Initial Publication Date: April 18, 2022

Community Meeting 3

Key Idea Synthesis

These are the takeaways from the third community meeting of the MCC Educator Community of Practice (CoP) on April 14, 2022. The meeting was led by Lindsey Kirkland and the Seth Spencer from Climate Generation, Mary Braun from the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan, and Michael Wysession from the Washington University Center for Teaching and Learning. This summary was written by Sarah Fortner after the meeting. For the recording of the meeting, visit the program page.

  • Phenomena-based inquiry engages students and informal audiences in why or how something happens. Midwest climate change issues like flooding, changes in lake ice, and extreme heat are part of culture, history, and lived experiences. There are many ways for students to build connection to climate change through this experiential knowledge. Many resources and examples were shared including a short video presentation by Michael Wysession informed by his work on the Next Generation Science Standards.
  •  Workshop participants generated a list of Phenomena-Based Learning Resources list and exploring opportunities to teach with climate phenomena. This included generating topics, phenomena, and essential questions that connect to student lives such as:
    • Why is my basement flooding more?
    • Why are there more algal blooms?
  • Following this exploration, small teams shared connective resources and education activities that would support teaching the phenomena. Categories for broader exploration included: scientific background, relevant solutions, social justice connections.  Additional areas of interest that came out of discussion included making interdisciplinary or cross-sectoral connections to phenomena. 
  • In discussion, a special attention was paid to storylines and building relevant and personal connections to climate change. Cheryl Manning described a workshop model of brining in scientists to frame climate change impacts and then engaging educators in creating storylines.  The MCC community may have a particular capacity to incorporate phenomena into storyline with expertise across disciplines and sectors.