Problem-based learning (PBL) instruction tasks students with solving a real-world, relevant problem and provides a motivating context for learning science content. It also affords a natural opportunity for students to intentionally engage in a variety of engineering practices and components of engineering design if the problem scenario…

Oceans play an important role in weather and climate through transfers of heat and moisture to the atmosphere, and by moving heat and climate-relevant molecules like carbon dioxide around the globe. Energy also transfers from the atmosphere to the surface of the ocean, traveling down through the water column creating ocean currents that transport…

Seagrass ecosystems are widespread, valuable, and threatened. We have used this system as a model to teach 3rd-7th grade students about food webs, the interconnectedness of ecosystems, ecosystem services, and the effects of human activity on coastal systems. Our objective was to increase student understanding of seagrass ecosystems and other key…