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For Educators

For Educators

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CEEE supports K-12 educators, college instructors and out-of-school, informal educators in their teaching  by providing free, high-quality peer-reviewed and classroom-ready lesson plans, activities, and other learning materials. CEEE offers both virtual and in-person professional development opportunities, including options for professional development and graduate credit.

Resource Library

Check out our free, high-quality lesson plans, professional learning, earth science videos and personal narratives (stories recorded by students and community members about environmental topics).

Lesson Plans and Activities

Browse our collection of lesson plans, curriculum, activities, virtual tours, Data Puzzles and much more. 

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Earth Science Videos

Explore a collection of instructional and educational videos about various environmental and earth science topics.

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Community Climate Stories

Dive into stories about water, drought, climate topics and learn from the perspectives of community members and students.

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Professional Learning

Explore our collection of professional learning resources, trainings and webinar recordings.

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Featured Programs for Educators

Explore CEEE programs and projects supporting educators and connecting learners with environmental science topics, including climate change, frozen landscapes, water, natural hazards, community resilience, climate solutions and more.

A false color globe.
Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN)

A collection of ~1000 free, peer-reviewed climate and energy educational resources and support for educators.

  • Educators
Scientists coring sea ice - credit Marcel Nicolaus
Data Puzzles

Innovative lessons that combine classroom-friendly datasets with the research-backed instructional practices of Ambitious Science Teaching to support students in making sense of science phenomena.

  • Educators
  • Scientists
People standing around a truck
HEART Force

Action-oriented curriculum that engages middle and high school students in Colorado to investigate wildfire, flood, or drought risk in their hometown and inspire action to increase resilience.

  • Educators
  • Students
  • Public
Polarstern research vessel.
MOSAiC

Education and outreach efforts around the international Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition to the Arctic.

  • Educators
  • Scientists
  • Students
  • Public
SOS logo
Science On a Sphere (SOS)

Room-sized, global display system created by NOAA that uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a six-foot diameter sphere, analogous to a giant animated globe.

  • Educators
  • Students
  • Public
wind turbines in the sunset
Science Show & Share

This webinar series connects scientists from around the world to engage students and learners of all ages. Each webinar includes a 20 minute presentation followed by 20 minutes of Q&A. Explore our recommended learning materials on the event page or video recording.

  • Educators
  • Scientists
  • Students
  • Public
childs hands holding a chalk drawing of the world
Teaching Climate Science Principles

Science-backed curriculum that engages high school students to take action in making their communities more resilient.

  • Educators
colorado river horseshoe bend
We are Water

Place-based education program that connects local communities in the desert Southwest with water topics through stories, activities, and a traveling exhibit.

  • Educators
  • Students
  • Public

Additional Teaching Resources

Discover additional teaching resources from CEEE, including game-based learning, virtual field trips, storytelling, climate mental health strategies, video-making workshops, and geomagnetism and space weather materials.

Upcoming Educator Professional Development

Mar - Apr
Tue - Thu
18 - 24
2025
4:00 pm MT
Data Sensemaking Practices in the Megadrought Data Puzzle lesson

Calling all middle school science teachers to participate in a 2-part pilot webinar series focused on specific data sense-making practices. Engage with the Data Puzzles lesson Megadrought in the Colorado River Basin using the Zoom In strategy.

Data puzzles logo >
Mar
Thu
20
2025
4:00 pm MT
Data Puzzles Webinar: Balancing Act, the Changing Greenland Ice Sheet

Calling all middle and high school science teachers for a 2-day virtual workshop with CU Boulder curriculum developer, Alyse Thurber, on the Balancing Act Data Puzzles. Investigate the question "What factors have contributed to changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet in recent decades?"

Data Puzzles logo >
Apr
Thu
03
2025
4:00 pm MT
Integrating Data Puzzle lessons into your curriculum: A case study using the Not All Warming is Equal lesson

Inviting all middle school science teachers to participate in a pilot webinar focused on cohesively integrating Data Puzzle lessons into your curriculum. Dive into the big science ideas embedded in the Not All Warming is Equal Data Puzzles lesson and collaboratively make connections between the lesson and the Essential Principles of Climate Science.

Data Puzzles Logo >
Apr
Wed
09
2025
4:00 pm MT
Building Insights Through Observation (BIO) – Teaching with Data Visualizations in Middle School Science

Explore an innovative model to help middle school students make sense of Earth and Environmental Science phenomena through data visualization! Attendees will participate in a program that uses arts-based approaches to support sensemaking and data skills and get access to classroom-ready resources.

Science on a Sphere logo - earth with data points connected between the countries for each location of SOS with the name on the front of the globe >
May
Sat - Sun
10 - 11
2025
10:00 am MT
We are Water National Science Foundation STEM Day Community Celebration

Join us for the We are Water National Science Foundation STEM Day Community Celebration in Durango, Colorado on Saturday, May 10th, 2025!

We are water logo >

Ongoing Events

Ongoing Event

Wind Farms of the Future

Middle and High school science teachers are invited to join us for this virtual workshop where we will provide strategies for facilitating "Wind Farms of the Future" data puzzle. Participants who complete and submit specified workshop tasks will receive a 3-hour PD certificate from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Data Puzzles Logo

Ongoing Event

It's All Connected

Middle and High school science teachers are invited to join us for this virtual workshop where we will provide strategies for facilitating "It's All Connected" data puzzle. Participants who complete and submit specified workshop tasks will receive a 3-hour PD certificate from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Data Puzzles Logo

Ongoing Event

To Reflect or Not to Reflect, That is the Question

Middle and High school science teachers are invited to join us for this virtual workshop where we will provide strategies for facilitating "To Reflect or Not to Reflect, That is the Question" data puzzle. Participants who complete and submit specified workshop tasks will receive a 3-hour PD certificate from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Data Puzzles Logo

Ongoing Event

On a Budget

Middle and High school science teachers are invited to join us for this virtual workshop where we will provide strategies for facilitating "On a Budget" data puzzle. Participants who complete and submit specified workshop tasks will receive a 3-hour PD certificate from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Data Puzzles Logo

Ongoing Event

Tracing Carbon Through the Arctic Food Web

Middle and High school science teachers are invited to join us for this virtual workshop where we will provide strategies for facilitating "Tracing Carbon Through the Arctic Food Web" data puzzle. Participants who complete and submit specified workshop tasks will receive a 3-hour PD certificate from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Data Puzzles Logo
Illustration of two people high-fiving in a work environment

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