THE SOCIOSCIENTIFIC REALITY - WHEN CONTEXT SHAPES THE DECISON

A true measure of scientific literacy may be the ability to apply the unique nature of a region when making scientific decisions. While often described as being ill-structured, socio-scientific issues may in fact be quite well defined when placed in the context of place.

This session will describe a curriculum intervention focusing on the unique nature of southwestern New York State and how its geology has shaped the region in stark contrast to much of the rest of New York State around the socio-scientific issue of natural gas extraction. Initial impact data will be shared around the implementation of the curriculum in classrooms as well as future plans for extending the approach to other geoscience topics.