1. This research is supported in part by three grants from the National Science Foundation: Developing a research-based learning progression for the role of carbon in environmental systems (REC 0529636), the Center for Curriculum Materials in Science (ESI-0227557) and Long-term Ecological Research in Row-crop Agriculture (DEB 0423627. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. EVIRONMENTAL LITERACY ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY Center for Curriculum Materials in Science (CCMS) A Learning Progression Focusing on the Role of Carbon in Environmental Systems Lindsey Mohan, Hsin-Yuan Chen, & Charles W. Anderson Michigan State University Lindsey Mohan, Hsin-Yuan Chen, & Charles W. Anderson Michigan State University Upper Anchor: Carbon cycling in socio-ecological systems Carbon-transforming processes are uniquely important in socio-ecological systems and understanding those processes is essential for citizens’ participation in environmental decision- making. Learning Progressions: Lower Anchor: students’ reasoning of specific concepts when they enter school. Upper Anchor: societal expectations about what high school students should understand  Loop Diagram  Generation of organic carbon  Transformation of organic carbon  Oxidation of organic carbon Challenges in achieving upper anchor:  Recognizing the chemical basis of life  Identifying matter or chemical substances  Reasoning at multiple scales  Connecting carbon-transforming processes Methods and Learning Progression Validation Participants: 314 students in grades 4-10 from 12 classrooms, among which 280 students participated written assessments and 34 students participated clinical interviews. The majority of students were from Michigan public schools, except 40 students from Math and Science center in Michigan, 20 from Korean-based Department of Defense school, and 14 from urban and suburban schools in California. Data source: Written responses to 9 items and audio-taped interviews Unit of Analysis: Accounts of processes in socio-ecological systems Validation Process:  Conceptual coherence: tells a comprehensible and reasonable story of how initially naïve students can develop mastery in a domain.  Compatibility with current research: build on findings or frameworks of the best current research about student learning.  Empirical criteria: assertions grounded in empirical data about real students We feel we have met the first two criteria reasonably well, and have made some progress toward empirical validation. The calibration study we are conducting this year and future teaching experiments will help us make further progress toward empirical validation. Tracing matter levels and exemplar responses Implications Discussions of Trends Figure 2 shows the percentage of elementary, middle and high school students who gave accounts at each Level. Note that “0” represents “no response” The authors would like to thank several people for their invaluable contributions to the work presented in this poster. We would like to acknowledge contributions made by Jing Chen, Hui Jin, Kennedy Onyancha, and Hamin Baek, from Michigan State University and Karen Draney, Mark Wilson, Yong-Sang Lee, and Jinnie Choi, at the University of California, Berkeley.  Implications for research: We believe this work and other work on learning progressions provides an important test of the learning progression hypothesis— the idea that it is possible to develop large-scale frameworks that meet research- based standards for theoretical and empirical validation.Our work suggests a conceptually coherent learning progression is grounded in current research and real student data. We have made some progress toward empirical validation, and plan to continue the empirical validation process through our current calibration study.  Implications for development of standards and assessments: Standards and assessments are currently developed through a linear process: Standards are developed and finalized, then those standards are used as the basis for assessments and curricula. In contrast, learning progressions are developed through an iterative process of design-based research, where the results of the assessments are used to revise frameworks, and vice versa.  Implications for curriculum and teaching: We have realized that the K-12 science curriculum does a reasonable job of getting students from Levels 1, 2, and 3 to Level 4 accounts of tracing matter. By Level 4 students give relatively coherent accounts of processes in single systems and name several materials involved in those processes. For passing current standardized science assessments, this level of understanding is often sufficient. It is our belief, however, that students need to develop more sophisticated accounts of carbon cycling if they are to understand the global issues that our society faces. Level 5 understanding is essential for students to evaluate evidence-based arguments and participate knowledgeably in responsible citizenship. They will not achieve this understanding without sustained, well-organized support from schools and science teachers. MacroscopicLarge Scale LevelsCharacteristicsGeneration Plant Growing Transformation Eating Apple Oxidation Losing weight Trees and Global Climate Change 5 Qualitative model- based accounts of processes - recognize chemical basis of life at the cellular level - identify and conserve key organic and inorganic materials moving through systems, distinguish matter from energy -accounts connect atomic-molecular and macroscopic and/or large scales The plants increase in weight comes from CO 2 in the air. The carbon in that molecule is used to create glucose, and several polysaccharides which are used for support. The child is taking in starches or sugars … through cellular respiration, it’s getting rid of water, it breathes it out…they expel carbon dioxide as a waste product His fat was lost when the bonds of the glucose were broken down into H 2 O + CO 2 by cellular respiration. Trees convert CO 2 and water into organic materials. Cutting down trees would cause higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels because fewer plants do photosynthesis and because carbon stored in the trees and soil is released into the atmosphere as CO 2. The greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, trap heat from the sun, which causes global warming. 4 School science narratives of processes - recognize that the chemical basis of life at cellular (or beyond organ) level identify some key organic and inorganic matter, but cannot conserve because limited understanding of chemical identities and confuse matter and energy - use atomic-molecular or cellular accounts to explain macro or large-scale events The weight comes mostly from H 2 O it receives which it uses in its light reactions to eventually produce glucose to provide itself with energy. In your stomach, you break the apple down into chyme. From there the apple goes to your small intestine to absorb much of the nutrients. Because when you are exercising you are burning fat away. When it's going away it just comes out of your body as water and gas. When we cut down trees it leaves a lot of CO 2 in the atmosphere because there are less trees to take CO 2 and make O 2 with more CO 2 in the atmosphere it keeps more heat on earth, which is what already is causing global warming. 3 Events with hidden mechanisms - recognize hidden structures and mechanisms responsible for sustaining life (e.g. organs) - focus on visible or tangible materials and can conserve these, recognize gases, but do not conserve - mostly “hidden” scale explains macro and large scales I think the plant's increase comes from the minerals in the soil help it increase weight. It goes down the esophagus and into the large and small intestines then to the stomach It turned into energy & it got burnt and came out through sweat. Yes, I do think that cutting down trees will increase global warming the soil will get dry and the ground will get warmer and then the atmosphere will get warmer 1/2 Natural tendencies and human intentions -Natural tendencies to live and grow -Focus on observable materials and do not always distinguish these from objects -macroscopic, visible scale I think its leaves. Leaves comes from trees; the weight comes from when a plant grows the weight also grows bigger After we eat an apple, it disintegrates. Our body smashes it up and it comes out as feces It burns away and you can't feel it Animals need trees, they are food and shelter to most animals. Human Social and Economic Systems Human actions in roles such as: Workers Consumers Voters Learners Atmosphere (Physical Systems) (composition of air; atmospheric CO 2 ) Biosphere (Biological Systems) (Food chains, growth & weight loss, carbon sequestration, organic carbon ) Ecosystem services: Foods and fuels as the sources for energy consumption and alterations in land use Human Impact: human energy consumption and land use causing climate change over time Generation of organic carbon & harnessing energy (photosynthesis) Movement of organic carbon & passing on energy Oxidation of organic carbon & energy dissipating (respiration, combustion) Environmental Systems CO 2 emissions Food & Fuels Life: Younger learners (Level 1 and 2) perceive a world where plants and animals work by different rules from inanimate objects. They explain changes in organisms based on natural tendencies and vitalistic notions. Level 3 students begin to delve into the hidden mechanisms (including functions of organs) underlying visible life processes, and recognize materials are incorporated into the bodies or structure of organisms. Level 4 students recognize cells are the basic unit of life, and describe cellular life processes. Level 5 students consistently use chemical processes in cells to explain metabolic processes in organisms. Materials: Level 1 and 2 learn to distinguish objects from materials in which they are made. At this level gases are treated as ephemeral, more like conditions or forms of energy such as heat and light than like “real matter”— solids and liquids. At Level 3, students recognize hidden structure of materials and recognize that gases are matter, but can only conserve visible materials through physical changes. At Level 4 students attempts to conserve chemical substances, including gases, through processes, but still often fail distinguish matter from energy. By Level 5, students consistently recognize organic and inorganic chemical substances, and conserve these materials through processes. Scale: Level 1 and 2 students perceive a world where events occur at a macroscopic scale. Level 3 and 4 students recognize that events at the macroscopic and large scale result from hidden and atomic-molecular processes. Level 5 students consistently make connections between scales and use atomic-molecular and cellular models to explain macroscopic and large scale events