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Check out the WATER EDUCATOR NETWORK DIRECTORY on Water Education Colorado's website.
CONNECTIONS TO COLORADO ACADEMIC STANDARDS
SUMMARY
In 2020-2021, in order to assist implementation of SWEAP to help meet the Colorado Water Plan’s education goals, Water Education Colorado convened a task force of eight water educators and additional advisors from around the state experienced in standards-based education for PreK-12 audiences. The role of this group was to advise on connections between Critical Water Concepts identified in SWEAP and Colorado Academic Standards for Science and Social Studies.
The task force produced a set of “crosswalks” (figures showing alignment between Colorado’s educational standards and SWEAP). These figures are meant to aid educators in creating, delivering and documenting standards-based, water-related instructional units for PreK-12 students throughout the state. Engaging examples of compelling and teachable Colorado-specific water phenomena were also collected. Key figures are described and linked below.
We begin by highlighting the depth of connections between the Critical Water Concepts and the Colorado Academic Standards across grade levels, subject and content areas through a summary figure.
The task force produced a set of “crosswalks” (figures showing alignment between Colorado’s educational standards and SWEAP). These figures are meant to aid educators in creating, delivering and documenting standards-based, water-related instructional units for PreK-12 students throughout the state. Engaging examples of compelling and teachable Colorado-specific water phenomena were also collected. Key figures are described and linked below.
We begin by highlighting the depth of connections between the Critical Water Concepts and the Colorado Academic Standards across grade levels, subject and content areas through a summary figure.
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Figure 1 provides an overall visual for when Critical Water Concepts or the foundational elements (e.g. concepts of sharing in Pre-K and Kindergarten) contribute to the understanding of the sharing of water through Colorado’s water laws. This figure also helps illustrate content area- and grade-level opportunities to introduce water concepts if emphasized by a teacher, even if water is not explicitly referenced in the standard.
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SKILLS PROGRESSION
The SWEAP Impact Statement states:
“Coloradans are engaged in well-informed community discourse and decision making regarding balanced water solutions, and are empowered to take thoughtful action regarding critical water challenges facing the state and their communities.”
Per the Impact Statement, SWEAP-related skills include skills related to discourse, decision-making, identifying balanced solutions, and taking thoughtful action. Also implied in the SWEAP Impact statement are critical thinking and analysis skills that are a key element of the skills progressions in Colorado’s Science and Social Studies Standards.
The following Figures relate these skills to the Colorado Prepared Graduates Statements for Science and Social Studies.
“Coloradans are engaged in well-informed community discourse and decision making regarding balanced water solutions, and are empowered to take thoughtful action regarding critical water challenges facing the state and their communities.”
Per the Impact Statement, SWEAP-related skills include skills related to discourse, decision-making, identifying balanced solutions, and taking thoughtful action. Also implied in the SWEAP Impact statement are critical thinking and analysis skills that are a key element of the skills progressions in Colorado’s Science and Social Studies Standards.
The following Figures relate these skills to the Colorado Prepared Graduates Statements for Science and Social Studies.
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Figures 2 and 3 demonstrate that students meeting the Colorado Prepared Graduates statement are positioned to help achieve the SWEAP Impact, and, by association, contribute to the Colorado Water Plan’s goal of reaching sustainable water by 2050.
(Updated 11/5/2021) |
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Figures 4a and 4b demonstrate that the skills needed to fully implement the Colorado Water Plan objectives are intentionally fostered in Colorado’s education system. These figures can be further updated as progressions are developed for the new (2021) Colorado Essential Skills. Skills may be developed in content areas without a direct link to specific Critical Water Concepts (e.g. analyzing opportunity cost in economics or engaging in civil discourse in civics).
Figure 4a (Left) demonstrates connections to the recently updated (2021) Colorado Essential Skills. (Added 11/5/2021) |
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Figure 4b (Left) utilizes the skills progressions from the 2018 Colorado Essential Skills to demonstrate how skills are developed by individuals over time.
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CONTENT PROGRESSION
To help identify opportunities for incorporating standards-aligned water examples in both science and social studies, the Task Force created several summary figures that are included below.
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Figure 5 builds off of Figure 1 to provide a more specific content area- and grade-level opportunities to introduce water concepts if emphasized by a teacher, even if water is not explicitly referenced in the standard. This figure includes relevant GLE codes for educators to reference. Each GLE code indicates the strength of the connection between the Critical Water Concept and the Grade Level Expectation.
(Updated 11/5/2021) |
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Figure 6 is a series of tables arranged by Critical Water Concept that provide example water-based objectives for each of the Grade Level Expectations with strong connections to each of the SWEAP Critical Water Concepts.
(Updated 11/4/2021) |
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Figure 7 is another series of tables arranged by Grade Level that provide example water-based objectives for each of the Grade Level Expectations with strong connections to SWEAP Critical Water Concepts.
(Updated 11/4/2021) |
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Similarly, Figure 8 and Figure 9 (see appendix) utilize the same format as Figures 6 and 7, respectively, but include all connections, including moderate and mild connections. To see all connections, refer to the appendix.
Figure 8 is on the left. (Updated 11/4/2021) |
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Figure 9 is on the left.
(Updated 11/4/2021) |
EXAMPLE PHENOMENA AND CASE STUDIES
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This series of tables contains examples of phenomena and case studies for potential use in Colorado curriculum. This includes considerations for locally and culturally-relevant phenomena. While many more resources exist, we added some initial resources on where to find more water phenomena, including images, video links, data links, news article links, etc.
The goal of these examples is to provide compelling anchor phenomena that could engage students from a variety of backgrounds at the beginning of a lesson or unit of study. These Colorado-specific examples could also be used in an assessment at the end of a unit. These are examples that could spark teacher/administrator interest in identifying locally-relevant water phenomena for their students. (Updated 11/6/2021) |
