Engaging Students in Earth's Systems Thinking with Model-Based Inquiry

Monday 12-2:30pm PT / 1-3:30pm MT / 2-4:30pm CT / 3-5:30pm ET Online

Afternoon Mini Workshop

Conveners

Jonathan Griffith, University of Colorado at Boulder

Lynne Harden, University of Colorado at Boulder

Anne Gold, University of Colorado at Boulder

Jennifer Kay, University of Colorado at Boulder

Arctic Feedbacks - Not all warming is equal, is an Earth's systems curriculum inspired by the 2019-2020 MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition, one of the most extensive Arctic research endeavors ever conducted. Developed by members of the MOSAiC education and outreach team, the curriculum follows the model-based inquiry instructional framework designed around the construction, revision, and testing of conceptual models by students as they gather evidence to explain Arctic amplification, a natural phenomenon in which the Arctic is warming at a rate much faster than the global average. Using this phenomenon to anchor instruction, students investigate important Earth Science topics including the Earth's energy budget, the electromagnetic spectrum, the greenhouse effect and feedback loops -topics that become more engaging and accessible when given context. Participants will leave this mini-workshop ready to implement the Arctic Feedbacks curriculum and with the tools to develop their own model-based inquiry units.

Goals

By the end of this workshop, participants will:

Access tools to develop your own model-based inquiry (MBI) unit, a storylining framework designed around the construction, revision, and testing of explanatory models of science phenomena.
Explore the 2019-2020 MOSAiC Arctic research expedition aimed at studying the changing Arctic climate system
Engage with and develop strategies to implement the MOSAiC-inspired "Arctic Feedbacks" Earth's systems curriculum that follows the MBI instructional framework.

Program

3:00 Welcome and introductions

3:15 Overview of the 2019-2020 MOSAiC Arctic research expedition (see VR tour here)

3:30 Introduction to the model-based inquiry (MBI) instructional framework

3:45 Engage with phase 1 of MBI - eliciting students' ideas about the Arctic amplification phenomenon

4:15 Gallery walk via Google Jamboard to explore initial conceptual models constructed by participants

4:30 Engage with sensemaking tasks (lessons) designed to provide students with evidence they'll use to explain the Arctic amplification phenomenon

5:15 Small group and whole group reflection on how the Arctic Feedbacks unit and/or the MBI instructional framework could be implemented at the MS/HS/college level.

5:30 Adjourn