Program

Thursday

8:30 Introductions and Welcome

8:40 Part 1: Systems Thinking in the Context of Earth Education Thursday Part 1 Slides (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 10.5MB Jul19 18)

8:40 - 9:00 Ice-breaker: How do you engage in systems thinking as a professional? In what ways do you teach it in your class?
9:00 - 9:15 Presentation: Conceptual Frameworks of Earth Systems (brief recap)
9:15 - 10:00 Hands-on activity: Deep dive into conceptual frameworks and how they might help us look at classroom activities
Sorting exercise - activities that align with conceptual frameworks

Earth systems perspective (blue). Emphasis on high-level interconnections between major Earth spheres (bio-, hydro-, litho-, etc.); systems thinking abilities related to conceptualizing the Earth system as a whole and identifying connections between the spheres.

The World in a River
Food, Energy, Water, the Environment, and Public Policy: opportunities and Trade-offs
Iceberg
Links between the Climate System, Impacts, and Adaptation

Earth system thinking skills (green). Emphasis on transformation of matter in Earth cycles (e.g. water cycle); systems thinking abilities related to identifying and organizing system components, processes, and relationships and dynamic and cyclic thinking.

Complexity sciences (orange). Emphasis on the scientific study of complex systems; systems thinking abilities related to recognizing complex system characteristics such as feedbacks, emergence, and self-organization.

Authentic complex earth and environmental systems (pink). Emphasis on knowledge of a specific complex near-surface Earth system (e.g. a lake) or phenomenon (e.g. coastal eutrophication); systems thinking abilities related to reasoning about the specific system or phenomenon.

Sustainability and Natural Resources
Food, Energy, Water, the Environment, and Public Policy: opportunities and Trade-offs
Positive or negative feedback? (climate change)
Iceberg
Understanding Complexity in Mass Extinction Events
Web-o-Cycles
Links between the Climate System, Impacts, and Adaptation

10:00 - 10:15 Break

10:15- 11:00 Part 2: Practical considerations: some resources

Poll 1
Evaluate whether this systems diagram represents the system described here.
If the diagram does not fully represent the complexity of the system described in the news story, what would you add or change?
Poll 2

11:00 Part 3: Work time to brainstorm how you could strengthen your systems thinking classroom activity

11:30 Adjourn for the day

8:30 Overview

8:35 Warm-up: Grounding in ideas from end of day 1 brainstorming

8:45 Part 1: Understanding systems thinking abilities

Discussion of strategies that have been used or could be used to elicit student systems thinking abilities - What are the possibilities/ limitations in these examples?

10:00 Part 2: Working group time + break