3D SENSEMAKING WITH GEOSCIENCE PHENOMENA

K-12 students should be DOING science. Teachers must provide high-quality science education that offers student sensemaking activities by engaging in the practices of science, and using the conceptual tools designed to bridge learning across domains. These learning experiences must be hands-on, student-centered activities that allows young learners to explore phenomena and perform and design meaningful investigations, solve real-world problems, evaluate evidence, and construct scientific arguments. Here I offer some 3-dimensional learning experiences that explore a range of geoscience processes. In the first, students create model glaciers and glacially-derived landforms and relate their role in understanding the landscape and climate change. Next, students examine the role that dissolved gases play in the explosivity of volcanic eruptions by simulating eruptions of different intensities and correlating data to the Volcano Explosivity Index. Third, after collecting data on various groundwater flow variables, students must design and critique solutions to a potentially hazardous groundwater situation. Finally, students collect and analyze first- and second-hand weather conditions and long term regional and global climate data, and make inferences regarding climate, climate change, and the nature of science.