Socially relevant geoscience topics may be difficult for students to learn. For example, connecting hydraulic fracturing to Midwestern US earthquake swarms and using the fossil record to infer past Earth environments may challenge students because of their prior exposures to nonscientific explanations. Sociocognitive theoretical perspectives based…

Hundreds of thousands of undergraduates enroll in general education science courses to fulfill university core requirements. However, many of these lecture-based courses fail to foster high-level data literacy skills. This work details the design, implementation, and analysis of a new climate change-based classroom activity for college students…

Universities are recognizing the need to prepare graduates to think conceptually and have the ability to take on complex, real-world problems. Strategies to assess conceptual knowledge are limited and often require more time and effort to complete than is accessible for most undergraduate courses. Card sorting is a very broad technique for…

In this article, the author describes an activity using physical models -- each a clear plastic box enclosing a miniature coastal town, complete with real water in the "ocean." This activity shows students a natural cause-and-effect relationship that is scientifically simple, yet even many adults don't grasp the worldwide implications:…

Based on an empirical study of policy enactment and mathematical enculturation in Swedish school-age educare, a conceptualization of mathematics as the assemblage of "activities" and "values" is proposed. Observations were analysed using policy enactment theory and the lens of mathematical activities. The result shows that…

Access to quality science and math instruction remains a civil rights and social justice issue as the scientific and technological divide widens (Tate 2001; Moses and Cobb 2001). Students without access to rigorous science instruction have been and will continue to be left behind. This inequality is salient for students in marginalized communities…

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…

Field learning experiences reach tens of thousands of undergraduate students annually, constituting their importance as components of undergraduate education and potential pathways for STEM education. Reports and planning efforts by national entities have highlighted the need to ground undergraduate field learning experiences in evidence-based…

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…

Most likely a large number of students have heard of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), and know that they are a phenomenon in the sky. Although they may not have seen the Northern Lights, most have probably seen other phenomena in the sky, such as a rainbow, shooting star, or super moon. These experiences provide an opportunity for students…

Have you ever noticed trash collecting in streams or waterways? How does trash influence our environment, and what can be done to enact change? These are questions middle school students explored as the authors launched the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) task. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch activity involves an urgent environmental issue that…

Educational policy and management emphasise the role of science (e.g., earth science, geography) as a fundamental aspect of societal advance, but student enrolments at universities in these disciplines remain low. This commentary explores ways to foster more collaboration between university academics and high school teachers to implement…

GRANTISM (GReenland and ANTarctic Ice Sheet Model) is an educational Excel™ model introduced by Pattyn (2006). Here, GRANTISM is amended to simulate the Svalbard-Barents-Sea Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum, an analogue for the contemporary West Antarctic Ice Sheet. A new name, "GRANTSISM," is suggested; the added S represents…

Graphing and calculating percentages are integral skills in a STEM curriculum. Teaching students how to create graphs allows them to identify numerical trends and to express results in a clear and concise manner. In this activity, students will remain engaged in the lesson by moving around the room and then work together to generate their own…

Where does one single drop of water come from, and what can we do to reduce our water usage? These are important questions that need to be discussed in today's classroom. Helping young children understand the water cycle, the importance of water, and where and how they use water will allow them to be more informed users of this precious resource.…