Sustainable Design Project Teacher Manual
Prepared by
Gilda Wheeler, OSPI, Education for Environment and Sustainability
Kristen Clapper Bergsman, Laughing Crow Curriculum LLC
Colleen Thumlert, Cascadia Consulting Group
Beth Kelly, OSPI Learn and Serve America
Project Partners
Environmental Education Association of Washington
Puget Sound Energy
Learn and Serve America
Version 2.0
September 2010
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Prepared by
Gilda Wheeler, OSPI Education for Environment and Sustainability
Kristen Clapper Bergsman, Laughing Crow Curriculum LLC
Colleen Thumlert, Cascadia Consulting Group
Beth Kelly, OSPI Learn and Serve America
Project Partners
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
Environmental Education Association of Washington
Puget Sound Energy
Learn and Serve America
The following individuals reviewed all or part of the 2008 version of this manual:
JoLynn Berge, OSPI
Martin Fortin Jr., AWSP
Katie Frevert, UW
Crina Hoyer, ReSources
Beth Kelly, OSPI
Jessica Levine, Seattle Public Schools
Mary McClellen, OSPI
Abby Ruskey, EEAW
Sheryl Shapiro, City of Seattle
Ben Wheeler, Explorer West Middle School
Greg Williamson, OSPI
Katie Atkins, Cascadia Consulting
Susie Richards, SEA
Chris Burt, SEA
Mike Maryanski, Tahoma SD
Teachers and administrators from the following schools and districts reviewed Version 2 as
part of their participation in the Learn and Serve Sustainable Design Project grant program:
East Valley School District, Spokane
Kettle Falls School District
Highland School District
West Valley School District, Yakima
Davis High School, Yakima
White Salmon Valley School District
Komachin Middle School, North Thurston
Chimacum Middle School, Chimacum
Sequim School District
Spanaway Elementary, Bethel
Clover Park High School, Clover Park
Seattle Public Schools
Franklin High School, Seattle Public Schools
Pasco School District
South Whidbey School District
Coupeville School District
Central Middle School
St Charles Catholic School
High Tech High School, Quincy
Seattle Academy, Seattle
Whittier Elementary,
Eckstein Middle School
Cheney Middle School
Chimacum Pi Program, Chimacum
Sustainable Design Project Steering Committee Members
Apryl Brinkley, Mercer Slough Environmental
Education Center-Pacific Science Center
Sheila Brown, Environmental Learning Centers,
Seattle Parks and Recreation
Sally Brownfield, OSPI Center for the Improvement
of Student Learning
Christie Fairchild, Komo Kulshan Outdoor School
Lynne Ferguson, Pacific Education Institute
Katie Frevert, NIEHS Center for Ecogenetics and
Environmental Health, U of W
Peter D. Finch, West Valley School District, Yakima
Marty Fortin, Association of WA School Principals
James R. Freed, WSU Extension
Jacqueline Fuller, EnviroChallenger, City of
Tacoma
Sharon Gilbert, Lakewood Middle School
Michael Hagmann, Ferrucci Junior High
Debbi Hardy, Olympia School District
Jack Horne, Science ESD 171
Crina Hoyer, ReSources for Sustainable
Communities
Peter Hubbard, Lawton Elementary
Rhonda Hunter, Department of Ecology
Denny Hurtado, OSPI
John Inch, EnviroChallenger, City Of Tacoma
Rachael Jamison, Department of Ecology
Kathy Kimball, Board Member, Pacific Education
Institute
Carole Kubota, UW Bothell
Jessica Levine, Eckstein Middle School
Karen Matsumoto, Seattle Aquarium
T.A. McCann
Nan McNutt, Indigenous Science Consultant
Gretchen Muller, Seattle Public Utilities
Victor Nolet, Western Washington University
Pat O'Rourke, Islandwood
John Pope, OSPI
Kevin Powers, WSU Extension
Steve Robinson, Northwest Indian Fisheries
Commission
Tom Sanford, Olympic Park Institute
Sheryl Shapiro, Seattle Public Utilities
Jon Sharpe, NIEHS Center for Ecogenetics and
Environmental Health, U of W
Bob Sotak, Everett School District
Mike Town, Redmond High School
Margaret Tudor, Pacific Education Institute
Cathy Tuttle, Sustainable Ballard
Laura Tyler, MESA
Greg Williamson, OSPI
Clancy Wolf, Islandwood
Eric Wuersten, Former OSPI Science Supervisor
Recommended Citation:
Wheeler, G., Bergsman, K., Thumlert, C and Kelly, B. (2010). Sustainable Design Project Teacher Manual.
Olympia, WA: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Although the information in this document has been funded in part by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency under assistance agreement 96090701-0 to the Environmental Education
Association of Washington, it may not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency and no official
endorsement should be inferred.
About the Sustainable Design Project
The Sustainable Design Project (SDP) is a K-12 statewide initiative lead by the Office of
Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), The Environmental Education Association of Washington
(EEAW), and Puget Sound Energy to engage students in designing solutions to challenges in their
community within the context of systems and sustainability. This project received support from
Learn and Serve America.
About the Education for Environment and Sustainability Program
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Education for Environment and Sustainability
program supports academic success and life-long learning, and develops a responsible citizenry
capable of applying knowledge of ecological, economic, and socio-cultural systems to meet current
and future needs. Learn more about the program at
http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/default.aspx
CONTENTS
Preface: Education for Sustainability
6
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Sustainable Design Project
8
Chapter 2: Approaches to Learning: Project-Based and Place-Based Learning
16
Chapter 3: Student Engagement and Working as a Team
20
Chapter 4: Structuring a Sustainable Design Project
24
Chapter 5: Content Area Connections
29
Chapter 6: Connecting to Community Resources
40
Chapter 7: Project Funding and Resources
46
Chapter 8: Showcasing the Projects
52
Chapter 9: Resources for Teaching Sustainable Design
54
Appendix A Teacher Planning Tools
61
Appendix B Student Planning Tools
65
References
86
PREFACE
Education for Sustainability: A Vision for the Future
Where We’ve Been: Environmental Education in Washington State
Washington State has a rich history of environmental education. Since the early 1900s, the state has
developed landmark environmental education efforts which have served as models for the United
States, ranging from one of the first outdoor schools in the 1920s to a nationally recognized
Environmental Education Assessment Project in the 1990s. Washington State has benefited from the
dedication and hard work of many environmental educators and natural resource professionals who
recognized the importance of a deep, holistic understanding of our total environment, our place in it,
and our responsibility to it.
Where We’re Going: Education for Sustainability
Today, our students are encountering a rapidly changing and interconnected world. Because of this, it
is time to broaden environmental education to a more comprehensive view of the world that includes
teaching about the environment, as well as the social constructs of culture, society, governance, and
economics. Our quality of life, now and in the future, will ultimately depend upon humans’
comprehension of their role in a world of interdependent environmental, economic, and social
systems. The goal of education for sustainability is to develop the capacity for society to meet the
needs of today while assuring intergenerational equity – that is, creating opportunities for a positive
present and a hopeful future.
Roots of the Sustainable Design Project
The Environmental Education Association of Washington (EEAW) is Washington’s professional
association for environmental educators and stakeholders dedicated to increasing the awareness of
and support for environmental education (EE) in the state of Washington. EEAW lead the
development of a Comprehensive Environmental Education Plan for Washington state (E3
Washington).
An outgrowth of the E3 Washington initiative to
identify “politically and institutionally powerful
initiatives,” the Sustainable Design Project was
launched through a partnership of the Office of
Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the
Environmental Education Association of Washington
(EEAW), and Puget Sound Energy.
The systems approach to understanding how the
world works includes inputs, outputs, and
transformations of both constructed and natural
systems and the interplay between these
systems. Describing how humans are affected
and in turn affect both constructed and natural
systems is a goal of education for sustainability.
One result of formal education is that students
graduate without knowing how to think in whole
systems, how to find connections, how to ask big
questions, and how to separate the trivial from the
important. Now more than ever, we need people
who think broadly and who understand systems,
connections, patterns and root causes.
~ David Orr, Earth in Mind, 1994
What is Education for Sustainability?
Sustainability is a broad construct that usually refers
to a concern for intergenerational equity, an idea that
can be traced to a number of ancient cultures. The
organizing premise is that when sustainability has
been achieved, the current generation would be able
to meet its needs without jeopardizing the ability of
future generations to meet their needs. In the field of ecology, sustainability usually refers to the
capacity of an ecosystem to sustain interdependent forms of life by balancing the rate of resource
removal with the rate of resource regeneration. In the broader context in which the term is used today,
sustainability often refers to a balance among various human systems that influence and are
influenced by the natural environment. Ultimately, sustainability represents an ideal that will be
achieved when human-caused environmental degradation has been reversed and overconsumption
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and economic injustices that deprive future generations of the ability to meet their needs are
eliminated (Nolet, Preparing Sustainability Literate Teachers, 2009).
Sustainability can be understood by even the youngest students, as evidenced in this definition from a
class of first graders from Geneva Elementary in Bellingham, Washington, “Sustainability means
thinking not just about yourself but about the world and
everything in it, on it, and around it - taking care of these things
When we try to pick out something by
for the future. Everything is connected.”
itself, we find it hitched to everything
else in the universe.
~John Muir
Three Domains of Education for Sustainability:
Environmental, Economic, and Social
The three domains that are addressed in Education for Sustainability are ecology/environment,
economy, and society/culture. We often try to come at sustainability from one direction based on our
own predisposition—from an ecological viewpoint, an economic viewpoint, or a social/cultural
viewpoint. To successfully engage in education for sustainability we must consider all three domains
together. Education for Sustainability is about learning to understand the connections and interactions
between these three domains.
Environment/Ecology:
Environmental and ecological systems include the interactions between the biotic and
abiotic components of both constructed and natural systems. These systems also
include the interactions and influences between the two that create a web-like
network of interactions. In this domain, sustainability includes stewardship and
preservation of ecological systems.
Economy:
Economic systems include the economic opportunities that open gates for the flow of
energy, materials, and information in constructed systems. A consideration of
economic sustainability includes a viable economy in which all people are able to
contribute, work, and have their basic needs met.
Society/Culture:
Social systems include: the cultural values and norms of a society; the rules, laws, and
workings of governance to regulate, protect, and provide for civilization; and, the
quality of life indicators that we use to define and measure our well-being.
Sustainable practices in this domain emphasize protecting the commons (natural
commons such as air, water, and soil, as well as human constructed commons such as
radio waves and the Internet) and seeking a fair distribution of resources.
Education for Sustainability provides students with opportunities to engage in complex problem
solving from multiple perspectives. It provides opportunities for students to gain deep understanding
of the interdependence of ecological systems, economic systems, and social systems. Both complex
problem solving and deep knowledge of interconnected systems of the world will be required to
develop sustainable solutions to human challenges that build hope for the future.
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CHAPTER 1: Introduction to the Sustainable Design Project
Purpose and use of this manual
This manual is designed to assist schools and teachers in integrating sustainable design projects into
their current teaching. It contains a variety of information and resources for this purpose. Some
teachers new to the concept of sustainability may want to read it from cover to cover, while others
who are familiar with this concept and approach to teaching will likely want to review the table of
contents and then go directly to sections of particular interest or of which they have questions. This is
a “living document” and therefore will be updated periodically to meet the needs of teachers.
What is the Sustainable Design Project?
The Sustainable Design Project (SDP) is a Washington statewide K-12 initiative in which students,
together with community partners, study environmental, economic, and social systems and their
interconnectedness and address issues in those systems. The goal of the SDP is for students to
design sustainable solutions to real-world challenges while
increasing their level of civic and student engagement.
PLEASE NOTE: In this manual, “Sustainable Design Project” will
reference the initiative whereas “sustainable design project” will
reference the actual student project/experience.
The care of the Earth is our most
ancient and most worthy, and
after all, our most pleasing
responsibility. To cherish what
remains of it and to foster its
renewal is our only hope.
~ Wendell Berry
Solving real-world problems through interdisciplinary projectbased learning and/or service-learning
Project-based learning allows students to interact with a rapidly
changing and dynamic world. In response to recent favorable research on interactive learning, many
schools are beginning to integrate project-based learning into their curriculum. Service-learning is a
teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and
reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility and strengthen communities.
Furthermore, the SDP can be used as a means for students to complete their “culminating project”
graduation requirement. Through the culminating project, students become experts—with the help of
people in their community—and then share what they know with others.
Engaging students in their learning
Effective learning takes place when it is relevant to students’ lives. The SDP is about connecting
students to their world today, their future, and to future generations. Through projects students
grapple with real-world systems, starting in their local communities. They design solutions to issues
such as water and energy use, resource conservation, climate change, clean air, sustainable food and
product design, all the while seeking to maximize the health of their communities, social equity, and
sustainable economy.
Empirical research demonstrates that student achievement is greater when learning is relevant,
hands-on, applied, interdisciplinary, and based in the real world. By its very nature, environmental and
sustainability education bridges schools and the natural and human-built environments. As students
work towards being change-agents, there is often a transformation that takes place within the student.
It can be a deeper sensitivity, increased awareness, more compassion towards others, in-depth
thinking and reflection on issues, and an urgency to be more engaged in the community.
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School and community connections
Through sustainable design projects, students can work with people in their communities who bring
expertise into the classroom and give students opportunities to learn in real-world contexts. The SDP
relies on partnerships between students and business, industry, government agencies and
municipalities, faculty, staff, and students in colleges and universities; and community–based
organizations. Using an online database of project resources, www.e3washington.org/student-project/,
students can call upon the technical expertise of community members to gain perspective, more fully
understand the systems they are exploring and develop sustainable solutions to the challenges they
discover. This new online resource is discussed more thoroughly in Chapter 6: Connecting to
Community Resources.
To reach the collective goal of preparing students to successfully live, learn, work, and play in the
twenty-first century, schools today must tap into existing community resources. There is a wealth of
exceptional, relevant learning opportunities for students in our communities. For more than thirty years,
our state agencies, after-school programs, zoos, aquaria, and the business community have invested in
developing programs and opportunities for youth.
A new vision for education
The Sustainable Design Project has the potential to take education in a new direction—one that focuses
on providing students with a “leg up” in their experience, confidence, knowledge base, and skill level,
preparing them to be active participants in helping Washington be the national leader in sustainability.
Sustainable Design is a promising initiative that leverages the new requirement for teacher preparation
programs to prepare students for an “environmentally sustainable, globally interconnected, and diverse
society.” Education leaders see that the Sustainable Design Project offers a way forward for education
that integrates academic disciplines, meets state standards, and responds to a moral imperative –given
global warming and the rapid environmental, economic, and social changes underway in our
communities, state, and world.
Key Principles of a Student Sustainable Design Project include:
1. Consideration of whole systems, addressing the interconnections between ecology,
economy, and society.
2. Authentic student engagement and cooperative group learning.
3. Alignment with core content standards and performance expectations.
4. Connection with community resources and stakeholders’ perspectives.
5. Design of a solution to a real-world challenge.
6. A plan to implement the design solution and, if feasible, the actual development of the
product or service.
7. Sharing of the project.
8. Evaluation and assessment of student and project impacts.
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Sustainable Design Project Goals and Objectives
The project partners along with the steering committee for the Sustainable Design Project developed
the following goals and objectives to serve as a guide for support and implementation of this statewide
initiative.
Goals
Engaging and Effective Learning for
All Students.
Create meaningful, real-world teaching
and learning and increase academic
achievement for all students.
Learning Communities and
Partnerships.
Create and support effective learning
communities in and outside the
classroom and create long-lasting
partnerships between K-12 teachers/
students and the community including:
higher education faculty and students;
industry and business experts; resource
agencies; community-based
organizations; and families.
Teacher Preparation, Professional
Development and Support.
Provide teachers with adequate
information and support to teach and
implement SDPs with their students.
Sustainability-Literate Citizens.
Build “sustainability literacy” in students
who will go on to build environmentally,
socially, and economically sustainable
communities in Washington State.
Objectives
 Involve students in the development and planning of the
SDP Program.
 Align study units and projects to standards.
 Target underserved students including: African American,
Indian (Native American), Hispanic, migrant/bilingual,
Pacific Islander, and Southeast Asian.
 Increase the number of schools and districts with
sustainable design programs targeting young people at
disproportionate risk.
 Provide support materials for the design process such as
templates and project examples.
 Design a process for regional and statewide presentation
of exemplary projects.
 Provide teacher professional development on Sustainable
Design projects at a variety of venues.
 Work with all sectors of the community taking into
consideration the different values of each member.
 Provide mechanisms, including a website of project
opportunities, through which community members can
connect and offer technical support to students.
 Showcase student projects in local community spaces and
events. Invite key community leaders, businesses,
parents, and others.
 Provide professional development opportunities for
teachers to learn all aspects of the SDP, receive technical
training, and connect with local community resources.
 Provide access to additional resources and networking
abilities on the SDP website and database.
 Provide project-related materials in different languages.
 Offer continuing support throughout the school year.
 Embed the concepts of sustainability in core content area
teaching and learning.
 Connect students to their local environment and
communities in a meaningful way.
 Use the total school environment as a learning
environment and showcase of sustainability. For example,
school gardens, solar panels, wind turbines, healthy
playgrounds, and rain gardens are created and used as
living laboratories for learning.
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Systems and Sustainability
The SDP aims to have students study issues specific to various systems and design solutions within
the context of sustainability. This next section provides definitions of systems, sustainability, and
sustainable design, and concludes with some project examples.
What is a System?
A system is a group of interacting, interrelated, and interdependent
components that form a complex and unified whole. Systems are
everywhere. For example, a classroom, a predator/prey relationship, and
the ignition system in your car are all systems. Some systems are “nested”
within larger systems. For example, the circulatory system is nested within
the system we know as the human body. A system is a collection of “things”
in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
What is Sustainability?
The most well-known definition of sustainability – “meeting the needs of the present without
comprising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” – comes from the Brundtland Report,
which was the product of a United Nations commission in 1989.
For the purposes of the Sustainable Design Project we use this definition of sustainability from the
Washington State Department of Ecology’s 2007 Field Guide to Sustainability:
Sustainability is a holistic approach to living and problem solving that addresses social equity,
environmental health, and economic prosperity. To be sustainable, the economy must support
a high quality life for all people in a way that protects our health, our limited natural resources,
and our environment over the long term.
What is Sustainable Design?
Sustainable design considers how to design the built
environment in a way that cultivates ecological, economic,
and cultural conditions which support human and
environmental well-being, indefinitely (Ann Thorpe, The
Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability, 2007).
Native American cultures have a tradition
to consider each decision by asking: “What
impact will this have on the seventh
generation?”
~ A Field Guide to Sustainability, WA State
Department of Ecology, 2007
Sustainable Design offers the possibility of building schools,
office buildings, parks, transportation systems, and entire communities with an eye toward long-term
sustainability, rather than only seeking to solve immediate needs and desires. It supports city
planners, architects, and designers in approaching each project with the intent to reduce
environmental impacts, stimulate the economy, and provide opportunities for people to connect with
each other and the land.
Sustainable design takes a systems-wide perspective. It aims to solve current environmental
problems and prevent future ones from occurring while integrating a wise understanding of social and
economic factors and their impact on the environment.
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If we understand that design leads to manifestation of human intention, and if what we make with our
hands is to be sacred and honor the earth that gives us life, then the things we make must not only
rise from the ground but return to it, soil to soil, water to water, so everything that is received from the
earth can be freely given back without causing harm to any living system. This is ecology. This is
good design.
~ William McDonough Architect and Author of “Cradle to Cradle”
Common Principles of Sustainable Design
There are some common principles associated with sustainably designed products and processes.
These include:
Use of low-impact materials: Chooses non-toxic, sustainable, or recycled materials, which require
little energy to process. Takes into consideration how the materials (visible and invisible) originate in
and return to the ecosphere (atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere).
Energy efficiency: Implements manufacturing processes that use less energy and produces products
which require less energy to manufacture and operate. Ideally, makes use of renewable energy
sources.
Quality and durability: Understands that longer-lasting and better-functioning products will have to
be replaced less frequently, thereby reducing the impacts of producing replacements and disposing of
worn-out products. Another option is flexible designs that have a core component, such as an
automobile chassis, that remains durable, but other components that can be replaced and upgraded
over time as better versions become available, such as the engine and transmission.
Cradle-to-cradle life cycle design for reuse and recycling: Designs products, processes, and
systems for performance in the commercial “afterlife” of the product. This includes choosing materials
with a cradle-to-cradle approach, so that the materials themselves create clean water, clean air, or
can be composted to enrich the soil. This also includes design to facilitate the eventual separation of
“technical nutrients” for the industrial process of manufacturing from “organic nutrients” that will
biodegrade and enrich natural systems.
Biomimicry: Designs products, services, and industrial systems to mimic biological designs and
cycles found in nature. Natural systems, large and small, are models of interactive functionality that
maximizes effectiveness and efficiency.
Service substitution: Promotes the sharing of products or services among groups of people. For
example, encouraging people to change from private automobile ownership to joining a car-sharing
service. Such a system promotes minimal resource use per unit of consumption (e.g., per car trip
driven).
Local renewable resources: Chooses materials from nearby (local or bioregional), sustainably
managed, renewable sources. Ideally, when their usefulness has been exhausted, biodegradable
resources can be returned to nature as biological nutrients, or alternatively, returned to manufacturing
as technical nutrients.
Carbon footprint: Reduces an individual’s carbon footprint by choosing products and services that
have been sustainably designed, sustainably produced, and have the ability to be recycled or reused.
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Environmental health: Aims to reduce or eliminate human health risks from environmental factors
(such as pollution, heavy metals, etc.) that can be ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin.
Environmental justice: Aims to provide all people with access to a healthy environment and equal
access to decision-making processes. The development and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations, and policies should fairly involve all people and should protect groups of people from
being disproportionately affected by environmental health hazards.
Human needs and quality of life: Considers how a design can promote human needs and quality of
life in terms of subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, and
identity.
Design for change: Considers what policy changes, behavioral changes, and technology changes
will enable a design to occur, and what changes will exert the greatest leverage for overall
sustainability.
Examples of Systems and Sustainable Design Projects
The following chart provides examples of different systems and a few corresponding sustainable
design project ideas. Additional project examples can be found in Chapters 4 and 5.
SYSTEM
Built
Environment
POSSIBLE SUSTAINABLE DESIGN PROJECTS



Energy


Water



Waste




Workplace Health &
Safety

Create a manual to help schools in your district choose green
building materials and interior fixtures.
Design and build a rain garden at your home or school.
Conduct an energy audit of your home, school, or community and
develop/implement an energy efficiency plan.
Compare solar, biomass, wind turbines, and geothermal energy
sources and develop a renewable energy plan based on this
analysis.
Conduct a water use audit of your home, school, or community
and develop/implement a water reduction plan.
Conduct water quality testing at different locations within your
watershed (e.g. creeks, rivers, Puget Sound, and marine
estuaries) and design/implement a plan to improve water quality.
Design an art piece that teaches about your local watershed.
Conduct a solid waste audit of your home, school, or community
and design a plan to encourage the reduction, reuse and proper
recycling of waste.
Design a program to encourage school-wide recycling.
Design and build a composting system at your home.
Develop a system to encourage your teachers and school office
workers to reduce their paper use.
Conduct an ergonomics audit of a work station or process at a
local job site and design a healthy worksite product such as a
chair, writing implement, or electronic device.
Survey health and safety hazards at a local employer and offer
recommendations on how to protect workers.
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
Social and Civic
Action



Food & Farm



Technology

Culture


Media, Music, and
Art


Transportation
Parks & Natural
Areas
Forestry

Survey registered voters who do not vote to find out what
impediments keep them from voting. Design and disseminate
ideas to minimize those impediments.
Work with a local non-profit agency to help design a system that
encourages and rewards volunteerism in the community.
Explore where food in your school/district comes from and design
an incentive plan to encourage the procurement of products from
local farmers.
In partnership with local elementary school students and teachers,
design and plant an organic garden for the school.
Develop an educational program about community supported
agriculture.
Choose a food item (such as a pineapple) and map its pathways,
and environmental impacts, from the farm to your plate and share
that with community members.
Map the cradle-to-grave (life cycle from development to waste)
pathway of electronic waste and design a product that following
the principles of cradle-to-cradle (a product whose life is
continuous, never ending in a landfill).
Identify a landmark, building, park, or other place that has cultural
importance in your community. Design a brochure, interpretive
sign, or other type of media to tell its story and to educate people
about its importance.
Film a documentary in which you interview community elders
about local history.
Organize a festival that features film, music, and art celebrating
your community’s environment, culture, or economy.
Develop an art program that inspires children to create
sustainability-themed art.
Conduct a rush hour count of carpools versus single-occupant
vehicles along a local freeway or highway and then develop an
incentive program to encourage people to bike, walk, bus, or
carpool to school or work.
Develop a cost/benefit assessment of transportation modes, such
as car, bike, motorcycle, and bus and design an alternative
transportation plan that is economically viable and socially
appropriate for your community.


Write an interpretive guide for a local nature trail or park.
Develop a plan for removing invasive plant species from a local
park.

Investigate the effects of biosolid fertilizers on tree growth and
design a plan or product to sustainably enrich forestry trees.
Calculate the amount of wood re-used and the reduction of
environmental impacts by Urban Tree Salvage Program (e.g. in
King County) and then design an outreach campaign that
encourages builders to use salvaged wood products.
Conduct a survey of a local immigrant group to find out what
environmental health risks most concern them and then create
educational materials in languages appropriate for your
community.
Create educational materials to encourage low-income women in
your community to get mammograms.


Environmental
Health & Justice

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Chapter 1 Resources
Education for Environment and Sustainability
A program of the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, EES provides
tools and resources for teachers to implement environmental and sustainability education in their
classrooms.
http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/default.aspx
Washington State Department of Ecology Sustainability Website
Learn about how you can choose sustainable practices in your own life, connect with educational
resources, and download a free copy of A Field Guide to Sustainability.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/sustainability/
Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit
The Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit is an easy-to-use manual for individuals and
organizations from both the education and community sectors. This resource addresses the
potentially powerful alliance of school systems and communities working together to reach local
sustainability goals. Together they can reorient existing curriculums to create locally relevant and
culturally appropriate education. http://www.esdtoolkit.org/
UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development
The overall goal of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development is to integrate the
principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and
learning. This website identifies key action themes and highlights projects from around the world.
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27234&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development
The U.S. Partnership consists of individuals, organizations and institutions in the United States
dedicated to education for sustainable development (ESD). It acts as a convener, catalyst, and
communicator working across all sectors of American society.
http://usp.umfglobal.org/main/view_archive/1
EPA’s Environmental Justice Website
Provides background information on environmental justice issues.
http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/
The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability
Ann Thorpe’s book is an important resource that will change the thinking of architects, product
designers, and design educators. Available from Island Press, 2007.
http://www.designers-atlas.net/
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
Architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart’s book issues a call for a new industrial
revolution that uses sustainable design principles to design buildings and products. Available from
North Point Press, 2002.
http://www.mcdonough.com/full.htm
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CHAPTER 2: Instructional Approaches
Integral to the Sustainable Design Project are three related pedagogical approaches. By involving
students in a sustainable design project as described in this manual, teachers can bring servicelearning, project-based, or place-based learning into your classroom. These teaching and learning
methods are described below.
Project-based learning
Project-based learning is an instructional strategy that requires students to develop and use
substantive content knowledge and skills in real-world applications. High quality project-based
learning includes the elements of quality instruction, such as rigor, relevance, relationships, and
reflection, as well as quality assessment, such as the use of rubrics. Quality project-based learning
enhances student motivation by providing students with choice and ownership in the project.
A strength of project-based learning is that many
academic learning targets may be combined and
integrated into one project. This instructional
strategy can help students make connections
among content areas and provide students with
authentic problem-solving experiences and
opportunities to collaborate with peers, teachers,
and experts.
Project-based learning is a dynamic approach to
teaching in which students explore real-world
problems and challenges, simultaneously
developing cross-curriculum skills while working
in small collaborative groups.
~The George Lucas Educational Foundation
Characteristics of Project-Based Learning
The Buck Institute for Education’s Project Based Learning Handbook outlines the characteristics of a
successful, standards-focused project-based learning project:
1. Recognize students' inherent drive to learn, their capability to do important work, and their need to be
taken seriously by putting them at the center of the learning process.
2. Engage students in the central concepts and principles of a discipline. The project work is central rather
than peripheral to the curriculum.
3. Highlight provocative issues or questions that lead students to in-depth exploration of authentic and
important topics.
4. Require the use of essential tools and skills, including technology, for learning, self-management, and
project management.
5. Specify products that solve problems, explain dilemmas, or present information generated through
investigation, research, or reasoning.
6. Include multiple products that permit frequent feedback and consistent opportunities for students to
learn from experience.
7. Use performance-based assessments that communicate high expectations, present rigorous
challenges, and require a range of skills and knowledge.
8. Encourage collaboration in some form, either through small groups, student-led presentations, or wholeclass evaluations of project results.
(Buck Institute for Education, Project Based Learning Handbook, 2003)
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Benefits of Project-Based Learning
Through their teacher research, the Buck Institute for Education found that project-based learning:
 Helps students both “know” and “do”.
 Emphasizes problem solving, communication, and self-management skills.
 Encourages lifelong learning, civic responsibility, and personal/career success.
 Integrates content, themes, and community issues.
 Encourages accountability, goal setting, and improved performance.
 Creates positive communication and collaboration among groups of students.
 Meets the needs of diverse learners.
 Engages and motivates students.
(Buck Institute for Education, Project Based Learning Handbook, 2003).
Place-based learning
Place-based education takes the project-based learning approach and applies it to learning focused
on and engaged with the local community. By focusing on a local place, students are able to make
connections among themselves, their school, and the community.
Characteristics of Successful Place-Based Education
The principles of successful place-based education programs have much in common with the
principles of Sustainable Design Projects.
(PEEC, Principles and Best Practices of Place-Based
Education, 2003).
Place-based education immerses students in
1. Learning takes place on-site on school grounds
and in the local community and environment,
focusing on local themes, systems, and content.
2. Place-based learning experiences contribute to
the community’s sustainability quality,
environmental literacy, and support the role the
community plays in fostering a healthy and
connected global environment.
local heritage, culture, landscapes,
opportunities, and experiences as a foundation
for the study of language arts, mathematics,
social studies, science, and other subjects.
Place-based education encourages teachers
and students to use the schoolyard,
community, public lands, and other special
places as resources, turning communities into
classrooms.
~ Place-Based Education Evaluation
Collaborative
3. Learning is supported by strong and varied
partnerships with local associations, organizations, agencies, and businesses.
4. Learning is inter-disciplinary and custom-tailored to local needs and opportunities.
5. Place-based learning serves as the foundation for understanding and participating
appropriately in regional and global issues.
6. Place-based learning is integral to achieving other educational and institutional goals.
7. Learning is grounded in and supports the development of a strong and personally relevant
connection to one’s place.”
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Benefits of Place-Based Education
Through their research, the Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative has found that placebased education:
 Energizes teachers.
 Transforms school culture.
 Helps students learn.
 Connects schools and communities.
 Encourages students to become environmental stewards.
 Invites students to become active citizens.
(PEEC, The Benefits of Place-Based Education).
Service-learning
Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with
instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility and strengthen
communities
Characteristics of High-Quality Service-Learning
High quality service-learning includes the following principles of effectiveness:
1. Meaningful Service
2. Curriculum Integration
3. Duration
4. Diversity
5. Reflection
6. Youth Voice
7. Reciprocal Partnerships
8. Process Monitoring
Service-Learning benefits for students and young people:
 Improved academic engagement and expanded interest in furthering their education.
 Enhanced civic engagement attitudes, skills and behaviors.
 Increased sense of self-efficacy as young people learn that they can impact real social
challenges, problems, and needs.
 Advanced problem-solving skills, ability to work in teams, critical thinking, and planning
abilities.
 Increased awareness of career opportunities.
Service-Learning benefits for institutions and communities:
 Cultivates connections between the organization, schools, higher education, and other
community groups.
 Improves school environments and broadens community support through new partnerships
and resources.
 Provides an opportunity to expand the organization’s mission and reach by engaging a cadre
of competent, motivated young people who bring new energy, ideas, enthusiasm and
specialized skills to the organization.
 Increases paid staff and volunteers’ level of engagement, leadership capacity and satisfaction
with their work.
 Allows residents to build positive relationships with young people when communities see youth
in a different way – as resources instead of problems.
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Chapter Summary
In project-based learning, the project is the medium through which learning happens. Service-learning
is a type of project-based learning. It is both a way of teaching and learning and an application of
learning. Service-learning has a highly motivating, emotional context. There is a direct link between
context for learning - motivation for learning and - student achievement. In school-based servicelearning, students apply educational curricula, demonstrate proficiency in standards based learning
and extend classroom learning through hands-on services they help design. Place-based and
service-learning are very similar in their focus on students understanding the importance of
"community", and their significant place in their own community. Education for Sustainability blends
these various pedagogical approaches of project-based learning with the localized, contextual focus
of place-based learning.
Chapter 2 Resources
Project Based Learning Handbook
This handbook from the Buck Institute for Education provides teachers with the tools to plan, manage,
and assess student-driven projects using a project-based learning approach. The handbook can be
ordered for $30 and excerpts can be downloaded for free at the following website.
http://www.bie.org/index.php/site/PBL/pbl_handbook/
Place-Based Education Evaluation Collaborative
The PEEC is a clearinghouse of research, reports, and tools for place-based education.
http://www.peecworks.org
Standards and Indicators for Effective Service-Learning Practice
www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/standards/index.php
Bring Learning to Life: Service-Learning in Action Guide
www.servicelearning.org/pubs/materials/L109
Guidelines for High Quality Service-Learning Syllabi
www.servicelearning.org/filemanager/download/slice/guidelines_syllabi.pdf
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CHAPTER 3: Student Engagement & Teamwork
How to Make the Sustainable Design Project Student-Driven
The Sustainable Design Project is intended to be a student-driven endeavor, where students work in
teams to actively plan, produce, and present their own sustainable design solutions to real-world
problems. Engaging students in their own learning is a key to project success, academic
achievement, and personal satisfaction.
Student Engagement
Student engagement is the state in which students are actively involved in the planning,
implementation, and assessment of their own learning. Engaged students possess a sense of
ownership of their learning and find it meaningful because they know what is expected of them, why it
matters, and how they can use the skills. In addition, they see the efficacy of their work, and are
advocates for their and their peers’ learning needs.
Meaningful student involvement is the
process of engaging students as
partners in every facet of school
change for the purpose of
strengthening their commitment to
education, community, and
democracy.
~Adam Fletcher, Meaningful Student
Involvement, 2005.
Student engagement includes the following three
elements:
1. Behavioral: demonstrates active participation and
positive behaviors.
2. Emotional: shows motivation, attachment, and
relationship building.
3. Cognitive: creates investment in self and
responsibility for own learning.
Student engagement occurs when students are able to:
 “Answer questions such as:”How do I learn best?” and "When I have something difficult to
learn, what are my most effective strategies?””

Explain the relationship between a particular learning goal, the standard by which that goal is
measured on assessments, the skill represented by the standard, and the relevance of that
skill to the students’ lives outside the classroom and beyond graduation.

Understand how their classroom writing has application for a project or for an authentic
audience; how their behavior affects the learning of another student; how their participation
builds a skill set they know to be useful (and they know this because they have used the skills
to achieve a ‘real-world’ result).

Ask for help when they need it, find it when they need to, and advocate for the needs of
others.”
(Adapted from: Greg Williamson, OSPI, Student Engagement, 2007)
The Ladder of Student Involvement. The Sustainable Design Project connects students, teachers,
and community experts as they work together to develop solutions to local, real-world problems. As
described in this manual, a Sustainable Design Project is project-based, place-based, and studentdriven.
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The following illustration shows the Ladder of Student Involvement in School (adapted by Adam
Fletcher from the work of Roger Hart), a tool to help educators assess levels of student engagement
and involvement. Fletcher explains that, “The higher the rung on the Ladder, the greater the
meaningfulness of student involvement” (Adam Fletcher, Meaningful Student Involvement Guide,
2005).
Sustainable Design Projects provide an opportunity for students, teachers, and community experts to
work together to move towards the highest rungs of the ladder. Regardless of where teachers and
schools are currently at, there is room to move up the rungs to a higher degree of student led decision
making. Moving up requires significant support and training.
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Characteristics of an effective learning group
Teamwork is an essential element of an effective Sustainable Design Project. At some point in the
process—if not throughout the entire project—students will work in teams with their peers and with
community experts. Having agreed-upon norms and protocols is essential for successful teamwork.
Guidelines for Teamwork
Have students generate a list of teamwork guidelines and/or use these guidelines as a starting point,
then post on the classroom wall to refer to throughout the project:






Define roles and purposes for each team member (e.g.: facilitator, note-taker, time keeper,
and reporter).
Establish expectations for respectful listening and sharing.
Ensure that each person has an opportunity to contribute.
Rotate roles so that each member has the opportunity to take on new roles.
Build in accountability for individual students so that the contributions of each group
member are identifiable.
Develop a rubric that defines successful teamwork.
Teamwork is an important part of SDP. The list of guidelines for teamwork is only the foundation.
Building effective teamwork in the classroom and cooperative learning requires a great deal of effort.
Chapter 3 Resources
Meaningful Student Involvement Guide
Adam Fletcher’s Meaningful Student Involvement Guide to Students as Partners in School Change
provides educators with a framework for encouraging meaningful student involvement in school
classes, projects, and school improvement programs. The Guide can be downloaded for free from
SoundOut.org.
http://www.soundout.org/MSIGuide.pdf
50 Ways Adults Can Support Student Voice
Adam Fletcher provides fifty ideas for how adults can support student engagement and voice. This
website provides many other articles on this topic as well.
http://www.soundout.org/article.101.html
Education Northwest magazine – this issue is about student engagement, including projects
supported by the Washington State Student Engagement office at OSPI:
http://educationnorthwest.org/webfm_send/434
Washington State Career and Technical Education Student Organizations – these organizations
have a long history of engaging students in meaningful work for authentic school and community
audiences:
www.wa-ctso.org
Renton Teaching Academy – Renton High School effort to recruit students of color into the teaching
profession; students do classroom observations and practice teaching in schools:
http://www.cwu.edu/desmoines/diversity/aug09news.pdf
Change Starts Now – Students at the Tacoma School for the Arts teach middle school students how
they can teach sustainability concepts to younger students:
http://classrooms.tacoma.k12.wa.us/sota/imagine/index.php
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Students Taking Charge – National project of Action for Healthy Kids that helps students analyze
and make a difference in healthy learning in their schools (ten projects in WA are part of this):
www.studentstakingcharge.org
Raising Student Voice and Participation (RSVP) – Washington version of national project to help
young people hold forums and make a difference in the decisions that affect them in school:
http://www.awsp.org/Content/awsp/StudentLeadership/RSVPforWeb.pdf
WSU 4-H Know Your Government – Washington project to introduce students to civic education
concepts (this year’s focus was on lobbying): http://4h.wsu.edu/conferences/kyg/
YMCA Youth & Government – Washington program where students come to Olympia and hold their
own session at the Washington State Legislature:
http://www.youthandgovernment.org/HOME.asp
Junior Statesman Foundation – provides civic education and leadership programs, including
summer programs in Washington State and nationally: http://www.jsa.org/
Washington Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC) – 22-member Council that advises the
Washington State Legislature on bills of interest to young people across the state:
http://lyac.leg.wa.gov/
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CHAPTER 4: Structuring a Sustainable Design Project
Common attributes of a Sustainable Design Project across grade levels
The Sustainable Design Project can allow students the freedom and flexibility to choose systems and
problems that are of personal interest to them and that are situated in a community about which the
students care. The intent of the Sustainable Design Project is that teachers will integrate project
learning into an existing unit of study. While a student’s individual project may look quite different from
another’s depending on the grade-level, chosen system, and presentation format, all Sustainable
Design Projects should have some common attributes, as described below.
Students:
 May either work effectively in teams or individually (for example, the project could be used
for a student’s culminating graduation requirement).
 Choose a project that connects with core content GLEs.
 Identify and investigate a system in a real-world context.
 Design within the context of ecology, economy, and society sustainability.
 Work with community experts, including visits to the expert’s work site or having the expert
visit the classroom.
 Create a solution to the chosen problem and communicate that solution by the use of a
model or by actually redesigning the system.
 Present their system solution in a public forum.
This chapter includes some specific suggestions on how to approach the Sustainable Design Project
at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. In addition, there are a series of Teacher Planning
Tools and Student Planning Tools that correspond to this chapter which can be found in the Appendix.
The Chapter Resources listed at the end of this chapter provide additional resources for project
planning.
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Step-by-step project process
The flow chart below demonstrates the steps that students can take as they progress through the
Sustainable Design Project process. The steps are posed as questions that students need to answer
before moving onto the next step in the process.
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Projects in the elementary school classroom
A Sustainable Design Project in the elementary school classroom is more likely to be at a smaller and
simpler scale than a project in a middle school or high school classroom. For example, an elementary
school project might focus on the use of compost in organic farming, rather than the entire food
production system. Similarly, a project might focus on corn-based packaging, rather than product
packaging in general.
An elementary school level project will need to have more teacher direction, which necessitates that
the teacher spend time planning the project, finding community experts, locating resources, and
identifying a presentation forum, rather than relying on the students to take personal initiative for these
steps in the process.
The chosen system and community for the Sustainable Design Project should be personally relevant
to the students’ own lives. For example, it may be more appropriate to focus on the home or the
school as the target community, rather than your city or state. In addition, rather than working in small
teams, it may be more appropriate for an elementary school class to tackle a Sustainable Design
Project together as a whole class. While groups of students can be responsible for different
components of the total project, together the class will work together to investigate the system and
propose a solution.
Example Elementary School Sustainable Design Projects
System
Food & Nutrition
Consumer
Products
Parks & Natural
Areas
Example Sustainable Design Projects
Conduct a nutrition audit of school lunches; compare schoolprovided and home-provided lunches; and then plant a vegetable
garden on the school campus.
Design a child’s toy that is safe, non-toxic, made from
environmentally-friendly materials, and educational.
Design and construct a wildlife habitat area on your school campus
using the principles of the Backyard Wildlife Program.
At the elementary school level, it is especially appropriate to identify multiple entry points into the topic
so that students are provided with different ways to learn about a sustainability issue. For example,
read newspaper articles, watch a video, read a storybook, listen to guest speakers, visit a field site, or
interview an expert.
Elementary school teachers and their students can have fun thinking of creative, innovative ways to
present their class project. For example, if the entire class is working on the same project, together
the students could write and perform a skit, puppet show, or musical piece. The students could all
contribute toward the publishing of a newspaper, comic book, storybook, newsletter, website, wiki, or
blog. Together, the students could host a debate, an information fair, or an art show. By harnessing
the individual talents of an entire classroom of students, Sustainable Design Projects at the
elementary level have the potential to produce fun, creative, and educational presentations.
Projects in the middle school classroom
In middle school, students are developmentally focused on themselves and their own social
communities and have a growing awareness of issues of fairness and inequality. You can harness
middle school students’ interest in these topics by encouraging them to choose sustainability issues
that are personally-relevant, that are focused on the local community, and that include issues of
injustices and inequality. For example, a student with asthma may be particularly interested in tackling
the topic of the use of diesel fuels in school buses. A student athlete might be interested in the health
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risks of artificial turf grass that has lead in it. Students at this age often become impassioned about
issues of inequality, providing an in-road for discussing environmental justice issues such as the
proposed location for a medical incinerator in a low-income neighborhood or the higher rates of lead
poisoning among low-income children.
Example Middle School Sustainable Design Projects
System
Example Sustainable Design Projects
Energy
Analyze the costs and benefits of switching school buses to
biofuels, considering the economic, environmental, and health
impacts (including asthma).
Conduct an energy audit in your school and design an energy
system that relies on renewable sources such as solar and wind.
Built
Environment
Design a playground or school campus that increases social
interaction and green spaces.
Environmental
Health & Justice
Create educational materials to help low-income parents
understand the risks of childhood lead poisoning.
The Sustainable Design Project provides an opportunity for teachers of multiple disciplines to work
together. For example, students might gather and analyze data in their science class, conduct
research from primary and secondary sources in their social studies class, and prepare an oral
presentation in their language arts class.
At the middle school level, it is appropriate for students to approach their Sustainable Design Projects
in small groups or in pairs. In addition, after-school clubs may provide an opportunity for students to
conduct research and connect with community experts, or may provide a forum for student
presentations.
Projects in the high school classroom
High school level Sustainable Design Projects should be driven by the students’ own interest and
should help them acquire the new knowledge and skills. Students should also be encouraged to
choose project topics that can have a positive impact on their chosen communities. At this stage in
their cognitive and social development, high school students are ready to consider the global
community and may want to design a solution that addresses a global issue such as poverty, climate
change, or loss of biodiversity. The Sustainable Design Project provides the opportunity to investigate
an issue using skills and resources from different disciplines. As students work with community
experts, they also are learning about careers in the community.
Consider structuring the Sustainable Design Project so that it is intergenerational. Encourage students
to work with younger students at the middle school or elementary school level. This could be achieved
by encouraging students to choose topics that affect younger children, that use younger students as a
source of data (such as for surveys), or by making final presentations to younger students. Another
option is to encourage your students to work with older community members, such as professionals,
workers, experts, or community elders.
At the high school level, students can use the Sustainable Design Project as a way to meet the
culminating project graduation requirement. In this case students may need to work individually rather
than in teams depending on your school district’s policy in regard to this graduation requirement. The
connection between the Sustainable Design Project and the culminating project is further discussed in
the next chapter. If students do conduct their Sustainable Design Projects while working individually,
you may want to organize students into support groups. These support groups allow each student to
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present progress reports throughout the duration of their project and to receive feedback,
suggestions, and help from their peers.
High school students need the opportunity to record and reflect on their learning progress. You can
structure opportunities for metacognition (thinking about your thinking and learning) into the
Sustainable Design Project by requiring students to keep a reflective journal that tracks their learning
throughout the process of completing their projects.
Example High School Sustainable Design Projects
System
Example Sustainable Design Projects
Forestry
Design a sustainable forest management plan for a county, state,
or federal owned forest and present it at a stakeholders meeting.
Food & Farm
Develop guidelines outlining how local farmers and food banks
could work together to get surplus crops to low-income families.
Consumer
Products
Create a buyer’s guide for teenagers to help them choose nontoxic cosmetics and personal care products.
Water Quality &
Conservation
Design and construct a system that captures and reuses gray
water.
Teacher planning tools
The Teacher Planning Tools are offered to help teachers
develop a plan for engaging students in Sustainable
Design Projects. In addition, elementary school teachers
who are planning whole-class projects can use the Student
Planning Tools, to help them plan their class projects. The
Teacher and Student Planning Tools appear in the
Appendix.
For additional project examples, see
Stories from the Field: Examples of
Integrated Environmental and
Sustainability Education in
Washington State
http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSust
ainability/Curriculum/Examples.aspx
Chapter 4 Resources
Project Planning Form for Teachers
The Buck Institute for Education’s Project Based Learning Handbook offers a Project Planning Form
to help teachers plan successful student projects. This tool could be especially helpful for teachers
who are planning a Sustainable Design Project that will include large groups of students or an entire
class.
http://www.bie.org/index.php/site/PBL/pbl_handbook_downloads/
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CHAPTER 5: Content Area Connections
Integrating the Sustainable Design Project with current curriculum
It is possible that your students are already involved in projects which, if extended and structured
according to the guidelines outlined in this manual, would be Sustainable Design Projects. Consider
some of these “projects” that often occur in Washington State schools:
 Student-organized recycling program.
 Worm bins for composting food waste.
 School vegetable garden.
 Rain garden and/or cistern installed on school grounds.
 New school construction or remodeling incorporating principles of green building.
 EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools program.
 Use of green cleaning products by custodial staff.
 Food service program utilizing local farm products.
 Energy-use or waste stream audit.
Many of these existing programs and projects tend to emphasize, or start with, the environment.
Consider how such projects can be expanded to encompass and address related social and social
equity or justice? For example, regarding community or school vegetable gardens, do people living at
different economic levels eat differently, or eat different kinds of foods? If so, how? Do different ethnic
or social groups eat differently, and how? Who stands to benefit most in terms of both human health
and the economy if local and organic foods are more accessible and affordable?
Using the Sustainable Design Project to meet education mandates
The Sustainable Design Project is not intended to be an add-on to the existing classroom curriculum.
Rather it is a way for students to meet standards, as well for schools to meet requirements and
mandates, including:
 Subject-area Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs) and Grade Level
Expectations (GLEs).
 Washington State environmental education mandate.
 Culminating Project graduation requirement.
 Measurement of Student Progress (MSP) and High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE).
Washington State environmental education mandates
Environmental education is mandated by the State Board of Education to be included in public school
instruction at all grade levels and across all subject areas. The history of these mandates goes back
to 1988 when education about the environment and living things was first included in legislation.
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Legal Authority for Environmental and Sustainability Education
Common School Curriculum. Requires that all schools provide instruction in “science with special
reference to the environment” and that “the worth of kindness to all living creatures and the land” be
stressed in school curriculum. RCW 28A.230.020 (1988).
Mandatory Areas of Study in the Common School. “Instruction about conservation, natural resources,
and the environment shall be provided at all grade levels in an interdisciplinary manner through science,
the social studies, the humanities, and other appropriate areas with an emphasis on solving the problems
of human adaptation to the environment." WAC 392-410-115 (2000). Formerly WAC 180-50-115 (1990).
Teacher Education Approval Standards. In 2007, the WA Professional Education Standards Board
revised the Teacher Education Approval Standards requiring teacher education programs to prepare
candidates so that they can help their students become “responsible citizens for an environmentally
sustainable, globally interconnected, and diverse society.” PESB Standard V (2007).
In addition to these legal requirements and mandates, the state legislature created two grant
programs to support the integration of environmental education in K-12 classrooms and outdoor
education that supports student achievement.
Legislative Support for Environmental and Outdoor Education
Washington Natural Science, Wildlife, and Environmental Education Partnership Program established a
grant program to support “natural science, wildlife, and environmental education programs” to be
administered by OSPI. RCW 28A.300.445 (2003).
“No Child Left Inside” grant program established an outdoor education and recreation program
administered by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. HB 1677 (2007)
Integrated Environmental and Sustainability Education Standards
In 2009 OSPI adopted the Washington State K-12 Integrated Environmental and Sustainability
Education Learning Standards which describe what all students should know and be able to do in the
area of Environmental and Sustainability Education. Consistent with the intent of the law governing
environmental education in Washington State, these standards are intended to be integrated into core
content areas and across all grade levels. The Sustainable Design Project provides a framework and
resources to meet these integrated standards. The three ESE Standards address:
ESE Standard 1: Ecological, Social, and Economic Systems
ESE Standard 2: The Natural and Built Environment
ESE Standard 3: Sustainability and Civic Responsibility
(Reference: http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/Standards/default.aspx)
The Sustainable Design Project meets these standards by focusing on real-world problems and
developing solutions, by engaging students in skills and knowledge building across disciplines, and by
investigating the relationships between humans and the natural systems on which they depend.
Culminating project graduation requirement
All high school students are required to meet the culminating project graduation requirement, which is
mandated by House Bill 1209 and WAC 180-51-061 Minimum Requirements for High School
Graduation.
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Each school district is required to develop guidelines for meeting this graduation requirement. The
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction outlines the following statewide goals for the
culminating project:
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Encourage students to think analytically, logically, and creatively and to integrate experience
and knowledge to solve problems.
Give students a chance to explore a topic in which they have a great interest.
Offer students an opportunity to apply their learning in a ‘real-world’ way.
For more information on Washington State Graduation Requirements, visit:
www.k12.wa.us/GraduationRequirements
The Sustainable Design Project provides students with the knowledge, skills and framework to meet
the culminating project graduation requirement. If you are a high school teacher, begin by reviewing
your district’s guidelines for culminating projects. As you start planning your Sustainable Design
Project, align it with the district guidelines so that the Project is an opportunity for your students to
meet the graduation requirement.
Example: Everett School District
The Everett School District’s approach to the culminating project graduation requirement is called the
Culmination Exhibition. It encourages students to work with a mentor and to become involved in their own
community. The Culmination Exhibition involves the following four components:
1. Argumentative Paper: involves researching and examining a topic and applying knowledge from core
content areas.
2. Reflective Letter: involves metacognitive reflection on what the student has learned in his or her schooling
and how they will apply it to their future career and schooling.
3. Self-Directed Project: involves a complex, student-driven project based on the student’s own interests.
4. Culminating Presentation: involves creating and making a presentation, and answering questions.
The Sustainable Design Project is an opportunity for Everett students to focus their Argumentative Paper, SelfDirected Project, and Culminating Presentation on a sustainable design topic in their own community. In
addition, it encourages students to work with a mentor, which could be a content area expert from the local
community.
~ Adapted from: Everett Public Schools, Culminating Exhibition Graduation Requirements Handbook, 20052006.
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Example: Bellingham School District
The Bellingham School District’s Culminating Project encourages students to investigate a
community issue and to work with a community advisor. The project includes the following five
components:
1. Overall Proposal: involves outlining a plan for the project, reflecting on what the student already knows
about the topic, and obtaining permissions.
2. Scholarly Paper: involves demonstrating proper English writing skills by investigating a topic of personal
interest.
3. Portfolio: involves documenting their project by collecting artifacts of the students’ work, ideas, journal, and
community involvement.
4. Written Reflection: involves metacognitive reflection on what the student has learned about his/her
community and self.
5. Presentation: involves demonstrating communication skills and bringing together all elements of the overall
project.
The Sustainable Design Project is an opportunity for Bellingham students to choose a sustainable design topic
from their local community, team up with local experts and community advisors, and use that topic as the focus
of their entire culminating project.
~Adapted from: Bellingham School District, Culminating Project Graduation Requirements.
Meeting Core Content Standards through the Sustainable Design Project
The Sustainable Design Project has the potential to help student meet Essential Academic Learning
Requirements (EALRs) and Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) from core content areas, including
science, social studies, mathematics, and language arts. In addition, depending on how a student
chooses to approach and present their project, a student may also have the opportunity to meet
learning standards in arts, health and fitness, and career and technical education.
Preparing students for the MSP and HSPE
By meeting learning standards, the Sustainable Design Project is one way to prepare students for
standardized testing including the MSP and HSPE as well as Classroom-Based Assessments in
social studies and health and fitness.
Subject-Area Connections
The remainder of this chapter provides examples of how the Sustainable Design Project may meet
EALRs and GLEs in various content areas. The information is organized by content area. However,
the Sustainable Design Project can be implemented such that students use skills and knowledge from
multiple subject areas. The following information may be useful both in finding potential topics for your
students’ sustainable design projects as well as determining how the projects will help meet learning
standards.
Science Connections
By completing a sustainable design project, students apply the principles of scientific inquiry, which
includes identifying a problem, developing a focus question, gathering resources, developing and
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testing a solution, and evaluating their results based on evidence. In addition, students develop
solutions to real-world problems. By working with community experts, students may have the
opportunity to learn about different science careers.
Connection to Science Kits
Sustainability topics can also be linked to the science kits that are often taught in elementary and
middle school classrooms. The following table provides an overview of how sustainability topics
(bulleted items following the kit name) can be interwoven into the teaching of FOSS, STC, Insights,
SEPUP, and NSTA science kits. (The tables were developed by Kathryn Kelsey, a science coach for
Seattle Public Schools).
Grades K-2 Science Kit Framework
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Earth Science
Kindergarten Theme: Exploring the Living World Around Us
Students make observations of living organisms that are visible without a microscope,
including plants, animals, and fungi. They are guided to notice how living organisms share the world with us.
FOSS
Animals 2 X 2
 Diversity of animals
FOSS
Fabric
 Living sources of
fabrics, such as cotton
and silk
FOSS
Wood and Paper
 Diversity of trees
 Plants used by
different cultures to
make paper
1st & 2nd Grade Theme: Water in Our World
Living organisms depend on water. This natural resource is all around us. Discovering water sources,
including fresh and saltwater, and water uses helps us understand the
importance of water for living organisms.
STC
Insights
STC
Organisms
Balls and Ramps
Weather
 Needs and sources of
 Planning an
 Phases of water in
water for organisms
investigation (fair
weather
test)
 Looking for weather
 Using quantitative
patterns
observations to
understand the world
Insights
Liquids
 Properties of water,
such as floating &
sinking, phases (ice,
liquid), ability to
dissolve some solids
STC
Balancing
and Weighing
 Using quantitative
observations to
understand the world
STC
Soils
 Importance of water in
soils for plants
 Different types of soils
hold different amounts
of water
Developed by Kathryn Kelsey, Seattle Public Schools
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Grades 3-5 Science Kit Framework
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Earth Science
3rd Grade Theme: Interactions of Living Organisms and the Environment
Living organisms depend on the non-living environment for many needs. Living organisms can change the
non-living environment. The non-living environment can influence where certain types of plants and animals
live.
STC
Plant Growth
and Development
 Plant dependence on
soils
 Seed sprouting and soil
temperature
 Plants create habitat for
animals
 Effects of light energy
from the sun on plants
STC
Sound
 Animals’ use of sound
for communication
 Natural sounds, such
as thunder, can
influence behavior
STC
Rocks and Minerals
 Minerals in soils can
determine which plants
will grow
 Rocks break down over
time and become soil
 Examples of natural
resources used by
humans
4th & 5th Grade Theme: Human Impacts on the Natural World
Humans alter living and non-living parts of the natural world. We can look at the impacts of each individual or
as a population of a city, state, or country. Most of the changes have both advantages and disadvantages.
STC
Ecosystems
 Effects of pollution on
living and non-living
parts of our world
 Effects of introduced
species
 Effects of habitat change
on living organisms
STC
Microworlds
 Roles of microorganisms
in our world
 Antibacterial products,
water pollution, and soil
pollution can adversely
affect microorganisms
 Effects of water quality
on life
STC
Food Chemistry
 Agricultural methods
can alter habitat and
introduce chemicals
 Family and corporate
farming
 Organic and nonorganic farming
Insights
Circuits
and Pathways
 Changes in
technology in the last
100 years
 Natural resources
needed to generate
electricity and
impacts on the
environment
FOSS
Models and Designs
 Changes in
technology in the last
100 years
 Use of natural
resources for
technology
STC
Land and Water
 Habitat loss due to
human practices
 Human actions that
increase and decrease
erosion
 Impacts of erosion on
natural systems and
human systems
 Water cycle
Developed by Kathryn Kelsey, Seattle Public Schools
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Grades 6-8 Science Kit Framework
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Earth Science
6th Grade Theme: Environment Through the Eyes of Different Cultures
Throughout the history of civilization, cultures have explained natural phenomena in different ways. Living organisms and
non-living features have specific roles in the daily lives of people. Cultural values can determine a person’s relationship to
the environment.
FOSS
Diversity of Life
 Importance of different
organisms to different
cultures
 Food rituals in different
cultures
 Ethical treatment of animals
SEPUP
Solutions
and Pollution
 Decisions on treating the
“Acme Wastewater” could
depend on cultural values
 Social justice issues with
regard to the environment
STC
Magnets and Motors
 Technology can force
people to reevaluate
their values concerning
the environment and
living organisms
 Historical explanations
of magnetism
 Role of magnetism in
different cultures
NSTA
Truth About Science
 Interface of culture and
results from systematic
science experiments in
decision making
7th Grade Theme: Climate Change
Global warming has become a major concern for all people on Earth. Understanding our relationship to climate and our
influences on climate systems can help us find solutions to decrease predicted risks to earth systems.
STC/MS
Human Body Systems
 Role of carbon dioxide in
living organisms
STC/MS
Energy, Machines, and
Motion
 Energy use and
dependence
 Sources of energy for
human use
 Alternative energy
sources
 Reducing energy use in
our lives
 Law of conservation of
energy
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STC/MS
Catastrophic Events
Differences between
climate and weather
Water cycle
Greenhouse gases and
their presence in Earth’s
atmosphere
Influences of climate
change on weather
systems
8th Grade Theme: Sustainability
How do we continue to meet the needs of today’s human societies without compromising the needs of future generations?
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SEPUP/SALI
Ecology
and Evolution
Influences of introduced
species on natural
systems
Advantages and
disadvantages of
genetically modified
organisms
Impacts of global
climate change on
living organisms and
where they live
Carbon and nitrogen
cycles
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STC/MS
Properties
of Matter
Law of conservation of matter
Law of conservation of energy
Carbon and nitrogen cycles
Reusing and recycling
materials
Water treatment and water
quality
STC/MS
Earth in Space
 Idea of spaceship earth
 Effects of seasons on
climate
 Interconnections of earth
systems
Developed by Kathryn Kelsey, Seattle Public Schools
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Social Studies Connections
The Sustainable Design Project is about getting students involved as citizens of their local community.
The Project aims to challenge students to dig deep into an issue or problem that is of personal
importance. By examining that issue or problem through the lenses of environment, economy, and
society, students can focus on key social studies content areas, including civics and economics.
Social Studies Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs)
The Sustainable Design Project may be structured so that it can be used as a CBA in social studies.
The basic CBA structure shares common elements with the Sustainable Design Project process,
including: forming an essential question; researching an issue, problem, or event; preparing and
analyzing information; and reporting.
Humans and the Environment CBA for High
School Students
Responsible citizenship requires understanding
how humans interact with the environment.
You will EITHER propose a solution to a
current environmental issue that will improve
the health of the system OR analyze a
historical situation in terms of the environment
and propose a reasonable alternative that
would have improved the health of the system.
You may be able to guide students in choosing
topics for their Sustainable Design Project that are
in line with the requirements of a CBA. In addition,
you will need to be to follow the directions in the
CBA support materials and use any tools (such as
graphic organizers and rubrics) provided in the
support materials. The following table lists some
CBAs which potentially align with the Sustainable
Design Project.
CBAs that Align with Sustainable Design Projects
Subject Area
Civics
Elementary School
You Decide
Whose Rules?
History
What’s the Big Idea?
Geography
Humans and the
Environment
Economics
Middle School
International Relations
Constitutional Issues
Humans and the
Environment
International Relations
High School
U.S. Foreign Policy
Constitutional Issues
Technology Through
the Ages
Humans and the
Environment
Mathematics Connections
The Sustainable Design Project offers students the opportunity to use math skills in real-world
applications. The EALRs and GLEs in mathematics that can be met in a student’s Sustainable Design
Project will depend on the chosen topic or system and how much mathematical information needs to
be collected, analyzed, and presented.
The following mathematical content areas are likely to be included in a Sustainable Design Project:
 Collecting data
 Analyzing data
 Taking measurements
 Using units of measurement
 Interpreting and creating graphs and tables
 Estimating and surveying
 Using statistics
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Language Arts Connections
The Language Arts standards include developing knowledge and skills in reading, writing, and
communication. The Sustainable Design Project engages students in reading as they research their
focus question and seek out sources of information. Students may gather information from nonfiction,
informational texts, which may include technical texts and web-based resources.
The project also engages students in communication as they work with community experts, cooperate
with team members, and prepare a presentation to share their project with others. Students delivering
their presentation orally may use effective delivery methods such as gestures, style, eye contact, and
speed.
The extent to which the project includes writing skills depends on how the project is structured. For
example, students may write a persuasive essay or a research paper on their Sustainable Design
Project. As they progress through the stages of their project, students will need to take notes and cite
their sources. They may need to write a grant or a fundraising letter. There are many forms in which a
student may choose to present their final project, which could take shape as a written document, such
as a paper, a brochure, a website, a presentation to the School Board or parent group, a display at a
science fair, or a wiki. A written final project will likely include the following writing skills:
 Pre-writing
 Producing drafts
 Revising
 Publishing final text
Arts Connections
Encourage students to be creative about the medium they choose for the presentation of their
Sustainable Design Project. Depending on the chosen topic and the intended audience, students may
choose to incorporate dance, music, theater, poetry, or visual arts into their presentation.
Health and Fitness Connections
Depending on the system and focus question that a student chooses, health and fitness EALRs and
GLEs may align with a student’s project. The Health and Fitness EALRs most likely to apply to a
Sustainable Design Project include the following topics:
 Nutrition
 Disease
 Personal health
 Environmental health.
Career and Technical Education Connections
Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses can be closely aligned with the Sustainable Design
Project. These courses are:
 Situated in a real-world context
 Integrated across disciplines
 Connected to careers
 Make use of community experts.
In addition, many CTE courses challenge students to provide solutions to real-world problems,
including technology and design problems. From agriculture to transportation technologies, there are
many connections between CTE courses and Sustainable Design Project topics. The table provides
examples of how Career Pathways in CTE programs may connect to Sustainable Design Projects.
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Example Sustainable Design Project
CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (CTE) Connections
Career
Pathways
Specific Topic Area
Agricultural production and crop
science
Agriculture
and Science
Animal/livestock husbandry
Forestry
Landscaping and
Groundskeeping
Turfgrass Management
Business Law
Business and
Marketing
Marketing
Food Production and Services;
Nutrition and Wellness
Health and
Human
Services
Housing, Interiors, and
Furnishings
Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
Architectural Drafting and
CAD/CADD
Construction Technologies
Technology
and Industry
Energy and Power
Technologies
Manufacturing Technologies
Transportation Technologies
Sustainable Design Project Ideas
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Organic farming
Community supported agriculture
Integrated pest management
Genetically modified food safety
Manure management
Livestock diseases
Safe food supply
Soil erosion
Water quality protection
Pesticide free zones
Use of native plants
Reduction of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers
Socially responsible business practices
Environmental law and policies
Energy regulations
Cost/profit analysis of business decisions
Health and safety regulations
Product promotion and messaging
Nutrition
Food safety and sanitation
Family food budget
“Green” interior elements and furniture, such as
wool carpets, low VOC paints, cork floors, and
fluorescent lights
Resource conservation
Carbon footprint and carbon credits
Eco-tourism
Product packaging
Environmental impacts of design
Environmental health and safety codes
Green building and LEEDs certification
Technologic systems interact with social,
environmental and scientific systems
Technologies to conserve water, soil, and energy
Renewable and non-renewable energy sources
Energy conservation
Cradle-to-Cradle design approach
Materials science
Emissions and noise footprint of airline travel
Diesel emissions from ships at port
Oil and fuel spills from ships
Mass transit systems
The Sustainable Design Project is a teaching and learning strategy that can be used to meet multiple
requirements and mandates, prepare students for assessments, and meet grade level learning
expectations.
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Chapter 5 Resources
WA State K-12 Integrated Environmental and Sustainability Education Learning Standards
This document describes what all students should know and be able to do in the area of
Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) and includes an alignment of the ESE Standards
with Washington State K-12 standards for science and social studies.
http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/default.aspx
Online Grade Level Resources (EALRs and GLEs)
On this website, you can search the EALRs and GLEs, and download free copies or order print copies
of the subject-area GLE handbooks.
http://www.k12.wa.us/ealrs/default.aspx
Social Studies CBA Resources
The OSPI website provides support documents for the different CBAs, as well as bridging documents
prepared by local education organizations.
http://www.k12.wa.us/SocialStudies/CBAs/default.aspx
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CHAPTER 6: Connecting to Community Resources
A principle of the Sustainable Design Project is to extend students’ learning outside of the classroom
by connecting to and working collaboratively with their community. This chapter provides a description
of an online database that can be used for connecting with community experts, as well as specific tips
for working with businesses, community-based organizations, institutions of higher education, and
government agencies.
“Student Project Space” Online Database
“Student Project Space” is an online resource developed to assist students and teachers with their
Sustainable Design Projects. This statewide online database, can help students find project
opportunities through connections with community-based and government agency resources. The
database also provides students with a place to post their own projects and build upon the work of
other student projects.
Student Project Space Online Database
http://www.e3washington.org/student-project/
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Tips for Connecting with Community-Based Organizations
The community beyond the classroom offers a host of expertise and resources to help students
design solutions to environmental and sustainability issues. Consider the neighborhood community
gardening group that is growing organic produce to donate to their food bank, or the state chapter of a
national environmental organization. Your community is ripe with people who can help your students
learn, explore, and get involved in their Sustainable Design Projects.
Encourage students to think broadly when they identify experts within their targeted community.
Community-based organizations include some of the following categories:
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Museums, nature centers, zoos, and aquariums.
Youth organizations, such as EarthCorps, YMCA, or WSU Extension such as Master
Gardeners and 4H.
Environmental organizations, such as People for Puget Sound, RE Sources for
Sustainable Communities, and Washington Toxics Coalition.
Religious organizations, such as Earth Justice Ministries.
Service organizations, such as Rotary or Lions.
Industry, trade, and professional organizations, such as Built Green or Master Home
Builders.
Local community gardens.
There are many ways that a student can get involved with a community-based organization. Some
suggestions are provided below:
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The organization may have a speaker’s bureau or an individual who will come to the
classroom to talk about their area of expertise.
The organization may allow students to tour a behind-the-scenes area, such as a metal
shop or wildlife rehabilitation center.
The organization may need volunteers.
Students may be able to present their Sustainable Design Projects at a membership
meeting or a board meeting of the organization.
The organization may be able to provide resources related to a student’s chosen topic,
including interviews, reports, and data.
Students may be able to write to and in advocacy for a community-based organization.
Students may create blog campaigns to create awareness of the priorities of their
community based organizations.
Students may create art in their classrooms to support the clientele of hospitals or
homeless organizations.
Students may create websites and wikis for community based organizations.
Community-Based Organizations Resources
A small sample of community-based organizations in Washington:
American Lung Association of Washington
The ALAW works on issues related to clean air, asthma, smoking, and lung disease.
http://www.alaw.org/
Environmental Education Association of Washington
Washington’s professional association for environmental educators and stakeholders.
http://www.eeaw.org/
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Institute for Children’s Environmental Health
ICEH works toward ensuring a “healthy, just, and sustainable future for all children.”
http://www.iceh.org/
People for Puget Sound
People for Puget Sound is working to protect the health of Puget Sound.
http://www.pugetsound.org/
RE Sources for Sustainable Communities
RE Sources offers education and advocacy programs focused on waste reduction, air pollution, global
warming, and marine waters in the greater Puget Sound region.
http://re-sources.org
Seattle Tilth
Tilth offers education and programs on organic gardening, local food systems, and natural resources
conservation.
http://www.seattletilth.org/
Washington Toxics Coalition
WTC works on improving product safety, home and garden health, and sustainable agriculture.
http://www.watoxics.org/
Tips for Connecting with Business and Industry
The business community is a rich source of experts from different industries and fields, with a wealth
of diverse networks of connections and resources. One way to connect to the business community is
to approach a professional association, such as the Washington State Bar Association or the Seattle
Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. These professional associations may be able to
recommend specific members who would be interested in working with students on their Sustainable
Design Projects. Your city or county might even publish a “green pages,” a directory of local
businesses that are committed to sustainable business practices.
There are many ways that a student can work together with an expert from the business community.
 Invite the business person to visit the classroom as a guest speaker.
 Offer a service to the business, such as conducting an energy audit.
 Ask the business person to help evaluate final project presentations.
 Ask the business person to serve as a mentor to a student.
Business and Industry Resources
A few key business and industry resources:
WA RoundTable: Washington Roundtable is a nonprofit, public policy organization comprised of chief
executives representing major private sector employers throughout Washington State. The
organization’s formation in 1983 was spearheaded by George Weyerhaeuser and a group of state
business leaders who foresaw a growing need to engage in and lend their expertise to important
public policy issues.
http://www.waroundtable.com/
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Environmental and Land Use Law: Engaging Students in their Communities
The Washington State Bar Association provides a free curriculum for high school teachers interested
in bringing environmental and land use law attorneys into their classrooms. Specifically developed for
Law Day and Law Week activities, the curriculum can be used any time of the year to provide
teachers and visiting attorneys with age-appropriate classroom activities. The full curriculum and an
accompanying PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded from the following website:
http://www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/elul/cirriculam+explanation+page.htm
Puget Sound Energy - Powerful Choices for the Environment
An environmental education program that is changing how Washington state's middle school students
and their families think about and use natural resources in their daily lives.
http://www.pse.com/community/educationalprograms/pages/powerfulchoices.aspx
The Manufacturing Industrial Council of Seattle (MIC)
Host of the Green Industrial Business and Career Expo program for students and educators highlights
the new business and career opportunities that are being created by our transition away from fossil
fuels.
http://www.micouncil.org/
Tips for Connecting with Institutions of Higher Education
Institutions of higher education employ professors, researchers, and graduate students who are
working to solve many of the same issues and problems that your students may be investigating for
their Sustainable Design Projects. In addition, institutions of higher education are charged with
transferring the new ideas and technologies developed within their research labs to their students and
the greater community. Community and technical colleges in particular may have programs focused
on specific problems or challenges.
Colleges and universities are organized into schools, departments, research centers, and programs.
By perusing the website of a local college or university, you may be able to find professors and
researchers working in areas that overlap with your students’ interests. In particular, look for programs
that provide community outreach and education programs.
There are many ways that a K-12 student can get involved with the students, faculty, and staff at a
college or university. Invite a college department to provide a speaker to a high school classroom.
 Ask graduate students in a particular university program, such as a College of Education or
a Department of Engineering, to act as mentors to students.
 Encourage students to seek opportunities to work as volunteers or interns in a research
lab.
 Arrange for students to tour a research lab.
 Encourage students to explore summer youth programs offered by a local college or
university.
 Students may write professors related to a specific subject, after their scientific labs were
completed.
 Contact local ongoing projects such as watersheds or fish hatcheries.
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Higher Education Resources
A sample of higher education resources:
Community and Technical Colleges
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges provides a list of all programs in
the state.
http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/general/c_index.aspx
Four-Year Colleges and Universities
Washington Higher Learning Coordinating Board provides links to all public, independent/private, and
religious colleges and universities in the state.
http://www.hecb.wa.gov./Links/colleges/collegesindex.asp
Summer Youth Programs at the University of Washington
The UW offers programs for elementary, middle school, and high school students in programs as
diverse as: botany, marine biology, inventions, law, and natural science illustration.
http://summeryouth.washington.edu/syp/
Washington State University-Pullman, WA
Washington State University Extension engages people, organizations, and communities to advance
knowledge, economic well-being and quality of life by fostering inquiry, learning, and the application of
research.
http://ext.wsu.edu
Tips for Connecting with Government Agencies
Government agencies at the state, county, and local level are an excellent source of content-area
experts. There are many ways that students can access the resources of government agencies.
Some suggestions are provided below:
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Local, county, and state level ecology departments have offices of sustainability that can
provide information to students. Other local government offices such as local utilities,
parks, planning, or transportation may have information on water, energy, waste
management, resource conservation, restoration, and more. They may also offer grants,
outreach programs, and speakers.
Government agency websites are great sources of reports, data, field studies, and other
information sources to assist students with their research.
Agency workers, researchers, and scientists may be willing to mentor a student, host a
tour of their lab, take a student along on a field study, or visit a classroom as a guest
presenter.
Many agencies regularly organize meetings to educate the local community about
particular issues and to solicit public comments. Students may be able to attend these
meetings.
Students may use the data from their experiences to write legislators in advocacy for
higher education, the environment and human civil rights issues that impact homelessness
and students in poverty.
Students may write legislators thanking them for their efforts and use HSPE approved
persuasive writing to advocate for specific issues around SDP.
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State Government Resources
A sampling of Washington State government agencies and commissions: (Your county or city
government also has agencies and programs related to local sustainability issues.)
Access Washington
This is the official website for Washington State government. It provides a portal to state agencies and
departments.
http://access.wa.gov/
Washington State Department of Agriculture
WSDA is responsible for food, animals, pesticides, fertilizers, plants, and insects.
http://agr.wa.gov/
Washington Biodiversity Project
This Project is concerned with protecting the State’s animals, plants, and ecosystems.
http://www.biodiversity.wa.gov/
Washington State Conservation Commission
The Commission assists local conservation districts with managing and conserving renewable natural
resources.
http://www.scc.wa.gov/
Washington State Department of Ecology
DOE has programs in sustainability, air quality, hazardous waste, nuclear waste, solid waste, spills
and cleanups, water quality, and resources.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife
Fish and Wildlife is focused on managing salmon recovery, wildlife habitat, fish/shellfish resources,
and hunting.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/
Washington State Department of Health
DOH is charged with helping Washington citizens to stay healthy and safe. Its programs include
community and family health, environmental health, public health, and health systems.
http://www.doh.wa.gov/
Washington State Department of Natural Resources
DNR is responsible for managing recreation, forest practices, conservation and restoration, and
aquatic and marine sciences.
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Pages/default.aspx
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
WSP manages 120 state parks and recreation areas, including historical, cultural, and natural sites.
http://www.parks.wa.gov/
Washington State Department of Transportation
WSDOT manages transportation systems, such as roads, bridges, ferries, and railways.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/
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CHAPTER 7: Project Funding & Resources
Depending on the chosen topic and the scale, some Sustainable Design Projects may require special
tools, equipment, or have other capital needs. You may be able to receive support for small capital
expenditures through your school or PTA. However, if a student team is planning a project that
requires a larger amount of capital, you may need to help them access school funds or raise funds.
This is an excellent opportunity to actively engage your students in the process of fundraising,
budgeting, soliciting donations, and applying for mini-grants.
Fundraising rules and requirements
When schools, staff, and/or students engage in fundraising activities, these activities are governed by
Washington State laws (and possibly by grant provisions). Start early and always check with your
district office before planning any type of fundraising activity. Your district office can provide guidance
on how to plan and implement fundraising activities that are in compliance with these laws. A brief
summary of different types of fundraising has been provided below, but please be aware that it is
crucial to obtain guidance from your school district office.
Fundraising Outside of School
Students are allowed to raise money on their own or as part of a community group, as long as the
school, ASB, or district is not involved and the fundraising is not done during school time (WASBO,
2007).
Associated Student Body (ASB) Fundraising
If fundraising is done by the ASB, or with school or district approval/supervision, and/or is done during
school time, then specific requirements must be met. If a fundraiser meets the following requirements,
then it is considered an ASB fundraiser and must follow specific rules:
 “Students are involved and
 The school district or school name is used and
 It is conducted on or off school property and
 It is done with the approval of the school board or their designees” (WASBO, 2007) and
 It is supervised by the teacher and/or parents affiliated with the class.
ASB funds are only to be used for “optional, non-credit, extracurricular activities” (Fiscal Guidance for
Culminating Projects, n.d.). ASB funds may not be used to pay “for supplies or materials for
culminating projects,” therefore it is recommended that you check with your district office to see if
project expenses can be covered by general funds or charitable fundraisers (Fiscal Guidance for
Culminating Projects, n.d.).
The ASB Fundraising Resource Guide is available from the Washington Association of School
Business Officials (see Resources section below). This guide provides specific information on money
management, fundraising procedures, parent permission, restrictions and pitfalls, and fundraising
forms. It is important that this resource be consulted before beginning to raise funds.
Charitable Fundraising
Students may want to raise funds for a charitable cause, such as making a donation to a community
non-profit organization. If students are involved in charitable fundraising and certain rules are
followed, then the fundraising is considered to be “non-associated student body private money.” In
this case, the fundraising is not subject to ASB fundraising rules, but instead is subject to charitable
fundraising rules. There are five main rules for charitable fundraising activities:
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1. “There must be a school board policy
2. Should be a bonafide charity
3. Prior notice must be given
4. Direct services provided by the school district must be paid for
5. It is NOT public money” (Charitable Fund Raising, n.d.).
It is important that you contact your district office to obtain specific rules and requirements for
charitable fundraising activities.
Fundraising Resource
ASB Fundraising Resource Guide
This Fundraising Handbook can be found under the “Publications” section of the Washington
Association of School Business Officials website.
http://www.wasbo.org/
Explaining Fundraising and Budgeting to Your Students
Why do we need to fundraise?
Depending on your project, you may not need any money at all. Some projects, however, need funds which can
be acquired through a fundraiser or a community grant. Other projects might benefit from the donation of
supplies or equipment by a local business. Before thinking about fundraising, grants or donations, first
determine if financial help will be needed. Start by creating a simple budget for the project. Budgeting might
sound difficult, but it is something that you do all the time without realizing it. Whenever you make the decision
to purchase something, you first need to determine your resources (how much money you have), your need
(how much do you need and desire this product), and your buying power (the price of the product). Developing a
simple budget for your project can be an easy process.
How do we develop a project budget?
Your budget will help determine your fundraising needs for the project. Much can be obtained through donations
and resource sharing without having to spend any money. Some projects can be broken up into phases to stay
within a tight budget scheme. Budget first, assess available resources, reassess needs and wants, and then
determine fundraising plan.
To develop a project budget, begin by listing everything you think you will need for the project, including
supplies, equipment, tools, food, advertising, and more. Make sure to note what items you already have, can
borrow, or can get donated and what items you will need to purchase.
Next, put a monetary value by the items you will need to purchase. You can determine the money value of an
item by estimating or by doing a little research. Call up your local hardware store and ask them to price an item
for you. You can also try looking through catalogs or searching the Internet to find out the price of an item. Your
budget should represent the total cost of all the items you need. This figure tells you how much money you will
need to raise.
~Reprinted with minor adaptations, with permission of Pacific Science Center, from “Chapter Four: Spreading the Word and
Raising Money” of Making Waves: Watershed Education in Your Community—A Handbook for Teens.
Soliciting donations
A student project may need donations of money, equipment, supplies, or time. If you are looking for
adults who can volunteer their time or expertise, you may want to start with the parents of your
students as well as the community experts that are working with your students on their Sustainable
Design Projects. It is important that you contact your district office for guidance on rules
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governing donation solicitations, handling of donated funds, and ownership of donated
materials.
Your local business community may be a potential source of tools, equipment, food, or expertise.
Involve your students in identifying what they need, who may be able to provide it, and soliciting the
donations. A template for a donation letter is included below.
Explaining Donations to Your Students
How do we go about asking for donations?
Do you need a measuring tape, rubber boots, and a bucket? You might consider asking a local business to
donate particular items for your project. First, determine the specific items that you need and identify which local
businesses have those items for sale. You also need to determine how each item will specifically be used. For
example, if you want a local bagel shop to donate a dozen bagels and cream cheese, they will want to know that
you are using the bagels to feed volunteers for a streamside restoration project.
The best way to approach a business is to write a letter to the business owner or store manager. You can find
out this person’s name, and how to spell it, by calling the store. Then, draft a letter that explains exactly what
you want donated and how it will be used. See the donation letter template below.
Several days after the letter has been delivered, follow up with a friendly phone call to the business owner or
store manager offering to answer any questions they may have about your project. During the phone call, you
may want to reiterate how the items will be used. Also let the person know when you need the items for them to
be most useful. Ask the owner/manager when they will be able to get back to you with your decision. If you do
not hear back by that date, it is perfectly fine to call them once again.
If you do receive a donation, offer to pick it up in person. Then, make sure to promptly write a thank-you letter to
the business. You may want to follow-up later with another letter that includes a photograph of your team using
the items, or a handmade thank-you poster with all of your team members’ signatures.
~Reprinted with minor adaptations, with permission of Pacific Science Center, from “Chapter Four: Spreading the Word and
Raising Money” of Making Waves: Watershed Education in Your Community—A Handbook for Teens.
Template for Donation Letter
Use this template to draft a letter that asks a local business for a donation.
YOUR NAME & ADDRESS:
Maria Machala
2435 East Rivertown Road
Waterville, WA 98777
BUSINESS NAME & ADDRESS:
Jim’s Hardware and More
5623 Bracken Marsh Blvd.
Waterville, WA 98777
DATE: October 21, 2009
SALUTATION: Dear Mr. McAllister,
PURPOSE OF LETTER: I am writing on behalf of a student team at Waterville High School to request a small
donation of supplies for a revegetation project.
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DESCRIPTION: Our team is made up of students from Waterville High School. We are dedicated to improving
the water quality of Connelly Creek, which runs near your business. We are planning a creek-side weeding
project on November 18th to pull weeds from the creek banks. We are preparing the area so that we can plant
native trees and shrubs in early spring.
REQUEST FOR DONATION: Our team is in need of several items to make our project a success. We are
hoping that Jim’s Hardware & More can donate the following items for our event on November 18 th:
12 pairs of gardening gloves, sizes small – large
25 composting yard waste bags
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: We will acknowledge your generosity by including a thank-you notice to Jim’s
Hardware & More on our school’s website as well as announcing your donation to all of the volunteers who
participate in the project.
YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION: I look forward to hearing from you regarding this request. I can be contacted
at maria.machala@rivertown.com or (206) 555-1425.
CLOSING:
Sincerely,
Maria Machala
Student at Waterville High School
~Reprinted with minor adaptations, with permission of Pacific Science Center, from “Chapter Four: Spreading the Word and
Raising Money” of Making Waves: Watershed Education in Your Community—A Handbook for Teens.
Applying for school or community grants
Locating and applying for a grant can seem like a daunting task. After all, many non-profit
organizations employ development managers who write and manage grants full-time. However, there
are many small grants available for student, school, and community projects. These mini-grants often
have quicker turn-around timelines and simplified applications. The best starting place in your search
for grants is your school district office. Also, some corporations, community-based organizations,
family foundations, and government agencies provide mini-grants for community projects. The Grant
Resources section at the end of this chapter provides a few suggestions for starting your grant
search. Please be aware that you must contact your school district office to receive guidance
on laws and regulations that govern grant writing and grant management for school projects.
How to Explain a Grant to Your Students
What is a community grant?
A grant is a sum of money that is “granted” to an individual or group for a specific project. A grant may come
from the government, a business, or a private foundation. There are millions of dollars in grants available for a
variety of projects, including Sustainable Design Projects just like yours! There are federal- and state-level
grants. Community grants are generally funded by local organizations and are created specifically for citizen
projects. With a little research, you may find some grants available in your own community.
Where do we find out about community grants?
You will have to do some research to find out about local grant resources. Call your school district office and find
out if they have a person in charge of grant writing and fundraising. He or she may be able to share some
resources with you. You can also try websites for your city and county government and local universities or
colleges. A science center or nature center might be able to help you find some local grant opportunities.
What is the process of getting a grant?
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You have to apply for a grant. Many small grants have simple applications, while larger grants often have more
exhaustive application processes. Generally, you will have to provide information about your team and the
specific project, a budget, and a timeline. Depending on the grant, you may need to be associated with a school
district or other organization who can oversee the money, since some grants can only go to non-profit
organizations with a tax-exempt status. Your teacher can help you determine if this is an issue.
How do you keep your grant application out of the slush pile? There are some basic things you can do to ensure
that your application gets serious consideration. If you submit a sloppy application two days after the deadline,
you are guaranteeing that you will not receive the grant. By investing the time to create a well organized,
thorough grant application, you greatly increase your chances of receiving the grant.
~Reprinted with minor adaptations, with permission of Pacific Science Center, from “Chapter Four: Spreading the Word and
Raising Money” of Making Waves: Watershed Education in Your Community—A Handbook for Teens.
Tips for Writing a Winning Grant Application
Check eligibility guidelines first. Many people go to a great deal of effort and don’t meet the priorities of the
grant, feeling like it’s an automatic.
Start early. Research and documentation take time. Be sure to allow plenty of time to present the many
aspects of your project. Hint: Get approval signatures EARLY in process. Grants are a team process and if a
key permission signature is missing because that party is too busy, then you have difficulty.
Check to see if it is an annual grant. If it is, mark your calendar to follow up with a stronger proposal, after
you have had time to research it.
Evaluate if you have time to put a good proposal together in the one week, 30 days or 90 days required by the
deadline. A poor proposal is not worth as much as waiting a year.
Look for and participate in informational webinars or websites suggested by grantor.
Check out the procedural elements of peer review. Government grants have extra layers of paperwork, as
opposed to smaller community grants.
Edit carefully. Make sure to check, and then recheck, your entire application for spelling and grammar. Ask
several people to read the application for you before submitting it. A pair of fresh eyes can often find mistakes in
the text that you never even noticed.
Follow the directions. Most grant applications come with specific directions, such as the maximum number of
pages and the required font size. Follow the directions carefully.
Neatness counts. Your grant application should arrive clean and neat. If possible, type your application and
print it on a quality printer. Depending on the directions, e-mail your application or mail it in a flat manila
envelope instead of folding it.
Meet the deadline. In fact, you should aim to beat the deadline. Choose a date one week before the actual
deadline and use that as your personal deadline. Getting the application in early will reduce your stress level
and give you some extra time in case something unexpected happens.
Partners help. Funders typically love knowing that groups of people are working together on a project. If you
have a project partner, make sure to mention it on the application. If the grant allows, ask your project partner to
write a letter of support to accompany the application.
Be persistent. Understand that not many grants are funded for numerous reasons, even in the best of
economic conditions.
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~Reprinted with minor adoptions, with permission of Pacific Science Center, from “Chapter Four: Spreading the Word and
Raising Money” of Making Waves: Watershed Education in Your Community—A Handbook for Teens.
Grant Resources
This is just a small sample of the grants available for student, school, and community projects.
Grants.Gov
This is the clearinghouse for grants offered by the federal government agencies. You can search or
browse by category or agency.
http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunities.jsp
Terry Husseman Sustainable Schools Awards
This program, coordinated by the Washington State Department of Ecology, provides monetary
awards to schools participating in resource conservation and sustainability.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/terryhusseman.html
Home Depot and National Gardening Association’s Youth Garden Grant Program
This program provides funds to school and community organizations to create child-centered garden
programs.
http://www.kidsgardening.com/YGG.asp
National Wildlife Federation’s Schoolyard Habitats Program
This program helps schools and outdoor education centers develop habitat areas for wildlife and
education.
http://www.nwf.org/schoolyard/
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CHAPTER 8: Showcasing Sustainable Design Projects
Students have the opportunity to showcase their Sustainable Design Projects on the statewide
“Student Project Space” website. Exemplary projects could be chosen to be showcased at a variety of
venues across the state, including: regionally at ESDs and other community forums; at the annual
conference of the Environmental Education Association of Washington; at OSPI; and to the
Washington State legislature.
OSPI plans to support the Sustainable Design Project with its own public relations plan to help get
students’ projects seen by the public. The public relations plan includes supporting the “Student
Project Space” website, inviting local media to cover exemplary student projects, and providing
opportunities for students to present their projects at school board meetings, community and industry
groups, and conferences.
Preparing for students’ presentations
Students may need help identifying appropriate presentation formats and a target audience. They also
may need help determining how to connect with their target audience and how to plan a time to give
their presentation. If your students are planning on making presentations to non-school groups, then
they may need extra help identifying a contact person, scheduling their presentation, arranging
transportation and any related costs, and preparing an appropriate presentation style for that
audience. The community experts with whom each student worked may know of likely forums where a
student could present his or her project.
Student Planning Tool #6, Preparing for your Presentation will help take students step-by-step
through the process of identifying an audience, choosing a presentation format and visual aids, and
developing a plan for including the necessary elements into their presentation. This tool can be found
in the Appendix.
Assessing students’ presentations
A sample rubric is provided in the Appendix to help identify the different components of a student
presentation that can be assessed. The rubric was designed for a middle school level project where
students worked in groups, focused on an environmental health topic, and made an oral presentation.
You can pick and choose from the different criteria elements and levels of success to customize your
own presentation rubric. Depending on how you and your students approach the Sustainable Design
Project, you may need to fine-tune the rubric so that it is an effective assessment tool for your own
students’ project topics and presentation formats. The Chapter Resources section below includes a
resource that provides templates for creating rubrics for student presentations.
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Chapter 8 Resources
Student Project Space Database
Student Project Space is a statewide online project database in which students can find project
opportunities through connections with community-based and agency resources. The resource also
provides students with an outlet where they can post their own projects and build upon the work of
other student projects.
http://www.e3washington.org/student-project/
Sample Rubrics for Composing and Making a Presentation
The Buck Institute for Education’s Project Based Learning Handbook offers several templates to help
teachers develop their own rubrics. You can download the “Creating a Rubric for Composing a
Presentation” (pg. 73) and “Creating a Rubric for Making a Presentation” (pg. 74) templates from the
following website:
http://www.bie.org/index.php/site/PBL/pbl_handbook_downloads/
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CHAPTER 9: Resources for Teaching Sustainable Design
Education for Sustainability—General Resources
Education for Sustainability: An Agenda for Action
This report states that the “time has come to ensure that the concepts of education for sustainability
are discussed and woven into a framework upon which current and future educational policy is
based.” This report is a product of the National Forum on Partnerships Supporting Education about
the Environment, from the President’s Council on Sustainable Development.
http://www.gcrio.org/edu/pcsd/toc.html
UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
Learn about the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The
overall goal of the DESD is “to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable
development into all aspects of education and learning.”
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27234&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Center for Sustainable Systems
CSS develops life cycle based models and sustainability metrics to evaluate the performance and to
guide the continuous improvement of industrial systems for meeting societal needs. We promote
sustainability by developing these tools and knowledge in collaboration with diverse stakeholders so
that better informed decisions are made. It is the vision of CSS and the University of Michigan to be
nationally and internationally recognized for creative and effective teaching and research in systems
based approaches to sustainability.
http://css.snre.umich.edu/
National Museum of the American Indian
NMAI is a new museum that focuses on the spiritual and cultural heritage from the First Nation
Peoples of the Americas.
http://www.nmai.si.edu/
Education for Sustainability—Teacher Resources
Facing the Future: People and the Planet
Facing the Future develops young people’s capacity and commitment to create thriving, sustainable,
and peaceful local and global communities. In particular, FTF provides a Washington State specific
middle school level unit, “Understanding Sustainability.” Find curricula, resources, and more at their
website.
http://www.facingthefuture.org/
Sustainable Schools Project
The Sustainable Schools Project is a model for school improvement and civic engagement that uses
sustainability as an integrating context. Find lesson plans, resources, and links to sustainability
projects at this website.
http://www.sustainableschoolsproject.org/
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Vermont Education for Sustainability Project
The EFS Project works on educational policy in favor of sustainability education.
http://www.vtefs.org/
Education for Sustainability—Higher Education Resources
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
AASHE is a membership-based association of colleges and universities working to advance
sustainability in higher education in the US and Canada.
http://www.aashe.org/
Education for Sustainability in Higher Education
Second Nature works with institutions of higher education to make the principles of education a
foundation of all learning. Second Nature’s vision of a healthy, just, and sustainable future is
described at this website.
http://www.secondnature.org/efs/efs.htm
Toxic Substances and Environmental Health
Tox Town
This interactive online resource allows you to investigate different “neighborhoods” to discover toxic
chemicals where you live, work, and play. The student-friendly site is available in both English and
Spanish.
http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
Integrated Environmental Health Middle School Project
Access free, downloadable teacher resources from this University of Washington program. The
Environmental Health Fact Files provide lesson plans on lead and asthma for teachers of science,
math, language arts, social studies, and health and fitness. The Health and Environment Research
Tool helps teachers plan a research project very similar to the Sustainable Design Project. The
Quicksilver Question is an interactive, online game that engages students in solving a mock
environmental health problem.
http://depts.washington.edu/ceeh/education_ceeh.html
TOXNET Hazardous Substances Data Bank
Type a hazardous substance into this database (such as antifreeze) and find out its toxicology
properties and dangers to human health.
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?HSDB
Sustainable Businesses
Simply Sustainable Industries
The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment provides information, by industry, of how to
incorporate sustainable and commercially sound processes into businesses.
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/sustainable-industry/tools-services/types.php
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Sustainable Industries
This portal provides information for business leaders on the following topics: green building, clean
energy, technology, food and farms, marketing, finance, transportation, and recycled materials.
http://www.sustainableindustries.com
Sustainable Style Foundation
The SSF is focused on helping people “look fabulous, live well, and do good” through its programs,
magazine, and guides.
http://www.sustainablestyle.org/education-awareness
Sustainable Communities Network
The SCN provides resources for citizens to create healthy, vital, sustainable communities. Their
resources include a Sustainable Building Resource Directory, tools for smart growth, resources for
growing a sustainable economy in different industries, and tips on sustainable government.
http://www.sustainable.org/economy/manufacturing.html
Sustainable Design
The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability
This book, by Ann Thorpe, presents designers with an overview of how to incorporate environmental,
economic, and social sustainability into their work. The book was published by Island Press in 2007.
An accompanying website provides reading lists and a teaching guide.
http://www.designers-atlas.net/index.html
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
Architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart’s book issues a call for a new industrial
revolution that uses sustainable design principles to design buildings and products. Available from
North Point Press, 2002.
http://www.mcdonough.com/full.htm
The Sorrell Foundation Young Design Center
The Sorrell Foundation provides several programs to involve students in designing the quality of life in
their schools and communities.
http://www.thesorrellfoundation.com
David Orr: The Designers Challenge
Transcript of a speech given by David Orr to the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania in
2007.
http://www.eoearth.org/article/The_designer's_challenge_(speech_by_David_Orr)
Construction, Architecture, Green Building
Architecture 2030
This nonprofit is focused on transforming the building sector from a major contributor to greenhouse
gas emissions to a central part of the solution to the global warming crises.
http://www.architecture2030.org/
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Built Green—Master Builders Association of Washington
This Built Green website provides resources for green home construction. From this website, you can
link to your local county’s own Built Green website.
http://www.builtgreenwashington.org/
BuildingGreen
BuildingGreen is a publishing company focused on providing information on green design and
construction.
http://www.buildinggreen.com
U.S. Green Building Council
This nonprofit is working to make green building accessible to everyone.
http://www.usgbc.org
Renewable Energy and Fuel
Harvesting the Wind PBS Video
The e2 energy video series examines alternatives to the fossil fuel culture.
http://www.pbs.org/e2/index.html
Windustry’s Wind Farmers Network
Learn all about harvesting the wind, including community wind projects, at this website.
http://www.windustry.org/community
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
This website features information on many types of renewable energy, including: biomass,
geothermal, solar, and wind.
http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_wind.html
Natural Resources Defense Council — Energy Issues
Check out a variety of tips on how to deal with oil and energy issues.
http://www.nrdc.org/energy
Northwest Biodiesel Network
Find out about local biodiesel events and resources, as well as the Breathable Bus Coalition.
http://nwbiodiesel.org/index.htm
The Federal Clean Air Act
Read the full code of the Clean Air Act, amended in 1990.
http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/
Energy Kids Page
This Department of Energy website provides kid-friendly information, activities, and games about
energy sources.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/index.html
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Carbon and Global Warming
Natural Resources Defense Council — Global Warming
Explore the issue of global warming at this informative site.
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/default.asp
Program on Climate Change
This University of Washington program provides resources for educators.
http://www.uwpcc.washington.edu/
Equitable and Sustainable Communities
International Society for Ecology & Culture
This UK organization promotes locally based alternatives to the global consumer culture.
http://www.isec.org.uk/
Project for Public Spaces
PPS is dedicated to helping people create and sustain public places that build communities, from
public markets and parks to waterfronts and community squares.
http://www.pps.org
Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
ITDP is focused on promoting sustainable and socially equitable transportation systems worldwide.
http://www.itdp.org
Center for Neighborhood Technology
CNT promotes the development of more livable and sustainable communities.
http://www.cnt.org
Smart Communities Network
This organization offers resources and tools for building energy smart communities.
http://www.smartcommunities.ncat.org
King County’s Equity and Social Justice Initiative
This initiative takes aim at long-standing and persistent inequities and injustices in King County.
http://www.kingcounty.gov/equity
City of Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative
Mayor Nickels’ initiative aims to bring race and social justice to the people of Seattle.
http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/issues/rsji/
Ella Baker Green Collar Jobs Campaign
This organization seeks to train 250,000 people in green collar jobs and lift them out of poverty.
http://ellabakercenter.org/index.php?p=gcjc
Green for All
This organization aims to build a green economy strong enough to lift all people out of poverty.
http://www.greenforall.org/
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Environmental and Sustainability Education in Washington
WA State K-12 Integrated Environmental and Sustainability Education Learning Standards
These standards describe what all students should know and be able to do in the area of
Environmental and Sustainability Education and are intended to be integrated into core content areas
and across all grade levels.
http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/Standards/default.aspx
OSPI EES Program Curriculum Integration and Instructional Alignment Guide
Discover tools for how to bring sustainability education into your classroom, including an instruction
alignment guide.
http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/Curriculum/default.aspx
Washington Green Schools
Washington Green Schools is a voluntary, web-based program schools can use to reduce its
environmental and carbon footprint.
http://www.wagreenschools.org/
Project-Based Learning
Buck Institute for Education Project Based Learning Resources
The Buck Institute provides an overview of project-based learning.
http://www.bie.org/index.php/site/PBL/overview_pbl/
Fundraising
ASB Fundraising Resource Guide
This Fundraising Handbook can be found under the “Publications” section of the Washington
Association of School Business Officials website.
http://www.wasbo.org/
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Appendix A – Teacher Planning Tools
The Teacher Planning Tools are provided as a resource in planning Sustainable Design
Projects. Feel free to modify these tools for your specific needs.
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Teacher Planning Tool #1
1. What is your current teaching assignment (grade level, content areas, etc.)?
2. Reflect on the upcoming units of study that you will be teaching to your students. Select one or
two units which you believe are most conducive to “beyond the classroom” connections and is
a good fit with the goals of the Sustainable Design Project. Provide a brief description of this
current unit of study:
3. What is the “big idea” for this curriculum unit (i.e. the deep learning and enduring
understandings)?
a. What are the student outcomes, results, learning targets, and/or standards that you
plan to achieve with this unit of study?
b. What are some potential community needs that exist in and around your community
that are related to the “big idea” of this unit of study? Consider that a community can be
defined on many different levels, including a group of people, your school, your town,
etc.
4. Who are the stakeholders and/or decision makers in the community? Who can help you to
reassess your “big idea” within the context of a real community need?
Adapted from Chris Burt and Susie Richards,
Service-Learning Washington Training Cadres Coordinators for Learn and Serve.
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Teacher Planning Tool #2
1. Timeline: What is the timeline for your students’ Sustainable Design Projects?
Lay out your timeline on a calendar.
2. Liability Issues: Are there any liability issues associated with your students’ projects that will
need to be addressed?




Review your project plan with your building administrator.
Will projects occur off or on campus? If off campus, are appropriate permissions in place?
If using volunteers, are background checks in place before project implementation?
Are there any liability issues surrounding transportation (using private vehicles, etc.)?
3. Resources: What resources are required to implement your students’ Sustainable Design
Projects? (For more information on budgeting and fundraising, please see Chapter 7: Project
Funding and Resources). Please be sure to talk with your school district office before
becoming involved in any fundraising activities or accepting donations, as these activities are
governed by specific rules and laws.
4. Budgeting: Develop a project budget and identify the following:




What are direct costs (those costs that actual funds are needed for)? What are potential
sources for funding these costs?
What materials are needed for the project (art supplies, etc.)? Who are potential donors or
sources of funding for these materials?
How do you capture in-kind donations? In-kind donations are important to document for
future funding, because these demonstrate program strength and support from your
community. In-kind donations include donations of volunteer time, materials, percentage
off the cost of materials, donated materials, etc.
How can you leverage these resources for future projects?
5. Project Impacts: How might your project impact other teachers and staff within your building?
How can you address these issues?
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6. Assessment: Will there be ongoing, real world student assessment built into the project? Will
community partners be included in this process?
7. Evaluation: Will evaluation tools be created? Will you engage in ongoing evaluation
throughout the project as well as summative evaluation at the end of the project?
8. Reflection: What reflective tools will be used? Are the tools going to be used in all stages of
the project? Are you using multiple approaches to reflection, such as journals, video, webpage
development, etc.?
9. Celebration: What type of celebration will be planned to recognize the culmination of the
project? Who will be involved in the celebration?
Adapted with permission from Chris Burt and Susie Richards,
Service-Learning Washington Training Cadres Coordinators for Learn and Serve.
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Appendix B – Student Planning Tools
The Student Planning Tools are appropriate for students in middle and high school. The
Student Planning Tools can be used to help students transition from one step of the project
process to the next. Elementary school teachers can use the Student Planning Tools as a
resource for planning a whole-class Sustainable Design Project. Rather than distributing
these Tools to the students, elementary school teachers can use the Tools themselves to
plan out the important components of the project. Feel free to modify these tools for your
specific needs.
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Student Planning Tool #1: Introduction
Name: _________________________________________
Date: __________
Class/Period: ________________
You are about to embark on an exciting challenge—a Sustainable Design Project. As part of this
project, you will investigate an issue, problem, or situation that is part of a system in your local
community. You will work with experts, propose a solution, and share your findings.
The following diagram shows the questions you will be investigating for each step of your Sustainable
Design Project. As you progress from one step to the next, make note of the date you move onto a
new step in the process.
Diagram adapted with permission from the Health & Environment Action Research Tool of the Integrated Environmental Health Middle
School Project (NIESH Grant #ES10738 and #ES07033, University of Washington, 2005).
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Student Planning Tool #2: Considering Your Own Interests
Name: _________________________________________
Date: __________
Class/Period: ________________
1. What kinds of things interest you?
2. What do you know how to do well?
3. What problems or issues do you see in the world that you would like to help change?
What is a System?
A system is a group of interacting, interrelated, and interdependent components that form a complex
and unified whole. Systems are everywhere. For example, a classroom, a predator/prey relationship,
and the ignition system in a car are all systems. Some systems are “nested” within larger systems.
For example, the circulatory system is nested within the system we know as the human body. A
system is a collection of “things” in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
4. Read through the table below. Consider which of the following systems interest you most.
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SYSTEM
EXAMPLE ISSUES





Waste Management





“Green” building design and construction
Sick building syndrome
Parks and green spaces
Global warming and its affects on agriculture
Global climate change and the affects of severe
weather
Alternative energy sources (solar, wind, etc.)
Biofuels (biodiesel, ethanol, etc.)
Energy conservation
Water pollution in local waterways
Water conservation
Air pollution from cars, boats, trains, ferries, and
cruise ships
Woodstoves and outdoor burning
Wildfires
Composting and worm bins
Recycling
Electronic waste
Workplace Health
& Safety


Ergonomics
Health and safety hazards at work
Voting & Civic
Action







Voting
Volunteerism
Activism
Nutrition
Organic gardening and farming
School gardens
Obesity epidemic
Technology


Cradle-to-grave pathway of electronic waste
Cradle-to-cradle principles
Cultural
Preservation


Places of cultural importance
Local history
Media, Music, and
Art











Film, music, and art festivals
Art installations
Non-native plant species
Developing neighborhood “pocket” gardens
Community gardening plots
Urban forests
Biosolid fertilizers
Soil erosion and water quality protection
Asthma and tobacco smoke
Diabetes and obesity
Inequitable concentration of polluting industries
located in neighborhoods with low incomes or
people of color
Lack of “green” businesses, open space, and
safety
Built
Environment
Climate Change
Energy
Water Quality &
Conservation
Air Quality
Food & Farm
Parks & Natural
Areas
Forestry
Environmental
Health & Justice







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5. Choose the system that you would like to be the focus of your Sustainable Design Project.
Write the system below:
System: ______________________________________________
6. What other students in your class are also interested in the same system?
7. If you will be doing the Sustainable Design Project as a group project, choose who will make
up your group. Write all the group member names below:
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Student Planning Tool #2: Identifying Your Target Community
Name: _________________________________________
Date: __________
Class/Period: ________________
You have already considered your interests to help you choose the system on which to focus your
Sustainable Design Project. Write the name of your chosen system or topic below:
System/Topic: ______________________________________________
Now you need to determine the target community for your project. A community is a group of people
who are somehow brought together by shared values, beliefs, goals, geography, or other factors. A
community can take on many different forms, such as an entire city, a neighborhood, a school, a
seventh-grade class, or the residents of an apartment building.
In order to answer the questions below, you will need to conduct some research on your targeted
community.
1. What community will be the focus of your Sustainable Design Project? This is the community
in which your system occurs and/or the community that will be affected by your project.
2. Who makes up your targeted community? Describe the defining characteristics of the
community? Who are the people? Ages? Ethnic/Racial background? Population?
3. What makes this community unique? Is there anything special about its history? Is it facing a
current problem?
4. What are the core values of this community? (Economic status, education, family, beliefs,
work, etc.). How do you know?
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5. Who are the decision-makers in this community? (This may be specific people, groups,
businesses, organizations, or government agencies).
6. What environmental issues is this community currently facing?
7. What social issues is this community currently facing?
8. What economic issues is this community currently facing?
9. Who do you think are the experts in the community for the different issues you listed above?
Where else could you go to find more information on these issues?
Adapted with permission from the Health & Environment Action Research Tool of the Integrated Environmental Health Middle School Project
(NIESH Grant #ES10738 and #ES07033, University of Washington, 2005). Original materials were adapted from “A Model for Applying the
Scientific Method in Your Community,” NSF Project HRD-9450053.
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Student Planning Tool #3: Developing Your Focus Question
Name: _________________________________________
Date: __________
Class/Period: ________________
You now have chosen the system and the community that you will be focusing on for your Sustainable
Design Project. Write your chosen system and community on the lines below:
System/Topic: ______________________________________________
Community: ____________________________________________
Next, you will be developing your focus question. A focus question has three parts. First, you need
to define the main issue, problem, or situation that you will be investigating for your Sustainable
Design Project. Second, you need to identify the particular question that you have about that issue,
problem, or situation. Third, you need to propose a design solution.
1. What questions do you have about your chosen system?
2. What questions do you have about your chosen community?
3. What do you already know about the system?
4. Is there a particular topic or part of the system that you want to focus on, rather than the entire
system?
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5. What issue, problem, or situation do you want to help solve that is a part of your chosen
system or topic?
6. Review your answers to questions #1-5 above. Circle words or phrases that stand out to you
and seem to capture your interest and curiosity about your chosen system and community.
Use these words to help guide you in choosing the specific focus of your Sustainable Design
Project and in crafting your focus question.
7. From what you now know about your chosen system and community, choose the issue,
problem, or situation that you want to be the focus of your Sustainable Design Project. Briefly
describe the issue, problem or situation:
8. Use the diagram on the next page to examine your chosen topic through the lenses of
environmental, social, and economic factors. First, choose two colors of pens to use on the
diagram.
a. Use one color of pen to list examples of how the topic is currently affecting these three
factors.
b. In another color of pen, list examples of how these three factors are currently affecting the
topic.
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9. Develop your focus question:
a. What is the main issue, problem, or situation that you will be investigating?
b. What specific question do you have about that issue, problem, or situation?
Write your focus question in the box below:
10. What design solution will you propose to help solve the issue, problem, or solution?
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Student Planning Tool #4: Collecting Information
Name: _________________________________________
Date: __________
Class/Period: ________________
Identifying What You Need
1. What information and/or skills do you need in order to answer your focus question? Keep in
mind the following types of information and skills:
 Maps, photographs, and videos
 Interviews and anecdotes
 Surveys
 Scientific data
 Books, newspaper articles, journal articles, and websites
 Specific skills (such as map reading, carpentry, gardening, etc.) _____________________
 Observations
 Other:________________________________________________
Choosing Sources of Information
As you begin the research and investigation phase of your project, you will need to find credible
sources of information. You will need to find sources of information to help you understand and apply
the different principles of sustainable design, including:
 Low impact methods
 Energy efficiency
 Quality and durability
 Cradle-to-cradle life cycle design for recycling and reuse
 Biomimicry
 Service substitution
 Local and renewable resources
 Carbon footprint
 Environmental health
 Environmental justice
 Human needs and quality of life
 Design for change
2. List at least two credible websites related to your project:
3. List at least two non-internet resources related to your project:
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Considering Stakeholders
Consider how your project might affect different groups of people. These are the stakeholders who
have an interest in the outcome of your project, because they will be impacted positively or negatively.
4. Identify at least four stakeholders for your project (such as “elementary school students who
use the playground,” or “people who visit the food bank each week.”) Try to include people
who might be most concerned with the three different aspects of sustainability: environment,
economy, and society. Then, develop a list of positive and negative impacts these
stakeholders might experience as an outcome of your project. Record your thoughts in the
table below:
Stakeholders
Positive Impacts
Negative Impacts
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Identifying Community Experts
Identify community experts who can help you by answering questions, providing information, teaching
you new skills, or mentoring you. You might consider choosing one of the stakeholders that you listed
above as one of your community experts.
Community experts may include people from:
 Local businesses
 Industry
 Government agencies and municipalities
 Faculty, staff, and students from local colleges and universities
 Community-based organizations
 Neighborhood council
 Citizen activists
5. What are three overall goals that you hope to achieve by meeting with these community
experts?
1.
2.
3.
6. Name at least two people who are experts in your chosen community and that can help you
with a specific part of your Sustainable Design Project. List their names, titles/jobs, and
contact information.
7. Develop a plan for contacting or working with these experts. Will you be able to visit their
workplace? Will they be able to visit your school or project site?
Adapted with permission from the Health & Environment Action Research Tool of the Integrated Environmental Health Middle School Project
(NIESH Grant #ES10738 and #ES07033, University of Washington, 2005).
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Student Planning Tool #5: Developing Sustainable Design Solutions
Name: _________________________________________
Date: __________ Class/Period: ________________
You have been investigating a particular problem, issue, or situation within a system. Now it
is time to apply your research and learning toward solving the problem through your
Sustainable Design Project.
1. How can you re-design the system in order to solve the problem or to make it better?
Think of a few design solutions and briefly describe them in the table below.
2. Investigate the pros and cons of each of your proposed design solutions. You may
need to do some research or talk to community experts in order to fully evaluate the
impacts of each solution. Be sure to consider impacts (both positive and negative) to
the environment, economy, and society. List the pros and cons in the table.
Proposed Solution
Pros
Cons
3. After considering the pros and cons and doing any necessary research, choose the
design solution you will develop a plan for and/or implement. Write it on the line below:
Chosen Design: ___________________________________________________________
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4. Decide how you will create your design solution and how you will communicate it to
other people. What will be the best format for displaying and explaining your design
solution? Who is your intended audience, and what format will work best for them?
Depending on your system issue and design solution, any of the following may be
appropriate:















Scale model or prototype
Map or flow chart
PowerPoint presentation
Poster
Speech or lecture
Video
Website
Interview
Diorama
Graphs or charts
Survey
Informative brochure
Museum exhibit
Animation
Blog or wiki












Newspaper article or letter to the
editor
Photojournalism essay
Theatrical performance
Musical composition
Artwork
Mural
Mock town meeting
Mock newscast
Board game
Lesson plan
How-to manual
Other:________________
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Student Planning Tool #6: Preparing for your Presentation
Name: _________________________________________
Date: __________
Class/Period: ________________
Target Audience:
1. Consider the audience to whom you would like to make your final presentation. Depending on
your chosen Sustainable Design Project topic, your audience may include groups such as:






Students
Parents of young children
School district officials
School PTA members
Community groups
Professional associations





Business owners
Commuters
Farmers
City planners
Other:____________________
2. Describe the target audience for your presentation:
3. What will they already know about your topic?
4. What will they most want to know about your topic?
5. Will your audience need translation or interpretation? How can you ensure their active
participation?
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Presentation Format:
6. What format will you use for presenting your Sustainable Design Project to your target
audience? Consider the needs of your target audience and the format that will best convey
your information to them. Also keep in mind that you want to be creative and have fun with
your presentation.














Scale model or prototype
PowerPoint presentation
Poster
Speech or lecture
Video
Website
Interview
Diorama
Survey
Informative brochure
Museum exhibit
Animation
Blog or wiki












Newspaper article or letter
to the editor
Photojournalism essay
Theatrical performance
Musical composition
Artwork
Mural
Mock town meeting
Mock newscast
Board game
Lesson plan
How-to manual
Pre & post reflection
Other:________________
7. What visual aids will you use during your presentation? Visual aids may include some of the
following:







Photograph
Map
Flow chart
PowerPoint software
Video
Audio recording
Chart or graph





Scale model
Website
Poster
Slideshow
Other:__________________
Presentation Elements:
8. As you plan how you will present the findings of your Sustainable Design Project, keep in mind
the following presentation elements. No matter what format you choose for your presentation,
it should include—in some shape or form—the presentation elements listed below. Use this
checklist to keep track of these elements as you develop your presentation.









Identification of your chosen system.
Description of your chosen community.
Description of your chosen issue, problem, or situation.
Statement of your focus question.
Description of your interest and existing knowledge about the topic.
Explanation of environmental, economic, and social impacts.
Summary of the information you collected.
Summary of your analysis of the information you collected.
Identification of the stakeholders and their viewpoints.
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




Description of your proposed solution and how you approached redesigning the
system, issue, problem, or situation.
If you created some kind of product or model, include a description of it.
Statement of the answer(s) to your focus question.
Call to action explaining how your audience can get involved or enact change.
Citation of your information sources, in correct bibliographic format.
Presentation Tips:
If you are creating some kind of visual aid or display:
 Make it attractive by using color, graphics, and large lettering. Neatness counts.
 Use as many pictures, graphs, and tables as possible, rather than too much text.
 Organize your information by using titles, subtitles, and bullets.
 Leave some white space so that it does not look too crowded with text and graphics.
If you are using PowerPoint or other presentation software:
 Use as many pictures, graphs, and tables as possible, rather than too much text.
 Do not include a script for what you will say; instead, include a few bullet points that you can
expand on as you talk.
 Use 16 point font or larger.
 Do not use fancy animations or slide transitions that detract from your presentation.
 Use the visual aid or PowerPoint as talking points.
If you are delivering a speech or talk:
 Practice, practice, practice! Practice on many different people or even to the mirror!
 Time your presentation and note the length of each section.
 Memorize the main points of your talk so that you do not have to read from your notes.
 Make eye contact with your audience.
 Use your hands to make gestures and emphasize your point, but do not overdo it.
 Talk slowly and do not forget to breathe.
 Smile, relax, and use friendly body postures (do not cross your arms over your chest).
Some information adapted from, with permission, the Health & Environment Action Research Tool of the Integrated Environmental Health
Middle School Project (NIESH Grant #ES10738 and #ES07033, University of Washington, 2005).
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Example Presentation Rubric
CRITERIA
Description of
Issue
Description of
Target
Community
Description of
Interest and
Knowledge
Collection of
Information
Clarification of
Viewpoints
Sources of
Information
Very Successful
Excellent description of
issue including many
aspects of the problem.
Succinct and very clear
focus question.
Excellent description of
the community,
supported by research.
May include information
on geography,
demographics, values,
and history.
Excellent description of
personal interest, and
existing knowledge
about the issue.
Excellent use of note
taking and
organizational tools.
A wide variety of
viewpoints on the issue
were expressed.
Four or more high
quality, verified sources
were used and citations
were provided.
Presentation
of Solution
A solution was
presented that was well
researched and feasible.
Demonstration
of
Understanding
of Issue
Showed a deep level of
understanding of the
topic, focus question,
and related issues.
Organization
Presentation was very
easy to follow and very
well organized.
Creativity
Delivery
Visual Aids
Teamwork
Presenter(s) used
several novel and
interesting ways of
presenting important
points.
Presenter(s) appeared
confident, used a
professional tone, spoke
clearly without reading,
made eye contact with
audience, and went at a
good pace.
Varieties of visual aids
were used and were
very neat, clear, and
understandable.
All participants were
active and they
coordinated well with
each other. They were
positive and mutually
encouraging.
Successful
Somewhat
Successful
Not Yet
Successful
Good description of
issue including several
aspects of the problem.
Clear focus question.
Understandable though
fairly brief description of
issue. Focus question
stated but not totally clear.
Did not describe the central
issue, or did so minimally.
Focus question is not clear.
Good description of the
community but may not
be comprehensive.
Understandable though
brief description of the
community. May lack in
supported research.
Did not describe the
community, or did so
minimally without any
research.
Good description of
personal interest and
existing knowledge.
Brief description of
personal interest and
existing knowledge.
Good use of note taking
and organizational tools.
Fair use of note taking and
organizational tools.
Several different
viewpoints on the issue
were expressed.
At least two different
viewpoints on the issue
were expressed.
Only one or no viewpoint
was expressed.
Three or four verified
sources were used and
citations were provided.
One or two verified
sources were used and
citations were provided.
No verified sources were
used and citations were not
provided.
A solution was
presented but it was not
well researched or not
feasible.
Showed reasonable
level of understanding
of the topic, focus
question, and related
issues.
A solution was presented
but it was not well
researched and not
feasible.
No solution was presented.
Showed fair or partial
understanding of the topic,
focus question, and
related issues.
Did not show a basic
understanding of the topic,
focus question, and related
issues.
Presentation was clear
and organized.
Presentation was
understandable but could
have been better
organized.
Presentation was poorly
organized and difficult to
follow.
Presenter(s) used at
least one novel and
interesting way of
presenting important
points.
Presenter(s) used
standard presentation
methods, but maintained
interest.
Presenter(s) did not
maintain interest.
Presenter(s) had a
slight problem with one
of the following:
confidence, tone,
speaking, eye contact,
and pace.
Presenter(s) had a
problem with several of
the following: confidence,
tone, speaking, eye
contact, and pace.
Presenter(s) did not show
confidence, did not use a
professional tone, did not
make eye contact, read
presentation from notes,
and went either too fast or
too slow.
Visual aids were neat,
clear, and
understandable.
Visual aids were
somewhat neat, clear, and
understandable.
Visual aids were not neat,
clear, or understandable.
Most participants were
active, some more than
others. They worked
well together.
Some members of the
team clearly did more
work than others, and
teamwork could have
been improved.
Little evidence of
teamwork.
Did not describe personal
interest and existing
knowledge, or did so
minimally.
Did not use note taking and
organizational tools, or did
so minimally.
Reprinted, with permission, from the Health & Environment Action Research Tool of the Integrated Environmental Health Middle School
Project (NIESH Grant #ES10738 and #ES07033, University of Washington, 2005).
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