One of the most alarming impacts of projected climate change is a significant rise in sea level. Sea level has varied by hundreds of meters over geologic time, yet these changes have generally been slow paced, allowing ecosystems to adjust to changing land surface and marine habitats. Since the Industrial Revolution, anthropogenic emissions have…

Investigating local watersheds presents middle school students with authentic opportunities to engage in inquiry and address questions about their immediate environment. Investigation activities promote learning in an investigations interdisciplinary context as students explore relationships among chemical, biological, physical, geological, and…

In this article, we describe a collaborative design initiative with three secondary school teachers to promote the use of Web-based inquiry in the context of a watershed investigation. Design interviews that focus on instructional goals and pedagogical beliefs of classroom teachers were conducted. The interview protocol used a curricular framework…