Defining Climate Literacy

Ted Willard

Project Director

AAAS Project 2061

About Project 2061

In 1985, the AAAS launched a long-term effort to reform science, mathematics, and technology education for the 21st century.

That same year, Halley’s Comet was approaching the sun, prompting the project’s originators to consider all of the scientific and technological changes that a child entering school in 1985 would witness before the return of the comet in 2061—hence the name, Project 2061.

Science for All Americans

• Presents the knowledge and skills that make up science literacy goals

What is Science Literacy?

• Familiarity with the natural world and respect for its unity

• Awareness of important ways in which mathematics, technology, and the sciences depend upon one another

• Key concepts and principles of science

• Capacity for scientific ways of thinking

• Knowing that science, mathematics, and technology are human enterprises and what that implies about their strengths and limitations

• Ability to use scientific knowledge and ways of thinking for personal and social purposes

Table of Contents

1. The Nature of Science

2. The Nature of Mathematics

3. The Nature of Technology

4. The Physical Setting

5. The Living Environment

6. The Human Organism

7. Human Society

8. The Designed World

9. The Mathematical World

10. Historical Perspectives

11. Common Themes

12. Habits of Mind

Table of Contents

1 The Nature Of Science 3A The Scientific World View 5B Scientific Inquiry 9C The Science Enterprise 14

2 The Nature Of Mathematics 23A Patterns and Relationships 25B Mathematics, Science and Technology 30C Mathematical Inquiry 34

3 The Nature Of Technology 41A Technology and Science 43B Design and Systems 48C Issues in Technology 53

4 The Physical Setting 59A The Universe 61B The Earth 66C Processes That Shape the Earth 71D Structure of Matter 75E Energy Transformations 81F Motion 87G Forces of Nature 93

5 The Living Environment 99A Diversity of Life 101B Heredity 106C Cells 110D Interdependence of Life 115E Flow of Matter and Energy 118F Evolution of Life 122

10 Historical Perspectives 237A Displacing the Earth from

the Center of the Universe 239

B Uniting the Heavens and Earth 242

C Relating Matter & Energyand Time & Space 244

D Extending Time 246

E Moving the Continents 247

F Understanding Fire 249

G Splitting the Atom 252

H Explaining the Diversity of Life 254

I Discovering Germs 256

J Harnessing Power 258

11 Common Themes 261A Systems 262

B Models 267

C Constancy and Change 271

D Scale 276

12 Habits Of Mind 281A Values and Attitudes 284

B Computation and Estimation 288

C Manipulation and Observation 292

D Communication Skills 295

E Critical-Response Skills 298

6 The Human Organism 127A Human Identity 128

B Human Development 131

C Basic Functions 135

D Learning 139

E Physical Health 143

F Mental Health 147

7 Human Society 151A Cultural Effects on Behavior 153

B Group Behavior 157

C Social Change 161

D Social Trade-Offs 164

E Political And Economic Systems 167

F Social Conflict 171

G Global Interdependence 175

8 The Designed World 181A Agriculture 183

B Materials and Manufacturing 187

C Energy Sources and Use 192

D Communication 196

E Information Processing 200

F Health Technology 204

9 The Mathematical World 209A Numbers 210

B Symbolic Relationships 215

C Shapes 222

D Uncertainty 226

E Reasoning 231

Paragraph from SFAA (page 43)

Chapter 4—The Physical Setting

Section B—The Earth• The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere plays

an important part in determining climatic patterns—evaporating from the surface, rising and cooling, condensing into clouds and then into snow or rain, and falling again to the surface, where it collects in rivers, lakes, and porous layers of rock. There are also large areas on the earth's surface covered by thick ice (such as Antarctica), which interacts with the atmosphere and oceans in affecting worldwide variations in climate.

Benchmarks Development Team

• 4 years

• 6 teams

• 25 teachers per team

• One day (+) each month

• Six-week Summer Institutes

Benchmarks for Science Literacy

• Provides a set of learning goals for the ends of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12

Benchmarks are based on SFAA

Benchmarks from BSL (pages 67-70)

K-2 Water left in an open container disappears, but water in a closed container does not disappear.

3-5 When liquid water disappears, it turns into a gas (vapor) in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled, or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water. Clouds and fog are made of tiny droplets of water.

6-8 The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere plays an important role in determining climatic patterns. Water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises and cools, condenses into rain or snow, and falls again to the surface. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, and much of it flows back into the ocean.

9-12 Life is adapted to conditions on the earth, including the force of gravity that enables the planet to retain an adequate atmosphere, and an intensity of radiation from the sun that allows water to cycle between liquid and vapor.

No linear presentation of topics can satisfactorily represent the connectedness of ideas and experiences that would be essential in an actual curriculum or textbook.

Science for All Americans, page xxi

The Need for Maps

Atlas of Science Literacy

• Illustrates the relationships between individual learning goals and shows the growth-of-understanding of ideas

Most Boxes are Based on Benchmarks

Weath

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Clim

ate

(p. 21)

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(p. 21)

Excerpt from Weather and Climate

Communicating and Learning about Global Climate Change

• Combines information about Weather and Climate from all of the Project 2061 Goals documents into one book.

• Deals not only with Science Content, but also the Nature of Science and Technology

The Essential Principles of Climate

Science

• Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science presents information that is deemed important for individuals and communities to know and understand about Earth’s climate, impacts of climate change, and approaches to adaptation or mitigation.

• Development of the guide began at a workshop sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Many Fundamental Conceptsare based on Benchmarks

6C. Human activities have affected the land, oceans, and atmosphere, and these changes have altered global climate patterns. Burning fossil fuels, releasing chemicals into the atmosphere, reducing the amount of forest cover, and rapid expansion of farming, development, and industrial activities are releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and changing the balance of the climate system.

4C/M7: Human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover, increasing the amount and variety of chemicals released into the atmosphere, and intensive farming, have changed the earth's land, oceans, and atmosphere. Some of these changes have decreased the capacity of the environment to support some life forms.

The Essential Principles of Climate

Science

GUIDING PRINCIPLE FOR INFORMED CLIMATE DECISION:

• Humans can take actions to reduce climate change and its impacts.

CLIMATE LITERACY: The Essential Principles of Climate Science

• The Sun is the primary source of energy for Earths climate system.

• Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the Earth system.

• Life on Earth depends on, is shaped by, and affects climate.

• Climate varies over space and time through both natural and man-made processes.

• Our understanding of the climate system is improved through observations, theoretical studies, and modeling.

• Human activities are impacting the climate system.

• Climate change will have consequences for the Earth system and human lives.

Curriculum

Teacher Preparation

Instruction

Materials Development

Assessment

Literacy Goals

Learning Goals

Connections

Supporting the Goals

End

Map Key

Map Key

Map Key

BENCHMARKS

are specific learning goals derived mostly from Benchmarks for Science Literacy but also from Science for All Americans and National Science Education Standards. Colored boxes indicate knowledge goals; bordered boxes indicate skill goals. Some benchmarks have been split into two or more ideas which appear in separate boxes.

Map Key

BENCHMARK CODES

indicate chapter, section, grade range, and number of the corresponding goal statements in Benchmarks for Science Literacy.

Letters, asterisks, and acronyms following the code provide additional information about the benchmark.

What’s in a Benchmark Code?

Map Key

CONNECTING ARROWS

indicate that achieving one benchmark contributes to achieving the other. The exact meaning of a connection is not indicated explicitly, but connections can be based on the logic of the subject matter or on cognitive research about how students learn.

What does an Arrow mean?

• One idea “contributes to the understanding of the other”

• Knowing one idea can be “helpful in learning” the other idea.

• The idea may be an essential prerequisite, but does not have to be.

Map Key

GRADE RANGES

suggest when most students could achieve these benchmarks. A benchmark’s position within a grade range does not indicate the grade in which it should be taught, nor does its position indicate that it should be taught before or after another benchmark unless there is an arrow connecting them.

Map Key

STRAND LABELS

help the reader find things in the map and get a sense of the map’s content. Strands loosely suggest ideas or skills that develop over time. Strands often interweave and share benchmarks.

The boundaries of strands are not always obvious.

A given benchmark may be part of more than one strand causing two or more strands to overlap.

Map Key

CROSS-REFERENCES

TO OTHER MAPS

indicate that the benchmark also appears on the maps that are listed.

Map Key

OFF-MAP CONNECTIONS

show links to the codes of closely related benchmarks when it is not possible to include the full text of the benchmark on a map. Arrows in off-map connections imply the same relationship between benchmarks as they do when they connect boxes to boxes.

Use the Index of Mapped Benchmarks to search for maps on which a benchmark appears in its full text.

Index of Mapped Benchmarks

• The index entries are not terms or topics.

• Each index entry is for a unique benchmark statement identified by its benchmark code.

• The index is organized according to the structure of the chapters and sections in Benchmarks for Science Literacy.

• Each index entry provides the names of the maps, along with the volume and page numbers, on which the benchmark can be found.

Map Connections in Atlas 1

Identifying Clusters in Atlas 1

The maps in a cluster are identified in a box in the top right corner of the facing page.

Map Key