CLIMATE SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS (CSI): SOUTH FLORIDA - ADDRESSING SKEPTICS' CLAIMS USING EVIDENCE-BASED ARGUMENTATION (Invited Presentation)

In science education, climate change is an issue that is especially useful for teaching concepts spanning several fields of science, as well the nature and practices of science. In response, we are developing a NASA-funded curriculum, titled Climate Science Investigations (CSI): South Florida, which teaches high school and first-year undergraduate level students how to analyze and use scientific data to answer questions about climate change.

To create an effective curriculum, we integrated lessons learned from our educational research conducted within our elementary science methods courses (Lambert, Lindgren, & Bleicher, 2012). Lessons learned from our preservice teachers’ conceptions and perceptions about climate change, as well as the difficulties in engaging in evidence-based argumentation, have informed and enhanced the framework for development of the CSI: South Florida curriculum.

The modules are sequenced according to the proposed learning progression. First, students are introduced to the nature of science and Earth’s energy balance. Students then investigate the temporal and spatial temperature data to answer the question of whether Earth is warming. Students also compare natural and anthropogenic causes of climate change, investigate the various observed and projected consequences of climate change in the fourth module, and examine ways to mitigate the effects of and adapt to climate change. Finally, students learn how to refute skeptics’ claims by providing counter evidence and reasoning of why the skeptics’ claim is not the appropriate explanation. This paper describes our conceptual framework for teaching students how to address the skeptics’ claims using the content learned in the CSI: South Florida curriculum and evidence-based argumentation.