Jan 07 2008
Climate Change in School
While browsing this time-consuming thing we call the Internet, I stumbled upon this page: National Wildlife Federation: Climate Classroon. One of the things they offer on this site is guidelines for teachers about climate change. To my surprise, they only offer suggestions for three age groups: 4th grade, 8th grade, and 12th grade.
Let’s first looks at the smallest age group, 4th grade. In my opinion, the science of climate change is too complex to be teaching at this level. As far as I know, science and mathematics standards are set by the individual states. Nebraska math and science was the first one I found on my search, but it’s just used as a guide to what a student will know in each grade.
The math education guidelines spell out what to expect from graduates of the fourth grade. Needless to say, 4th graders do no have the mathematical skills necessary to calculate anything with respect to climate change. The maths standards section is too long to quote here, but the earth science portion is short.
4.5 Earth and Space Science
Earth and space science focuses on the science facts, concepts, principles, theories, and models that are important for all students to know, understand, and use.
4.5.1 By the end of fourth grade, students will develop an understanding of the characteristics of earth materials.
Example Indicators
• Identify characteristics of soils, minerals, rocks, water, and the atmosphere.
• List earth materials that are used by humans (e.g., water, fossil fuels, ores, soils).
• Select the best earth material for a specific human use (e.g., marble–buildings, clay–pottery, coal–heat).
• Describe an ancient environment based on fossil evidence.
4.5.2 By the end of fourth grade, students will develop an understanding of objects in the sky.
Example Indicator
• Observe and describe how objects move in patterns (e.g., sun, moon, stars, and clouds).
4.5.3 By the end of fourth grade, students will develop an understanding of the changes in the earth and sky.
Example Indicators
• Describe how slow processes (e.g., erosion) and rapid processes (e.g., earthquakes), change the earth’s surface.
• Describe and measure changes in weather (e.g., temperature, precipitation, and wind direction and speed).
I’m glad to see that they specifically have weather mentioned as a topic in their science curriculum. However, it’s almost exactly as I expected for a fourth-grade level. The science being taught is “observe and describe”. Observations are very important to understanding science. However, how are 4th graders going to observe climate change in one school year? They especially aren’t going to observe global climate change.
As I read the standards for the 12th grade, I have to wonder if the people who wrote these really expect the students to accomplish these things by the time they graduate. Let’s look at the two examples of Earth science that relate to climate and weather.
• Investigate and explain how the outward transfer of earth’s internal heat drives convection in the mantle that propels the plates comprising the earth’s surface.
• Investigate and explain how global climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun and is influenced by dynamic processes (e.g., cloud formation and the earth’s rotation) and static conditions (e.g., the position of mountain ranges and oceans).
Therefore, every student graduating from Nebraska should know these things. I’ve only driven through Nebraska, so maybe all their graduates do understand these topics. But based upon evidence in two other states, I would bet they don’t. Radiation is hard to understand - mostly because we can only see a small portion of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum (as opposed to other things called radiation, such as alpha particles).
What do high school graduates know? The sun causes changes in temperature. They probably figured this one out on their own though - at least I’d hope so. Some/most will know that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Some will even know what a greenhouse is, but they don’t know why these “greenhouse gases” are called such, except that they act as a “blanket”. (Peeve alert: this annoys the heck out of me. They do not act as blankets except in a very loose metaphorical sense.) Getting back to the good news, most will know that the Earth is a sphere (close enough for government work) - although some insist it’s a circle.
However, I have met very few who can explain the seasons. This is disturbing, but not surprising. The seasons are a hard thing to understand, especially if you remember that the Earth does not orbit the sun in a perfect circle. There are some graduates who think the sun changes intensity on a yearly cycle.
Anyway, enough of that. On to what the National Wildlife Foundation thinks is appropriate at the 12th grade level.
Twelfth Grade:
Students in this age group are able to understand the complexity of many environmental subjects and related issues, and most important, to learn how to address them. This is a period when understanding of the science of global warming can be combined with an understanding of what it means to be a responsible citizen who has problem solving skills.
• Ability to develop and explain questions that guide environmental investigations and identify factors that influence the questions they pose even developing approaches for investigating unfamiliar types of problems and phenomena.
• Ability to locate and collect reliable information for environmental investigations of many types. Understand how to use technology to collect and display information and to apply basic logic and reasoning skills to evaluate the completeness and reliability of information. Understand the physical processes that shape the Earth and relate these processes to the characteristics of the Earth’s surface including the relationships among atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere and cryosphere.
• Understand and analyze large-scale natural cycles, including distribution of solar energy and albedo, the water cycle, changing seasons and atmospheric movement patterns, ocean currents, the carbon cycle, volcanism and plate tectonics, and overall familiarity with the basic elements and interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, land and oceans.
• Apply their knowledge of energy and matter to make connections among phenomena such as light, heat, electricity and the motion of objects. Understand basic population dynamics and the importance of diversity in living systems as well as the basic ideas and the genetic mechanics behind biological evolution.
• Has skill in understanding and assessing the relative value and efficacy of solutions based on emission reductions, sequestration and natural resource and human adaptation.
• Possesses a realistic self-confidence in their effectiveness as citizens and understand the importance of exercising those rights.
I don’t really think the majority of 12th grade students are capable of understanding climate change. In fact, I don’t think most people understand climate change. It’s a hard thing to understand, which may be enlightened by this anecdote. During the North American blackout in 2003, someone said to me, “maybe this will help with that global warming thing”. This was not a recent graduate of the education system, but it does help us understand that some people do not understand the scope of the problem. The problem of global warming will not be solved by individuals. Changing your light bulbs to compact fluorescent may save you money and may help you feel better about yourself, but it will not help with the problem of global warming. The people of the world need to stand together and all reduce our carbon emissions. This sounds like the role of government.
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5 Responses to “Climate Change in School”
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Hi Atmoz,
Educators are used to these broad brush outlines.
These are typically the upper limits on grades that are often grouped or clustered as K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 for a number of reasons: related to general developmental and cognitive capabilities of pupils, as well as traditional elementary, middle and high school boundaries. So, although the NWF does not spell it out in its overview, I’d take it that those grades are merely used as targets for suitable coverage of the topic under discussion by that time, i.e. age-appropriate lessons relating to aspects of climate change for children up to that grade level.
National Science Education Standards (NSES) for America explains what is being aimed at in trying to introduce guidelines for Science teaching nationwide with NSES here.
Yes,
For example, California State Board of Education standards (e.g. CDECA Science) was slightly familiar to me, before we moved to Britain. Now I am more aware of what my kids are doing in British classrooms with respect to our climate challenge and environmental awareness, primarily through their schools’ Geography and Science curricula.
When you wrote:
I agree, but climate science as a climatologist understands it is not being taught to fourth graders, (at least, not as far as I am aware). The NWF Overview of Educator Guidelines for K-12 Global Climate Change Education provide broad outlines for stepping stones, and as long as they are heading along a path in the right direction for these junior levels, that is fine.
The general level of conversation amongst members of the public about climate change nowadays is so intense and often misinformed, that it is essential that schools do not avoid the subject as being either too contentious or too difficult for children. In any case, many times, children can appreciate nature and are more in tune with the world and its natural interconnectedness than adults; by the time they complete grade 12 many students can certainly learn and understand more than many adults realise.
The tricky bit that needs to be grappled with by everyone, not just our education systems, is developing a good understanding of our social, cultural, economic and political interconnectedness, so that issues associated with taking coordinated action—individually and as members of groups from neighbourhood to globe—can be resolved as smoothly and efficiently, in order to combat climate change for the benefit of all.
[Sorry for the delay in posting. This somehow got stuck in the spam filter.]
You might be interested in the GLOBE project where students can learn and take part in ground truth activities
http://www.globe.gov/r?lang=en&nav=1
From the 4th grade one:
“• List earth materials that are used by humans (e.g., water, fossil fuels, ores, soils).
• Select the best earth material for a specific human use (e.g., marble–buildings, clay–pottery, coal–heat).
• Describe an ancient environment based on fossil evidence.”
From which we learn that coal is *best* for heat. Urk.
Actually if they’re going to do that the PETM should be selected for the ancient environment since it demonstrates what happens to the planet when too much fossil fuel gets burned.
Yeah, good-hearted people are being terrorized into unplugging their microwaves so they won’t draw 50 milliwatts, and they think they’re making a difference. I wonder how many nanoseconds an act like that will preserve the west Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The thing to do, the only thing that can possibly make enough difference, is to take democracy seriously and restore responsibility **and numeracy** to the governing process.
Jim Hansen was on “Fresh Air” today and Terry Gross asked him what the one most important thing we could do would be. Hansen answered correctly: “stop building new coal plants unless they have CCS”. Well, you know, I haven’t built one of those lately, at least not personally.
Ms Gross had an interesting follow-up, which was whether Hansen was going beyond his charter as a scientist in recommending policy. His answer was a very polished and polite dance around the fact that if the scientists don’t say this **blazingly obvious fact** the polticians **won’t manage to figure it out**.
Not quite sure how this relates, but most of the college students here do not know very much geography, neither physical nor political, except within the state. (There is a required one semester high school course on the history of the state, which perforce includes some geography.)
So whatever is currently being taught as ‘earth science’ obviously does not corver one of the essentials. (For example, how to understand the climate if you do not understand that most of the world is ocean, and most of that in the southern hemisphere?)
[Response: Absolutely. Students here cannot even pick out our state on a map.]