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…

We experience (perceive, act upon and react to, and conceptualize) dynamical processes in nature as agentive. Expressed differently, we experience events as resulting from activities and interactions of "Forces of Nature" (such as wind, light, heat, fluids, electricity, substances, and motion) that are conceived of as powerful agents…

Everyone has an aunt or grandfather or other relative who can tell when the weather is changing because his or her joints start to ache or an old injury begins to hurt. This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. This month's issue focuses on three major weather factors and how they affect the human…

One way to tackle climate misconceptions is to have students work with data to show how the climate is changing in their local community. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has weather stations nationwide that collect data on air temperature and precipitation that are freely available online. This article describes a lesson…

Proverbs are a part of cultural heritage of people. Proverbs about climate and weather influence human behaviours at such areas as agriculture and fishing. The pedagogical use of proverbs promotes to link everyday knowledge with scientific one. However, teachers should be familiar with the meanings of proverbs to integrate them into their classes.…

Understanding the teaching and learning paradigm is a relentless search for educators. Because individual students bring their own learning style preferences to the learning environment, teachers are asked to consider and even adjust their teaching to these preferences to improve student learning. In Kolb's (1984) experiential learning theory,…

An in-class case study is presented for use in a liberal arts core extreme weather course, designed to foster science literacy, appreciation, and critical thinking skills in nonscience majors. Students are ultimately shown the critical importance of the physical sciences in their daily lives and encouraged to consider STEM (science, technology,…

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) research on historical flood risk, 98 percent of U.S. counties have been impacted by a flooding event. Not only do flood events occur in and impact all regions of the United States, but they are also costly. Therefore, it is in the interest of communities for education…

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) research on historical flood risk, 98 percent of U.S. counties have been impacted by a flooding event. Not only do flood events occur in and impact all regions of the United States, but they are also costly. Therefore, it is in the interest of communities for institutions of higher…

We examine the effect of school traffic pollution on student outcomes by leveraging variation in wind patterns for schools the same distance from major highways. We compare within-student achievement for students transitioning between schools near highways, where one school has had greater levels of pollution because it is downwind of a highway.…

Climate change scenarios project higher flood risk, so knowing how households can increase socio-ecological resilience is essential. Children rarely feature in UK policy guidance about how households prepare for floods, and research is limited about children's roles in local resilience building. Using a participatory action research, child-centred…

Ever-changing weather and sea conditions constitute environmental hazards that sea kayakers must pay attention to and act upon to stay safe. The aim of this study was to propose a tool to aid sea kayakers' situation awareness (SA). We developed a checklist guided by theory on the concept of SA and expert problem detection, judgement and…

In this study, we explore the concerns of elementary education (ELED) teaching candidates regarding teaching science in the outdoors and how their apprehensions might have been shaped by their recollected Environmental Socialization (ES) experiences during childhood. Qualitative and quantitative survey data were collected and analyzed using…

In the quest for broader participation in higher education, blended synchronous courses are offered as a way to support nontraditional as well as traditional students. While students appreciate the option of participating either face-to-face (F2F) or remotely (RMT), questions remain whether RMT students are as engaged and learning at the same rate…

Geospatial weather data is readily available to learners. However, the interpretation and understanding of this data requires the utilization of geospatial thinking skills. This study examined the impacts of a Web-based, collaborative inquiry Hurricane Irma GIS learning module on AP environmental science students' hurricane knowledge and spatial…