First, I have to say that the resources that we were introduced to and explored further were a bit overwhelming (MyWorld GIS, WorldWatcher, ArcGis, and Google Earth). I say “introduced to” because many of them were new to me and I was shocked that I had not heard of most of these as some of them are great for getting students excited and motivated about what they are learning in the classroom. The only program that I had any knowledge or experience with was Google Earth. I however, have only explored it at a very basic level with my students. One of my goals this year, is to try and find ways to connect what my students are learning to real life situations or experiences. Far too often, our students are learning different concepts and they don’t understand how it was important to their life or when they would ever use it again. I definitely will need more time to explore these applications and programs, but this week was a great start to get me thinking about how I can integrate them into my grade 7 class.

“The Learning-for-Use [Lfu] model is a description of the learning process that can be used to support the design of content-intensive, inquiry-based science learning activities” (Edelson, 2001, p. 355). The new BC curriculum encourages teachers to move away from the focus being on reciting and memorizing, but rather focus on a deeper conceptual understanding. This can be done by providing students with opportunities to communicate, collaborate, critical think, question, ponder, infer and make predictions. Lfu is based on a three-step process that includes motivation, knowledge construction, and knowledge refinement. Students are motivated when they find the concepts/activities relevant and interesting. As they are “constructing knowledge,” students are guided by the questions that interest them or that they wonder about. These questions/wonders can be discovered by having them complete a KWL chart or allowing them to brainstorm in small groups or partners. I often do a “pair-share” activity to get students thinking and collaborating on a new topic. Finally during the “knowledge refinement” stage students should be provided with lots of time to reflect upon their learning and apply their understanding to real life situations or scenarios (Edelson, 2001).

Since, I am teaching grade 7 this year, I wanted to explore a topic in the science curriculum. The topics include evolution, chemistry, electromagnetic forces and climate change. One area that I was interested in exploring a little further (as it is a unit that I am currently developing) is climate change. We will be starting an earth challenge in April and May, and the four main topics we will be covering are water-wise, waste-wise, invasive species and air quality. At the end of the month, we will be having a “challenge” game with the other grade 7 classes. Each team of students will be asked questions on these different topics in a Jeopardy style game setting.

As an introductory activity (and to get students motivated), I would have the students brainstorm what they already know about Climate Change (if anything). I have a range of students in my class, so I would most likely have students work in random groupings of 3-4 students and have one student record all of the ideas. This way students would all be able to participate, regardless of whether or not they can write down the ideas (I have a few students with written-output issues). This activity would guide my future lessons. If students have very little knowledge of what climate change is, we would participate in some introductory activities. Nasa has some great activities, including fun facts, videos and interactive activities to get students’ excited and to give students a basic understand of what climate change is (https://climate.nasa.gov/). There are quick one minute videos on a variety of topics to pique students’ interest (Greenland Ice, Sea-Level Rise, etc.), as well as some quizzes and 3D virtual videos. Once students were given some time to explore this site, I would let them break into groups to discuss what they found interesting, what they still had questions about or didn’t understand. and what they wanted to explore more about.

The next activity (I found on the ArcGIS website) is about climate change and how it has affected temperature. It is a geoinquiry map investigating regional patterns to changes in temperatures. Students are able to explore different parts of the world to see how temperatures have changed from year to year. This would lead into an activity that has the students choose a city (could be any place in the world) and month of the year. They would create a graph (math connection) of how the temperature or precipitation has varied from year to year. Another map that I found on ArcGIS is called “Climate Change Stress Index” and it focuses on the degree of change in temperature, precipitation, vegetation and habitat between history and the (projected) future. Depending on time (and student interest), I might have students explore only one or two of these topics.

Once my students have a basic understanding and are excited (that’s my goal!) about climate change, they will choose a topic (water or waste-wise, air quality or invasive species) that interests them and form small groups. The students will be allowed to present the information that they discover in anyway they choose (poster, PowerPoint, Google Slides, etc.). This allows students to be as creative as they want. To help students refine their knowledge, they will be given opportunities to think about what changes in their life they can make in order for them to reduce their carbon footprint. Another possibility is for the students to implement a program at the school to help with the climate change issue (school community garden, composting, etc.). Much of this last part will be determined with student input.

Edelson, D.C. (2001). Learning-for-use: A framework for the design of technology-supported inquiry activities. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,38(3), 355-385.