Getting Ready to Teach Water in Extreme Environments

Welcome to your guide for teaching the Water in Extreme Environments unit in grades 6-8 out-of-school time programs.

Welcome to your guide for teaching the Water in Extreme Environments unit in grades 6-8 out-of-school programs.

Welcome to Water in Extreme Environments!

The exploration below has been designed to support your successful implementation of the Water in Extreme Environments unit.

If you haven’t already reviewed the Getting Ready to Teach PLANETS page, then take a few minutes to review that before you jump into the Remote Sensing resources below.

To get ready to teach Water in Extreme Environments, the resource below will engage you in:

Experience a Water in Extreme Environments activity (Ready S.E.T Go!)
Review the unit-specific resources for Water in Extreme Environments (e.g., Educator Guide and materials lists)
Explore different options for implementation that best fit with your learning environment

Water in Extreme Environments Educator Resource Exploration

Whether working solo or with a team, this deep dive into the Water in Extreme Environments unit resources will best prepare you for a successful launch with your learners.

Optional Download – Planning to Teach Template (DOCX). You can use this editable and printable version of the resource exploration outlined below that provides space to capture planning notes and reflections.

★ If you don’t have time for the longer exploration of Remote Sensing, exploring the resources with the star symbol next them is essential preparation and will take ~45 min.

Download an Educator Guide (1 min.)

Choose and download either Science or Engineering. All PLANETS educator guides follow similar structures to help make it easy to find things when you go from one unit to another. ★

Experience a Water in Extreme Environments Activity (45-60 min.)

Try the Ready S.E.T. Go! Activity (same for Science and Engineering), so that you get a feel for PLANETS activities before implementing in your programs.

Review the Activity Snapshot and Materials Preparation steps for Ready S.E.T. Go! (Page 5-9 in Science, and Pages 7-11 in Engineering).
Print and assemble the materials you will need.
Use the following reflection prompts to help guide your thinking as you experience this Activity.

● The Our Ideas Poster is a feature of Water in Extreme Environments activities that helps provide learners with a visual sense-making tool and encourages them to share ideas in their preferred language. As you move through the Ready-Set-Go activity capture your ideas about any additional ways you can support learners in successfully capturing their thoughts on the Our Ideas Poster.

● Learners will work together in groups for this activity. After reading through the activity, what thoughts do you have for strategic and inclusive grouping strategies for learners?

● There are many opportunities to “Level-Up” in this activity. Which, if any, Level-Ups do you feel you might include?

● This activity includes teaching tips for “Supporting Learner Differences” to ensure all learners can equitably participate. Are there any additional strategies you feel you need to include to modify the adventures so learners can better participate?
Follow the script and engage in the Ready S.E.T Go! Activity – have fun!

Get a high-level view of the unit (15-25 min.)

Read the Navigating the Unit Section of the Educator Guide (Page vii in both Science and Engineering)★
Explore the Pathway Storyline (Pages xxiii-xv). The storyline provides a high-level overview of each activity in the Water in Extreme Environments Science and Engineering pathways and how they build on one another. (~10 min per pathway) ★

● What ideas do you have to support learners who may miss a day of learning?

● What key moments in this pathway can you use to help connect learners’ to career opportunities in science?
Watch this video to see how each activity builds on the previous one, leading your learners toward proposing a solution in science or a technology design in engineering. (~3 min)

● Which pathway(s) do you plan on offering your learners?

Explore the Features and Teaching Supports (35 min.)

Read the following teaching supports provided in the Educator Guide in the Educator Resources to Support Learning section on pages xviii to xxii:

● Instructional Tips for Learning

● Ideas for Inclusion Activities

● Inclusive Grouping Strategies

● Ideas for Building Family & Community Connections.

These resources provide instructional strategies you may consider to help meet the needs of your learners. (~20 min read)

● Which strategies best match your learners’ needs?

● What are 1-2 new strategies you’d like to try?
Not a science or engineering expert, or just need to brush up? Be sure to scan through our Science and Engineering Background page.
Review the Materials List. The Guides have full materials lists on page 2, and each activity has a materials list and preparation direction (as you saw in the Ready S.E.T. Go! directions). ★

There is also a digital Interactive science materials list (XLSX) or Interactive engineering materials list (XLSX). This spreadsheet helps you calculate the total cost of materials needed for this unit.

Step 1: Enter the number of sections/classes you’ll teach in cell A2 (yellow box)

Step 2: Enter the estimated number of learners per section in cell A3 (yellow box)

The spreadsheet will automatically calculate your total material costs based on these numbers.

Additional Information:
- Direct purchase links are provided for each item in column N
- Individual item costs are shown in column L
- Total costs per item appear in column M
- Prices shown are 2025 estimates
- Your total cost appears at the bottom right: Cell M37
Questions to Consider:

● What materials do you still need to purchase?

● Where will you store materials between sessions?

● What environment setup would work best for your group?

Implementation Plans (10 min.)

Chart the course for your specific program!

Suggested implementation plans for afterschool and summer camps★

Science and Engineering each have 9 activities plus Ready SET Go!. Each is intended to take about 45 minutes of instructional time per activity. Note that Ready SET Go! and Storytelling activities do not need to be repeated if you already completed them for one pathway.

Additional supports

Be sure to explore the Unit Activities pages, and the Additional Resources linked in the navigation menu for every unit. Those resources include additional science and engineering background information, an All Downloads page, and All Videos Page, Quick Links, and resources to connect with families and community members.