop

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:

Every action in Earth’s water systems creates ripple effects—and so can every lesson in your classroom. Join us at Tulsa’s Chandler Park on Saturday, November 15th for Ripple Effects: STEM and Sustainability, an engaging professional development workshop that blends Project WET’s Water in Earth Systems Guide with EcoRise’s sustainability design projects.This workshop is designed for educators who want to integrate three-dimensional learning into their teaching. Participants will engage with disciplinary core ideas about water in Earth systems, apply science and engineering practices such as data analysis, modeling, and design, and use crosscutting concepts like systems thinking and cause-and-effect to help students make connections. Together, Project WET and EcoRise provide a toolkit for moving beyond content knowledge into authentic, project-based STEM learning that empowers students to address sustainability challenges in their own communities.

Workshop Details

• Date/Time: Saturday, November 15th | Grades K-5 in Morning, Grades 6-12 in Afternoon
• Location: Samuel Washington Woodhouse Nature Center, Chandler Park (Tulsa, OK)
• Cost: $10 (includes Project WET guide, EcoRise access, workshop supplies)
• If this cost is a significant barrier to your participation, please reach out to Jack Hilgert, [email protected], as scholarships are available!

Why Attend? This workshop is designed to help educators:

1. Integrate three-dimensional STEM learning into their curriculum using water as a unifying theme.
2. Connect classroom instruction to real-world sustainability challenges through project-based learning.
3. Access high-quality curriculum resources that support inquiry, collaboration, and problem-solving.
4. Empower students to see themselves as scientists, engineers, and change-makers with the ability to shape sustainable futures.

What to Expect

• Project WET: Water in Earth Systems
  Dive into lessons that explore the water cycle, groundwater, weather interactions, and human impacts on water resources. Activities model inquiry, systems thinking, and scientific practices aligned with NGSS and Oklahoma Academic Standards.
• EcoRise Sustainability Projects
  Learn how to extend water lessons into student-driven projects where learners investigate local sustainability challenges, design solutions, and apply STEM skills to real-world issues.
• Curriculum & Resources
  Participants will receive the Water in Earth Systems Guide (23 interdisciplinary lessons) and access to EcoRise’s digital platform of sustainability-aligned lesson plans, toolkits, and mini-grant opportunities.
• Collaboration & Curriculum Design
  Educators will work in teams to design learning experiences that integrate Project WET and EcoRise resources, building project-based units that highlight the ripple effects of water in Earth systems on communities and ecosystems.

ELEMENTARY SESSION (GRADES K-5): 8 AM to NOON

In the morning, we’ll focus on helping elementary teachers bring water science to life through age-appropriate, inquiry-driven lessons. Using the Project WET: Water in Earth Systems Guide, participants will dive into activities that make the water cycle, weather patterns, and human impacts accessible for younger learners. You’ll explore ways to:

• Use stories, models, and hands-on experiments to help students visualize water moving through Earth’s systems.
• Connect outdoor observations and local phenomena to classroom science.
• Strengthen cross-curricular learning by tying water activities to literacy, math, and social studies.

The session will emphasize how to foster curiosity and build foundational STEM practices—such as observing, asking questions, and simple data collection—so that students not only learn about water, but also develop early problem-solving skills. Elementary educators will also explore how to extend these lessons into simple EcoRise sustainability projects that empower students to design small, community-focused solutions (such as water-saving behaviors at school).

AFTERNOON SESSION (GRADES 6-12): 1 to 5 PM

In the afternoon, attention shifts to middle and high school teachers ready to integrate three-dimensional STEM learning and project-based instruction at a deeper level. Participants will engage with Project WET’s Water in Earth Systems Guide to tackle topics like groundwater, climate interactions, and the ripple effects of human activity on water resources. Lessons will emphasize:

• Modeling and simulation of Earth’s water processes.
• Data analysis and interpretation, helping students work with real-world data sets.
• Exploring complex cause-and-effect relationships across systems.

Teachers will then connect these lessons to EcoRise sustainability design challenges, where students identify local environmental issues, design innovative solutions, and apply engineering practices. Educators will leave with strategies to guide student-led projects that align with NGSS and Oklahoma Academic Standards—projects that build critical thinking, civic engagement, and career readiness.

Make a splash in your teaching practice and inspire your students to see the ripple effects of science, systems, and sustainability—join us at Chandler Park on November 15!

Jack Hilgert, [email protected], (405) 613-3835, Oklahoma Project WET and Project WILD

T Larson, [email protected], Program Manager, EcoRise

ABOUT THE CURRICULUM:

Project WET stands for Water Education Today. Water is a part of everything we are, everything we eat, and everything we use. Yet most people do not even know where their water comes from, let alone their larger water footprint. Project WET provides educators, natural resource professionals, and more real-world, relevant, and hands-on lessons, that create an interdisciplinary learning environment focused on the most essential aspect of life—water.

EcoRise equips teachers and students with the tools to transform classrooms into hubs of innovation and sustainability. The curriculum connects academic standards to real-world challenges, empowering students to design solutions that address issues such as energy use, waste reduction, water conservation, and sustainable transportation. By providing educators with project-based learning frameworks, design-thinking resources, and access to student microgrants, EcoRise cultivates inquiry, creativity, and civic engagement. The result is an interdisciplinary learning environment where students not only understand sustainability but also take action to create a more resilient future.

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