PREPARING TEACHERS FOR THE FUTURE - THE REDESIGNING SCIENCE EDUCATION VIA THE ENERGY-WATER-CLIMATE NEXUS MSP PROJECT

All citizens are inextricably linked to issues of energy, water and climate; however these issues are inseparable from each other. These factors create the energy-water-climate (EWC) nexus, a powerful context for learning. This WY MSP employs the EWC nexus to engage educators in exploring the complexity of solving this nexus and preparing their students for this important task. The project advocates actively engaging students in inquiry-based learning using core EWC concepts. It stresses social, historical and personal perspectives of these issues, and how they, along with scientific knowledge and evidence, are used to make personal and societal decisions. Understanding EWC concepts also requires robust quantitative reasoning skills. Thus, a project objective focuses on developing participants' EWC content and pedagogical content knowledge as a means of improving students' scientific and quantitative reasoning literacies. The importance of biology, chemistry, earth science and physics as they apply to EWC are emphasized. Simultaneously, workshops guide participants in making connections among the roles of social, personal, historical, economic, and policy perspectives in public discussion. Through summer workshops and academic year meetings, the project provides professional development so participants: gain deeper EWC STEM and non-STEM content and pedagogical content knowledge; engage in inquiry and problem-based learning; discuss the need for critical thinking, active learning and transfer in their classrooms; explore the interdisciplinary connections between STEM and non-STEM fields; expose common EWC misconceptions and consider how to address them; foster deeper understandings of scientific literacy, the nature of science and the unifying concepts and processes of science; develop curricula and/or classroom materials and appropriate assessments based on the nexus; gain deeper understanding of the local relevance of EWC through field trips. The multidisciplinary nature of this MSP permits addressing many K-12 science, mathematics, social studies, and literacy standards. In the first year, the project focused on energy with one workshop examining electricity and another transportation. Within these contexts, STEM and non-STEM components of energy were presented and discussed.