High-Adventure Science: Free simulations explore Earth’s Systems and Sustainability

High-Adventure Science

High-Adventure Science:Free simulations explore Earth’s Systems and Sustainability

Amy Pallant, The Concord Consortium

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL-0929774 and DRL-1220756. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

High-Adventure Science

Our MissionTo ignite large-scale improvements in teaching and learning through technology.

Our VisionWe imagine a deeply digital future, where teaching and learning seamlessly incorporatethe best features of digital technology to dramatically improve education. .

Are we alone in the universe?What can replace cheap oil?How hot will the greenhouse world be?

These questions excited scientists…Can they excite students?Can we leverage the unknown in education?

Models we developed

Water Model http://resources.models.concord.org/agentscript/water/water-5.html

Air Pollution Model http://resources.models.concord.org/agentscript/air-pollution/index.html

Air Pollution Model: Aerial viewhttp://resources.models.concord.org/agentscript/air-pollution-aerial/index.html

Climate Modelhttp://resources.models.concord.org/agentscript/climate/index.html

Energy Model http://resources.models.concord.org/agentscript/fracking/fracking-3.html

Land Management Model http://resources.models.concord.org/agentscript/water/water-5.html

Ask your student a question that doesn’t have a right or wrong answer and what happens?

“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say, we know that there are some things we know we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

Donald Rumsfeld

Uncertainty is a great tool for teaching about the nature of science.

Why focus on certainty?

Learners are themselves uncertain

Think like a scientist!

Thinking like a scientist means getting students to:• think about unanswered questions• think critically about data and evidence.• give reasons for answers.• reflect on their reasons.

Developing students argumentation skills

Students can handle uncertainty without rejecting science.

Student Learning Gains

Notes: SD=standard deviation; Effect size=Cohen’s d (mean difference between pre- and post-tests divided by the pooled SD of pre- and post-tests)

The more exposure, the better they did.

What happens if you remove the CO2 from the atmosphere?

Student A:

“The temperature decreases”

“I’m not certain that I read the graph correctly.”

Student B:

“Temperature decreases. The less CO2 in the atmosphere, the less solar radiation is trapped.”

“The graph next to the model shows the temperature was high before and then when I removed the CO2, it changed completely.”

Student C:

“I removed all the CO2 from the model and the temperature decreased rapidly and at a fast rate.”

“I interpreted the model and the graph correctly. I am not sure if it is caused only by CO2 or some other factor not in the model.”

“I believe that the worst thing that has happened to science education is that the great fun has gone out of it...Very few see science as the high adventure it really is, the wildest of all explorations ever taken by human beings, the chance to catch close views of things never seen before, the shrewdest maneuver for discovering how the world works. Instead, they become baffled early on, and they are misled into thinking that bafflement is simply the result of not having learned all the facts.”

-Lewis Thomas, Humanities and Science. Presented at the Sloan Foundation’s “Conference on new dimensions of liberal education.” Key Biscayne,

Florida. New York: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 1981.

http://has.concord.org