Sustainable Plant Adaptations: How Plants Adapt to Sustain Themselves

At the EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park in southeast San Francisco

Explore the roles of the plants in the ecosystem at Heron’s Head Park, a bay wetland surrounding higher grasslands. How have the native plants adapted to live in this environment? We’ll do a transect study, dissect flowers, examine plant and animal interactions (e.g., the interaction between bees and flowers), and observe and help mitigate the impact of invasive species.

This workshop is part of the Science of Sustainability series—a collaboration between the Exploratorium Teacher Institute and Literacy for Environmental Justice. The series is supported by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation.

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The Story of Plastic

At the Exploratorium

Join the Exploratorium Teacher Institute as we continue to explore the story of plastic and marine debris. This spring, our story begins at Crissy Field’s beach, where we will participate in a brief beach cleanup. The story continues with our exploration of the plastics we find: What are their sources, what are our alternatives, what is their fate? We’ll explore the journey plastics take after we are through using them—whether we recycle them, put them in the trash, or accidentally release them as litter. We’ll also examine the effects of marine debris in our ocean, the degradation of plastic, the ocean’s gyres, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

This workshop is funded by NOAA’s B-WET program.

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Sustainable Food: Exploring Your Foodshed

At the EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park in southeast San Francisco

What’s your “foodshed?” Where does your food come from? What does “local” mean? Join us as we explore issues of sustainable food, and food justice, as well as the math and science of calories and nutrition. We’ll make our own worm composters as we study the role of compost in soil amendment, examine the practice of companion planting, and discuss the Edible Schoolyard and community garden projects.

This workshop is part of the Science of Sustainability series—a collaboration between the Exploratorium Teacher Institute and Literacy for Environmental Justice. The series is supported by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation.

Sorry, this workshop is full.

Sustaining Our Connection to the Natural World through Observing the Sky: Astronomy

At the EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park in southeast San Francisco<

Join us for this special equinox workshop, with Exploratorium astronomer Isabel Hawkins. As we observe the relative positions of the sun and earth at this time of year, we will explore the sun's position and shadow lengths, learn how to find the cardinal directions by observing shadows, and examine the astronomical basis of our understanding of time and calendars. Come learn about the importance of the equinox to indigenous cultures over time by exploring solar alignments at ancient sites such as Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Chichén Itzá in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. We will build a demo of the Chichén pyramid at the equinox. We will work on the design of an ancient observatory situated in the park, highlighting the astronomical knowledge of many cultures and the importance of that knowledge to the sustainability of the cultures.

This workshop is part of the Science of Sustainability series—a collaboration between the Exploratorium Teacher Institute and Literacy for Environmental Justice. The series is supported by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation.

Sorry, this workshop is full.

Teacher Institute Alumni Workshops

More spring workshops are available to the alumni of our Summer Institutes. Go to the Alumni page for more details.