DOE Creates Lessons in Coordination with the World Conservation Congress

Resource Bank website screenshot.

The Hawai’i Department of Education has created an education resource for teachers, students, and schools participating and contributing to the World Conservation Congress, themed “Planet at the Crossroads,” happening in September.

Grade-specific lessons relevant to the themes of the WCC and the International Union for Conservation of Nature are included in the DOE’s Resource Bank. Topics range from biodiversity, food and water security to climate change.

“Our curriculum staff have created resources for schools statewide to create innovative lessons around this momentous event,” said Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. “This is an exciting opportunity for our schools to supplement what is already being taught and shaped by our students to stress the importance of sustainability and natural resource management.”

The Resource Bank is separated into two sections, a set of online collections of teaching resources applicable to themes of IUCN and WCC. Many of the themes are based in the context of Hawai’i. A list of grade-specific lessons highlighting connection to Next Generation Standards and Common Core Standards are also available.

“The goal of the Resource Bank is to provide educators with a starting point to find instructional materials,” noted Suzanne Mulcahy, assistant superintendent of the Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Support. “It complements our current initiatives – Nā Hopena A’o, New Generation Science Standards, and Mālama Honua.”

Other online resources include:

• NOAA’s Sea Earth Atmosphere Curriculum: Elementary marine science curriculum developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with a focus on Hawai’i and the Pacific.
• Project Aloha ‘Āina: Project- and place-based units developed by the Native Hawaiian Education Council in partnership with Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Units include wetlands, ahupua‘a, stream life, conservation, and coral reefs.
• Navigating Change: Lessons based on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands developed by the Native Hawaiian Education Council in partnership with Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
• ‘Ōhia Project Curriculum: Lessons developed by the Moanalua Gardens Foundation (MGF), along with Bishop Museum and HIDOE, based on conserving Hawai‘i’s natural environment.

The IUCN holds a WCC every four years that brings thousands of scientists, leaders, and decision makers from around the globe together with the goals of environmental conservation and developing solutions to global challenges.

This will be the first time it is convening in the U.S. since it started in 1948.