Global change in the K-12 classroom: An environmental outreach curriculum with mutual benefits for scientists and society

Background/Question/Methods

In today’s era of rapid global change, it is more important than ever for scientists to work towards bridging the gap between science and society. Scientist involvement in K-12 education is an important venue for outreach, and presents an opportunity to fulfill the ‘broader impacts’ criterion associated with National Science Foundation grants. Here, we outline a model for developing effective global change curriculum and provide a case study in which we address two global change issues: nutrient pollution and invasive species. We designed our curriculum around an inexpensive and simple classroom ‘mesocosm’ experiment where students constructed miniature freshwater ecosystems that were subsequently perturbed by fertilizer and invasive snails. Students constructed their mesocosms in glass jars with material collected from local wetlands, using a hands-on, small group approach to learning. The students monitored their ponds by measuring nutrient concentrations, dissolved oxygen, primary production, invertebrate diversity and snail growth and reproduction. Throughout the project, we incorporated topics such as the scientific method, units of measurement, food webs, energy flow, and basic biogeochemistry, which directly addressed national and statewide science standards. We brought ‘real-world’ relevance to these learning goals by highlighting local examples of global change, which were often familiar to the students.   

Results/Conclusions

Over 3 weeks, the ponds illustrated dramatic environmental responses to eutrophication and snail invasion, which were easy for students to observe, record and share with one another. Students gained a broad understanding of these global change issues that are often challenging to convey with traditional teaching approaches. The teachers also benefited by learning how complex environmental issues can be made into tangible lessons that capture the student’s interest. Scientists involved in the program improved their communications skills and effectively integrated their research interests into a unique outreach program, making them better equipped to interact with the public, policy-makers and business leaders. Furthermore, scientists with broad communication training are more desirable on the job market, where interdisciplinary projects are increasingly common. We hope our case study will inspire scientists to engage in K-12 education, which provides an outreach program to build into future research grants. Even more rewarding is the ability to contribute solutions to pressing environmental problems by engaging society through the education of our future generation.