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Sol Giesso

Content Writer Intern

Sol Giesso holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and a Master of Science in Community Climate Adaptation from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, as well as a Master of Education in Teaching and Teacher Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. They teach science, biology, and mathematics for grades 7–10 and have been teaching since 2025. 

Lesson Plans

9-12 Thumbnails (2)
Lesson Plan

Integrals Lesson: Analyzing NYC Climate Goals
Students analyze a logistic model of New York City greenhouse gas emissions using definite integrals to quantify accumulation over time. Students apply integrals to find the area between curves, compare NYC’s trajectory to three policy benchmarks, and write a report evaluating whether the city is doing enough to meet its climate goals. 

Inquire: Students examine a graph from the NYC Comptroller’s website to generate questions about whether NYC is doing enough to meet its climate goals.
Investigate: Students evaluate a regression model of NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions, set up and calculate definite integrals of the model to find cumulative totals, and interpret their findings.
Inspire: Students use areas between curves to assess NYC’s climate progress against multiple benchmarks and interpret what this means for meeting its climate goals.
Grade
Subject Mathematics
Resource Type Lesson Plan
9-12 Thumbnails (3)
Lesson Plan

Statistics Lesson: Reducing NYC Food Emissions
In this lesson, students investigate and analyze data about how food travels to New York City supermarkets and how much of it is wasted, using statistical tools to characterize and compare climate impacts. Students then choose and justify a climate action strategy for a NYC supermarket, using statistics to guide decision-making.

Inquire: Students discuss feelings around food waste, explore where food comes from, and consider how living in a large city affects food distribution and sustainability.
Investigate: Students take the role of supermarket managers to calculate statistics (mean, weighted average, median, mode, range, interquartile range) from data, create and interpret scatter plots, lines of best fit, box plots, and histograms, and compare the environmental costs of different food items.
Inspire: Students calculate and synthesize statistical findings to choose and justify a climate action strategy for the supermarket that reduces greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and/or food waste while preserving customer loyalty and profits.
Grade
Subject Mathematics
Resource Type Lesson Plan
9-12 Thumbnails (4)
Lesson Plan

Science Lesson: Keystone Oysters of NY Harbor
Students investigate how oysters function as a keystone species in New York Harbor, rotating through stations on filtration, habitat, storm protection, and reef building under ocean acidification. Students then act as restoration ecologists, using monitoring data from three sites to recommend where the city should focus restoration efforts.

Inquire: Students compare their neighborhood’s historical and present-day landscapes and learn about the oyster reef ecosystem the harbor once supported.
Investigate: Students circulate among four stations to learn about oysters’ roles as filters, habitats, barriers, and builders in New York Harbor.
Inspire: Students evaluate data from three oyster restoration sites, diagnose why new oysters are failing to survive, weigh ecological and community trade-offs, and recommend one site for next season’s restoration effort.
Grade
Subject Biology
Resource Type Lesson Plan
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