Teaching Climate Change Through Storytelling

This collection of interactive, discussion-forward activities from the Exploratorium is designed to build K–12 educators’ climate science knowledge, which they can in turn share with students. Intended for teachers to complete together, the resources illustrate real-world impacts of climate change on communities, ecosystems, and individuals and help humanize complex topics. For example, Understand the Problem is an interactive card-based game in which teachers collaborate to investigate interrelated climate problems and solutions. As educators link the causes and effects of climate change, they use their collective intelligence to understand the relationships involved. Similarly, the activity Envision a Sustainable Future engages teachers in pooling their knowledge for meaningful discussion about key questions such as these: How can climate science education in your community support teachers and students in building a sustainable, just, and joyful future? What barriers exist to achieving this goal?

How Stable Is Your Food Web?

In this lesson from the California Academy of Sciences, students explore what makes a stable ecosystem. The two-day lesson follows the 5E model. On Day One, (Engage, Explore, Explain), students assume the roles of various marine organisms and form simple models of various marine food webs to explore the concept of what makes a stable marine food web and test cause-and-effect relationships or interactions within the food web. On Day 2 (Elaborate and Evaluate), students work together to create a model of a stable marine food web ecosystem using butcher paper, based on what they learned from the previous dayi’s activities. The lesson materials include an online lesson plan formatted in the 5E model, links to video clips teaching students about the components of a functioning marine food web and its interactions, printable Kelp Ecosystem Organism Cards for the Day One classroom activity, and teacher support materials, such as background information, relevant connections to the Next Generation Science Standards, extension ideas, assessments, and a glossary of scientific terms for students.

Brown Out

A two-day lab from Flinn Scientific’s BioFax! series gives middle level and high school students practice in designing student-centered experiments. Brown Out uses the common phenomenon of browning fruit as the focal point for guiding students in designing student-centered experiments. On day 1, students compare three slices of apples (one cooked, one raw but kept out for at least three hours, and one freshly cut) and record their observations of each. After discussing their ideas as a class, ask students to think about how any browning they may have observed might have been prevented. As students share their ideas, introduce the challenge. Explain that students will work in groups to design an experiment to test their ideas the following day. 

Give groups time to create their hypotheses and design an experimental procedure. Circulate among the groups, encouraging students to quantify and control their experiment as much as possible. Direct students toward designs that are possible in the lab with readily available materials, and have each team submit their experiment plan before leaving class. 

On the following day, students will conduct the experiments in class. The activity lesson plan includes procedures for preparing and managing the lab activity in the classroom, a list of suggested variables to consider for testing, an explanatory discussion about the phenomena of browning fruit, and standards information.

Library of Congress Summer 2026 Teacher Institutes 

The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., is offering three Summer Teacher Institutes in July 2026.  The following sessions will be offered.

•    July 8–10, 2026
•    July 15–17, 2026
•    July 22–24, 2026

In each session, Library of Congress education specialists will model a variety of hands-on, inquiry-based teaching strategies for using primary sources to engage students, build critical thinking skills, construct knowledge, and launch original research. Activities will feature some of the millions of historical artifacts from the Library’s collections—photographs, prints, manuscripts, maps, multimedia, and more—which are digitized and freely available online. Participants will also conduct research to identify primary sources and develop an activity related to their classroom content.

The institute and instructional materials are provided at no cost. However, participants are responsible for transportation to and from Washington, D.C., and any required overnight accommodations. Applications are due by January 23, 2026, and require a letter of recommendation.

National Society of High School Scholars Conference Grant 

NSHSS will provide one $500 grant to be used during 2026 to help defray costs of educational conference registration, travel, and accommodations. These grants are open to any high school teacher or counselor currently employed at a public or private high school in the United States or internationally. Register for free as an NSHSS Educator and apply by March 18, 2026.

INKAS 2026 Rising Star Scholarships

INKAS—a leading armored vehicle manufacturer, defense expert, and safety coinsure—has opened applications for this scholarship, an annual academic initiative designed to support promising postsecondary students in the United States and Canada. INKAS awards two scholarships, each valued at $2,500 CAD. One scholarship is designated for a student in Engineering and Technology, and the other for a student in Business, Finance, and Law. The scholarship is open to full-time students who are enrolled or planning to enroll at an accredited university in Canada or the United States during the 2026 academic year. Applicants must hold a minimum 75% average (or equivalent GPA) and meet citizenship, residency, or valid study-permit requirements. The students are required to submit an essay with a specific topic that reflects their major. (Deadline January 31, 2026)

Engineering and Technology applicants are asked to examine how emerging technologies, such as AI, cybersecurity, materials science, or robotics, can enhance security, efficiency, and innovation within the armored vehicle and defense industries. Business, Finance, and Law applicants will focus on how strategic leadership, ethical decision-making, and innovation can drive sustainable growth and trust across the broader security landscape.