Enjoy a week in the Berkshires as you collaborate with local scientists and engineers, conservation organizations and higher education faculty to explore how engineering supports natural systems and habitats in Berkshire County. Join the Wade Institute for Science Education and our collaborating partners the Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Berkshire Community College’s Berkshire Science Commons, and the City of Pittsfield Engineering Department for an opportunity to explore methods and resources that you can use to connect your students with locally relevant science and help them recognize the range of career opportunities that engineering can offer.

Access the Berkshire Science Commons at Berkshire Community College – an exciting new resource for teachers in the Berkshire Region – and engage in engineering design challenges that will test your creativity. Investigate the importance of healthy watersheds as well as methods to protect them while you visit the area’s ecosystems including forests, rivers, and streams. Identify how engineering and infrastructure work to manage watersheds – with a focus on drinking water quality and storm water runoff. Return to your classroom with resources, including connections to local facilities and educators, to engage your students in inquiry investigations and engineering design projects with real-world local applications.

This professional learning opportunity is an Approved Course for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Accelerating Science: Open Access Professional Learning. It is free for eligible Massachusetts educators! Check your eligibility to attend for free and learn more about the MA DESE OAPL program: https://www.doe.mass.edu/instruction/ela/oapl

Location: Based out of the Berkshire Science Commons at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, MA

Cost: Free with a $450 stipend for eligible MA Educators through DESE’s OAPL funding; $450 per educators who do not qualify for OAPL; discounted prices for teams of teachers from the same school or free for eligible MA educators

Credit: PDPs are provided; 3 graduate credits available for an additional fee

Register online: www.wadeinstitutema.org