The changing landscape of geoscience learning has initiated growing interest in engaging science learners with climate data. One approach to teaching climate is the application of broadly accessible digital science curricula, which often include data tools such as visualizations, data representations, and simulations embedded within digital…

Ocean currents play an important role in regulating the Earth's climate by redistributing ocean heat around the planet. One important climate phenomenon that includes several large ocean currents is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which is the process of warm surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean moving to the Arctic to…

Achieving an in-depth understanding of unfamiliar science concepts has been found to be difficult when learners can not index science language to relevant sensorimotor experiences. Ongoing research in embodied cognition highlights the importance of relevant sensorimotor experiences in understanding and learning new information. Aiming to foster…

In this mixed method study, we analyse the effectiveness of two pedagogical approaches -- one model-based and another non-model-based -- for developing secondary students' understanding of the phenomenon of increase in Earth's average surface temperatures, a core dimension of global climate change (GCC). Building on past research on teaching and…

This first analysis of aggregated data from the Kahoot! game-based player response system demonstrates that it can provide assessments of overall US student polar knowledge and identifies differences in polar knowledge across several states. A kahoot online quiz on polar topics recorded over 25,000 United States teacher-hosted classroom players…

The Lens on Climate Change (LOCC) is an informal, place-based science program designed to engage middle and high school students from underserved groups in learning and communicating about impacts of climate change on their communities. This student-driven experience involves identifying a local environmental challenge, researching the topic, and…

Glaciers and ice ages are important topics in teaching geomorphology, earth history, and climate change. As with many geoscience topics, glacier formation, glacier movement, glacial morphology, and ice ages consist of a wide variety of processes and phenomena. Accordingly, it must be decided which of those processes and phenomena should be part of…

Scientists regularly evaluate alternative explanations of phenomena and solutions to problems. Students should similarly engage in critical evaluation when learning about scientific and engineering topics. However, students do not often demonstrate sophisticated evaluation skills in the classroom. The purpose of the present study was to…

An Earth science professional-development program for in-service middle- and high-school teachers increased participants' content knowledge about weather, climate, and climate change in addition to increasing their confidence in their assessment and teaching skills. The curriculum and funding gave them time, funding, and the help of content and…

Geologic time scale is a very important concept for understanding long-term earth system events such as climate change. This study examines forty-three 4th-8th grade Native American--particularly Ojibwe tribe--students' understanding of relative ordering and absolute time of Earth's significant geological and biological events. This study also…

The evolution of science is seldom about solitary individuals busy at work in labs making discoveries. This is especially true of the Earth sciences, where time-intensive fieldwork is usually required. Single scientists are rarely capable of amassing the requisite data sets to form grand, unifying theories. This is the case with the new airburst…

Problem-based learning (PBL) and inquiry learning (IL) employ extensive scaffolding that results in cognitive load reduction and allows students to learn in complex domains. Hybrid teacher professional development models (PDM) using 21st century social collaboration tools embedding PBL and IL shows promise as a systemic approach for increasing…

This article discusses the movement of Earth's north and south poles. The Earth's poles may be a bit more complex and dynamic than what many students and teachers believe. With better understanding, offer them up as a rich landscape for higher-level critical analysis and subject integration. Possible curriculum tie-ins include magnets, Earth…

Ocean acidification is one of the most serious environmental issues facing the planet (e.g., Doney 2006; Guinotte and Fabry 2009). It is caused by excess carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]) in the atmosphere. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels put CO[subscript 2] and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, which causes the Earth's…

The main goal for the current study was to investigate whether individual differences in domain-general thinking dispositions might affect learning from multiple-document inquiry tasks in science. Middle school students were given a set of documents and were tasked with understanding how and why recent patterns in global temperature might be…