Image courtesy of Jeff Mitton, University of Colorado, Boulder
by
Douglas F. Haller, Ed. M.
STEM Education Consultant
“We are no longer talking about the possibility of climate change…We are seeing an epidemic (of mountain pine beetle killed trees) that is completely unprecedented.”
Jeff Mitton, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, CU-Boulder.
The Continental Divide runs the length of Colorado. Visitors and residents cross the Divide when traversing the state. Crossing the Divide one transitions from the plains to the mountains (or vice versa). The passage calls to mind elementary geography lessons about watersheds draining east to the Atlantic or west to the Pacific. Today, a traverse of the Divide represents another split in America: one between those who accept and those who do not accept the evidence that climate change is due, in part, to human activities. Dropping west into Summit and Grand Counties withered lodgepole pines stand as a constant reminder that climate change occurs. A succession of warm winters has resulted in an epic number of mountain pine beetles that have killed millions of acres of Colorado conifers. I spoke with educators and scientists to understand why climate change is an important component of STEM education, how to prepare and support teachers to teach climate change in grades K-16, and what educators should anticipate with respect to student understanding of climate change prior to introducing the topic.
Bee in your bonnet? No, this is a mountain pine beetle.
Image courtesy of Jeff Mitton, University of Colorado, Boulder
Climate Change as a STEM Discipline
“…to generate a climate literate public, students are likely to require comprehensive formal instruction about climate change.”
Sarah B. Wise, Climate Change in the Classroom: Patterns, Motivations, and Barriers to Instruction Among Colorado Science Teachers, Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 58, n. 5, November, 2010
Climate change education demonstrates the integrated nature of the sciences, the relationship between science and society, and the nature and practice of science.
The study of climate change brings together scientists from across disciplines and nations. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. Since its establishment in 1988, the IPCC has produced four reports on the state of Earth’s climate, the latest dated 2007. Typically, over 500 scientists contribute their research to the IPCC for use in these assessments. An additional several hundred scientists review and edit the research to produce the final report. Researchers from all the fields within earth systems science contribute to the effort to understand and assess climate change, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of topic.
According to Karin Kirk, of SERC (Science Education Resource Center at Carlton College) the multifaceted nature of climate change, its impacts, and policies makes it ideal for learning and teaching science. Although Kirk finds climate change a “compelling” subject to teach she recognizes that it is both a challenging and prickly topic for instructors as well as students. Kirk states that students don’t need to be convinced that climate change is a relevant topic. If anything, today’s students arrive in class, well aware and armed with their own beliefs about human impact on climate and the environment. According to Susan Buhr, Director of K-12 Education and Outreach at CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) younger students express apocryphal notions while older ones convey emotional exhaustion when thinking about climate change and their future responsibilities.
Climate Change Education Preparation and Instruction
Teachers of science understand the challenge of addressing student beliefs about and experiences of the nature of the universe. The same holds true when teaching about climate change.
Extensive educational research shows that students arrive in the classroom with a variety of loosely held ideas about the laws of nature many of which they misapply to explain observations. In order to remediate student knowledge and experience, best practices allow students to express their initial knowledge and understanding of a topic before confronting their misconceptions. This approach allows the educator to gauge student understanding of the topic prior to introducing the scientific perspective or a new experience. Once the students demonstrate their existing knowledge, the teacher is in the position of identifying and addressing areas for improved understanding through various instructional strategies.
Kirk recommends that teachers introduce climate change only after students have demonstrated understanding and value of the nature and process of science. Based upon experience, Kirk knows that one cannot casually introduce a complex and challenging topic such as climate change and expect students to readily except the data and conclusions.
Examples of data teachers and students
encounter in the study of climate change.
Sources: Nature (above), RealClimate (left).
In addition to the complexity of the topic, the study of climate change sparks emotional responses in students. Teachers should anticipate student emotions to range from feeling overwhelmed by the effects of climate change to expressing disbelief that our behaviors impact the planet on a global scale. Kirk recommends that teachers take the time to listen to and understand the values, emotions, and judgments students bring to class.
As a teacher, you do not need to tackle climate change education in isolation. Experienced educators and scientist provide a community of support – Susan Buhr, CIRES
Buhr cites evaluation results that demonstrate that those teachers who participate in climate change scientific and education communities feel more confident and prepared to address climate change in the classroom. These communities provide teachers with access to quality education resources and to individuals (educators and researchers) willing to share experience and knowledge about climate change and climate change education.
Climate Change Education Futures
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
How do people model and predict the effects of human activities on Earth’s climate? – A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, page 151, National Research Council, July 2011.
The new national science education standards under development repeatedly refer to climate change. Chapter 7: Earth and Space, contains the learning outcomes for grades K-12. By the end of 5th grade students are expected to recognize that a rise in global mean temperature will affect life on earth. Departing middle school students need to understand that human activities and behaviors contribute to climate change and that science and engineering may mitigate the effects. To graduate high school, students should recognize that scientists rely on indirect evidence and computer modeling to understand and anticipate climate change past and future and that we are still learning about complex interactions between earth systems and human impact on the climate.
Additional Resources
Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN)
The CLEAN project, a part of the National Science Digital Library, provides a reviewed collection of resources coupled with the tools to enable an online community to share and discuss teaching about climate and energy science. Click to access the reviewed collection.
Inspiring Climate Education Excellence (ICEE)
A forum for Educators to discuss Climate Literacy best practices and current science
Learn More about Climate seeks to:
- Extend the university's vast scientific expertise to raise awareness about climate change,
- Inspire an informed dialogue about climate change among Coloradans, and
- Encourage Coloradans to make lifestyle changes that contribute to the health of our state and planet.
NCAR Climate Discovery Teacher Guide
A teacher's guide produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Each unit contains lessons appropriate for grades 5-9 on a variety of Earth system science topics that facilitate learning about our planet's climate system.
NSF-sponsored comprehensive faculty development project for geoscience educators. Quaternary climate change is one of the most complex, yet relevant issues facing researchers and educators today. Not only is the topic scientifically complex, but there are economic, social and political ramifications as well. This site will allow educators to locate and use the best resources for teaching about Earth's climate system and the changing climate over the past one million years. Here you will find climate data, visualizations, teaching activities, workshops and more.
NASA Innovations in Climate Education (NICE)
NASA is developing high quality literacy resources to help better understand and explain the causes and effects of global change.
Acknowledgements
Susan Buhr, Director, CIRES Education and Outreach, University of Colorado, Boulder
Karin Kirk, Geoscience Content Developer, SERC, Carlton, College.
Jeff Mitton, University of Colorado, Boulder.
Contact the Author
Doug Haller
STEM Education Consultant
Haller Education Consulting
http://www.hallerconsulting.com
mail:doug@hallerconsulting.com
303.818.3230
