Equity and Access
The San Francisco Bay Area—like most of California—is home to one of the most diverse populations in the country.
K–12 schools increasingly recognize the vital role that they play in providing high-quality learning opportunities for all
students. By intentionally incorporating creative strategies to help support students with limited English proficiency
or learning dif ferences, students of color, or other underserved populations, educators can have a significant impact on
these students’ ability to imagine themselves as environmental stewards, engaged citizens, and valuable members
of the workforce.
Big Ideas: Linking Water, Power, and Sewer in K–12 highlights learning objectives that are essential to understanding
the interconnectedness of San Francisco and the surrounding ecosystem. It also offers successful education strategies
to help educators provide rigorous and engaging learning experiences for a wide range of students and learning styles.
Drawing from the California International Studies Project’s “Elements of Effective Teaching", Big Ideas: Linking Water,
Power, and Sewer in K–12 offers sample student activities that:
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maximize student participation by engaging students in collaborative work;
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increase students’ ability to support their thinking by using evidence;
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create opportunities to share students’ thinking through the use of visual representations, data, oral
presentations, and use of Internet sources;
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prompt students to synthesize information, make connections, and draw conclusions;
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encourage students to analyze historical and current events through the lens of environmental justice;
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develop students’ willingness to speak up and take risks; and
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apply analytic thinking to content materials.
We encourage educators at all grade levels to keep these strategies in mind as they use Big Ideas: Linking Water,
Power, and Sewer in K–12 to design rigorous and engaging learning experiences for their students.
BIG IDEAS
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