Hitchcock Educators Release Final Curriculum for Teachers

Educators Patty O’ Donnell and Micky McKinley, Helen Ann Sephton, and Ted Watt have developed three curricula units for grades 3, 4, and 5 with grant funding from New England Environmental Education Alliance and the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society. The curricula, developed over the course of a year, is freely available on Hitchcock Center’s website:

The Pond Ecosystem | grade 3
Energy is Electrifying! | grade 4
The Hydrosphere, Water, and How We Use It | grade 5

Activities and methods within the curricula are those used and practiced by Hitchcock Center educators and are designed to meet Next Generation Science Standards. In addition, through a grant from the Francis R. Dewing Foundation, 20 teachers will have been able to receive training in the Energy is Electrifying! curriculum. The first training was held in April and the second was held on November 1. Teachers from across the state will have participated in this free training.

Patty O’Donnell shares curriculum with teachers.

The Energy is Electrifying! curriculum was presented by Micky McKinley and Patty O’Donnell at at the National Science Teachers Association Conference in Boston on April 4th at a session titled, Energy Literacy: A Grade 4 Energy Unit Based on the NGSS and Incorporating Environmental Education. Patty also presented the curriculum at the Artful STEM: Transforming Curriculum and Instruction symposium on May 2nd at Lesley University at in Cambridge, reaching a broad audience of teachers throughout the state, region and country.