Exhibition Guide for Global Warming Facts & Our Future
 HOW IS THE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE CORRELATED WITH THE NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS?
Fieldtrips to the Koshland Science Museum are modeled on recommendations made in the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996). Through the information presented and opportunities to interact with hands-on displays, the Global Warming Facts & Our Future exhibition meets the following Inquiry and Science Content standards.
For Middle School Students
Content Standard A – Understanding about Scientific Inquiry
“Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations”
During the Interdisciplinary-Group and whole-class discussions, students think critically and logically to draw links between evidence and explanations. They do this by teaching their peers and by considering the evidence that can be used to guide decisions related to climate change.
Content Standard B - Physical Science
“Students should develop an understanding of properties of matter, motion and forces and transfer of energy”
Station 1 demonstrates the transfer of energy through a model with which students can actually feel the “greenhouse effect.” Station 2 provides students with an opportunity to better understand some of the ways that the motion of the Earth, variation in solar emission, variation in ocean circulation, and changes in greenhouse gases and aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere contribute to changes in Earth’s climate. The ultimate effect of energy transfer is shown through the global warming data presented in stations 3 and 4.
Content Standard C – Life Science
“Students should develop an understanding of regulation and behavior and populations and ecosystems”
Students develop a deeper understanding of populations and ecosystems in stations 4 and 5 as they learn about possible impacts of global climate change and changing ecosystems. The changing but uncertain future predicts adaptations among organisms and populations as temperature and water availability fluctuates.
Content Standard D - Earth and Space Science
“Students should develop an understanding of Earth in the solar system”
Through data and information presented in stations 2 and 3 on global atmospheric patterns and the role of oceans in the changing climate system, students develop a better understanding of the structure of the Earth system, Earth’s history, and Earth in the solar system. Students also learn that solar energy is the main source of energy on Earth and that climate patterns, seasons, and ecosystems depend on the input, transformation, and retention of solar energy.
Content Standard E – Science and Technology
“Students should develop understandings about science and technology”
Students develop a better understanding about science and technology as they see the many ways in which scientists have collected data and have made predictions about future climate change. This is best seen in stations 4 and 5 where methods of data collection and analysis are explained. Data from the last century are used in computer models to understand patterns of the past.
Content Standard F – Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
“Students should develop understanding of natural hazards and risks and benefits”
Students gain a better understanding of natural hazards as they relate to global climate patterns. As students think about potential impacts of climate changes, they are challenged to think about estimating rates of change, types of natural disasters and possible locations of those disasters. Stations 4 and 5 provide opportunities to consider possible future events.
Content Standard G – History and Nature of Science
“Students should develop an understanding of science as a human endeavor and nature of science”
All of the stations describe human endeavors to understand the climate system and to use that understanding to predict future events.
For High School Students
Content Standard A – Understanding about Scientific Inquiry
“Students should develop understandings about scientific inquiry, recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models and communicate and defend a scientific argument”
Through the “use of empirical standards, logical argument and skepticism” students analyze the data presented, evaluate how the data were generated, and consider the validity and significance of the data in predicting potential global climate change. By using evidence to support and defend their positions in both small- and large-group discussions, students think logically and critically about potential future consequences of global climate change.
Content Standard B – Physical Science
“Students should develop understanding of chemical reactions, conservation of energy and the increase in disorder, and interactions of energy and matter”
In station 1, students explore the role of greenhouse gases in natural and amplified warming. Station 2 explores evidence of human impacts and changing CO2 levels and allows students to apply their knowledge of dynamic systems, data analysis, and the interactions of matter and energy. In station 3, students look at methods of collecting evidence and ways of interpreting evidence. Station 4, using computer modeling, applies knowledge of chemical interactions and the consequences of those interactions to forecast a changing but uncertain climatic future.
Content Standard C – The Cell
“Students should develop understanding of the interdependence of organisms, and matter, energy & organization in living systems”
In stations 2, 3, and 4, students explore how the carbon cycle, cellular functions, chemical reactions, and human population size and activities affect the environment. Data from prehistoric climates allow students to apply their understanding of matter, energy, and organization in past living systems to think critically about the impacts of human behavior. Students use models to predict the effects of future climate change on health and disease, agriculture, changing water resources, and loss of biodiversity.
Content Standard D – Earth and Space Science
“Students should develop an understanding of energy in the Earth system”
All of the stations give students a chance to work with scientific evidence regarding the effects of the Earth’s energy balance on climate. Students investigate evidence for global warming through deep time, collect data on past changes, and compare those data with more recent data and with changes in human population sizes and activities.
Content Standard E – Science and Technology
“Students should develop understandings about science and technology”
All of the stations provide opportunities for students to gather and analyze data developed by technological advances and modeling of systems. Students see how the amounts and forms of data increase as new technologies are developed and employed.
Content Standard F – Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
“Students should develop understanding of environmental quality, natural and human induced hazards, science and technology in local, national and global challenges”
All of the stations allow students to work in collaborative teams to collect data, think about the implications of the data, and consider potential future global challenges. After students understand the science, they have opportunities to discuss implications for public policy, and economics.
Content Standard G – History and the Nature of Science
“Students should develop an understanding of science as a human endeavor and nature of scientific knowledge”
In all of the stations, students learn that scientists share their methods and data, review each other’s work, and come to differing conclusions about results. Working as scientists, students discuss the data provided, share their interpretations, pose additional questions, and debate the significance of an uncertain future global climate.
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