Using Online Curriculum Mapping tools, a procedure for documenting, mapping, viewing, reviewing, analyzing and evolving the operational curriculum in a classroom, school and/or district [a departure from the old paper binder days] was introduced in the mid 1990’s by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Several companies have created mapping software and google drive is home for the curriculum maps of many schools. The benefits of curriculum mapping include increased student achievement, optimized collaboration among teachers, vertical articulation and continuity of curriculum, lateral interdisciplinary cohesiveness, and an innovative, flexible approach to teaching and learning.

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We educators are responsible for preparing young people with the knowledge, skills and habits of mind that will build their capability to thrive over time. It is our role to understand and facilitate learning that equips us all to navigate the unique challenges that define our era — reversing global warming and adapting to climate change; regenerating the integrity of ecosystems; achieving social justice; developing sustainable, just and humane food systems; revitalizing the health of our oceans; improving the well-being of people; protecting biodiversity; and accelerating the shift toward a green economy and clean, renewable energy.

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With support from GreenFutures, a program of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), the Fairmount Water Works, the educational outreach arm of the Philadelphia Water Department, the Cloud Institute and a cohort of elementary faculty from the SDP developed and piloted two new Units of Study for the 4th and 5th grades to expand FWW’s 6-UNIT Middle School Curriculum (grades 6-8 ) Understanding the Urban Watershed Curriculum. These 4th Grade and 5th Grade Units provide an opportunity for upper elementary school teachers to connect their students to the community and to the environment outside of their classroom, and to one of the most fundamental elements of all living things-water. Together, teachers and students explore their role and responsibility to individually and collectively protect and sustain this shared resource for today, for tomorrow and for future generations.

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We don’t know too many schools and districts that are teaching about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.

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Client Spotlight
We are excited to announce The Cloud Institute’s new long term collaboration and partnership with the Sustainability Institute at Sequoia Group in Singapore. “We have been planning this for eleven years” said Jaqueline Wong, Executive Director of Sequoia Group and Co-Director of the Sustainability Institute, about our new work together. “The conditions are finally favorable in Singapore for this to happen.” The Singapore Green Plan 2030 has launched and takes Education and Schools seriously as leverage points for sustainability.

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Lessons in Ocean Stewardship, Sustainability, and Responsible Consumer Habits

Washed Ashore Artwork features giant sea life sculptures made entirely of marine debris collected from beaches to graphically illustrate the tragedy of plastic pollution in our ocean and waterways.

Since 2010, thousands of volunteers have worked together with the non-profit organization Washed Ashore under the guidance of Founder and Artistic Director Angela Haseltine Pozzi to create these powerful art pieces.

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What do Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and Educating for Sustainability (EfS) have to do with one another?

Where are the “twofers”—the power standards that are rich enough to do both? What does it look like to deliver instruction that honors DEI and also prepares students to participate in, and lead with us, the shift toward a sustainable future? In this webinar, we explored these and other questions about the intersection of EfS and DEI and discussed unit exemplars that honor both.

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