Gr. 7 | Agriculture in Alberta  – Cultivating Stewardship

*in-person and online program description:
Inside Education can help you bring important Alberta-relevant context to your grade 7 plants for food and fibre unit with a hands-on inquiry into key agricultural topics! Students will explore the who, what and why of agriculture in Alberta and the balance between a growing population and sustainable agriculture practices.

Themes: food production – crops & livestock, issues & innovation, sustainability, careers

Curriculum Connections:

• Grade 7 Science – Plants for Food & Fibre
• Career & Technology Foundations (CTF)

Supporting Resources

Running Water Poster Kit
Nutrients For Life Garden Grant

Gr. 8 | Alberta’s Watersheds

Water Science and Monitoring Program

*In-person program description:
Inside Education will guide your students through the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water while discussing how water quality and quantity are influenced by human actions. Learn about watersheds and a local water body while adding data to a province wide water monitoring program!

Inside Education has teamed up with a lab in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta along with financial support from Alberta Innovates to create a school-based program that educates about Alberta’s watersheds and gives students the opportunity to use leading-edge technology to assist in monitoring their own local water bodies for biological issues.

–  During this classroom program, Inside Education will lead the class through an interactive presentation including DNA extraction and use of a portable monitoring device to identify biological hazards in the water.

*Online program description:
Inside Education will guide your students through the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water while discussing how water quality and quantity are influenced by human actions. Learn about watersheds, contaminants, aquatic invasive species, and more!

Themes: watersheds, water monitoring, aquatic biodiversity, aquatic invasive species, connections between science and technology to the healthy people and healthy watersheds, DNA, citizen science, water use, biological contamination

Curriculum Connections:

• Grades 5: Wetland Ecosystems, Classroom Chemistry
• Grade 7: Ecosystems & Interactions
• Grades 8: Freshwater and Saltwater Systems
• Grade 9: Biological Diversity

*note: classroom program is adapted to suit the grade level and curricular outcomes

Supporting Resources

Running Water Poster Kit

Gr. 9 | Electricity Challenge 

*In-person program description:
Take your students on a critical thinking evaluation of electricity and get the big picture on generation and consumption. This unique 1.5 hour program will engage students in meaningful energy education through action. The program includes an interactive presentation and solar lantern building workshop.

• Evaluate sources of energy and investigate electrical technologies
• Develop a global energy perspective and think critically to solve electricity challenges
• Work together to build solar lanterns as part of the STAR EcoWorks Leading Light ® Initiative that will see lanterns sent overseas at the end of the school year.*Due to the number of solar lanterns available we suggest a maximum of 50 students per workshop

*Online program description:
Take a deep dive into electricity! Learn about the natural resources used for electricity across Canada, the methods of electricity generation in Alberta, and the new and emerging renewable and alternative forms of energy that are changing the energy landscape. This presentation will encourage students to think critically about the environmental, social and economic costs and impacts of different forms of electricity generation. 

Curriculum Connections:

• Grade 9 Science – Electrical Principles and Technologies
• STSE Emphasis (Science, Technology, Society, Environment)

Supporting Resources
Electricity Poster Kit
Energy Dialogues – Wind Energy

Gr. 9 | Alberta’s Wildlife

*in-person and online program description:
Join Inside Education to discover what factors affect the success of wildlife populations, explored through the lens of wildlife species in Alberta!  In this program we will explore topics related to ecological niche, species at risk, interspecies relationships, and human impacts on wildlife habitat; and investigate the wide ranging effects of changes in an ecosystem.

Curriculum Connections:

• Grade 7 – Interactions and Ecosystems
• Grade 9 – Biological Diversity
• Biology 20 – Ecosystems and Population Change

Supporting Resources

Species at Risk Poster Series
Alberta’s Woodland Caribou Online Activity
Energy Dialogues: Energy and Wildlife