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Natural Hazards Education for Secondary Science and Social Studies Classrooms

We invite secondary earth and environmental science, civics, and social studies teachers to learn a new place-based, NGSS-aligned science curriculum on natural hazards. The curricular unit includes a lesson on natural hazards (wildfire, flood, or drought) that uses current Colorado case studies and local datasets, a scenario-based role-play game, and a project-based learning unit for students to take action to make their community more resilient. Instructional strategies include community-engaged learning, gamification, and design thinking. Additionally, the workshop will include a field trip to conduct an environmental hazard inventory in Gunnison and get an experiential perspective of natural hazard mitigation and planning.

Upon completion, attendees will receive 2 graduate credits from Western Colorado University. 

The CIRES Education and Outreach team at CU Boulder developed the curriculum, which is part of a program called the Hazard Education Awareness and Resilience Task (HEART) Force. HEART Force is funded by a NOAA Environmental Literacy Grant and is designed specifically for rural Colorado classrooms to increase students’ understanding of natural hazards and community preparedness, and encourages students to take action to increase their community’s resilience to natural hazards. The grant covers registration for this course, and it provides an optional stipend for teachers who would like to teach the curriculum and hold a community resilience expo in their community. Expect to dig into local issues relevant to your community in this course and to learn from educators from around the state in a growing community of practice!