For Educators

On this page, you will find a repository of water-related teaching and professional development resources designed for educators in a variety of settings. Whether you are a formal classroom teacher, a children’s librarian running a STEM after-school program, an informal environmental educator, or a parent looking for lessons to do with your child, these materials will help get your feet wet! You can find more resources specifically designed for virtual and at-home settings in the Distance Learning tab on the navigation bar.

Lesson Plans and Activities

  • The GLOBE Program is an international network that provides K-12 classroom-ready lessons, data, and trainings for teachers about the hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere (soils), and earth as a system.
  • The North Carolina Environmental Education’s Curriculum and Lesson Plans page has links to several state-specific water resource materials.
  • The Clean Water Campaign (Metropolitan North Georgia Planning District) “strives to produce high-quality educational resources on topics related to water conservation, stormwater management, and watershed protection“. Visit their educational resources page for downloadable lessons.
  • The USGS Water Science School has water education materials available in English, Spanish and other languages.
  • the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Stormwater Education for Kids has activity pages, lesson plans, videos, and more.

Water-Related Books

This YouTube video is a virtual read aloud of picture book All the Way to the Ocean by Joel Harper. This book tells the story of how litter from storm drains can eventually make its way to the ocean.

Walter the Raindrop is a picture book about the water cycle that is available for free online here.

Visit the CWEP YouTube page and Facebook Page for recorded storytimes of books from the CWEP library.

For more books, see this Water-Related Booklist compiled by the City of Durham and Keep Durham Beautiful.

Professional Development Opportunities

Several of CWEP’s lesson offerings are from the Project WET curriculum. You can learn how to facilitate these lessons by attending a workshop in your area. Check the NCEE Events Page to sign up for upcoming workshops, or register for the online Project WET training. Project WET provides CEUs and NCEE Certification credits.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality created the It’s Our Water curriculum designed to teach the basics of watersheds and water education. This course is geared towards high school Earth and Environmental Science students and teachers. Contact the Water Resources educator on this page to gain access to the modules on Schoology.

The EPA Watershed Academy Web has a repository of online webinars and webcasts that are part of a Watershed Management Certification Program, but are also relevant to educators looking to teach youth and adults about water resource issues.