1. Charles W. (Andy) Anderson September 18, 2008 Learning Progressions in Environmental Science Literacy

2. Learning Progression Framework (Handout Table 1)

3. Hierarchy of Progress Variables Practices –Inquiry, Accounts, Citizenship decision making Strands within the Accounts practice – Carbon, water, biodiversity Analyzing accounts in each strand –Processes or phenomena (types of accounts) –Principles or elements (characteristics of each account)

4. Learning Progressions Include: Upper anchor: Societal expectations and values (top down) Lower anchor: Results of research on understanding of learners at the beginning of the age span (bottom up). Intermediate levels of understanding that link lower and upper anchors

5. Accounts Upper Anchor: Processes in Socio-ecological Systems

6. Upper Anchor for Carbon Environmental Systems Box Combustion, cellular respiration Photosynthesis Matter: CO 2, H 2 O, and minerals Matter: Organic matter & O 2 Biosynthesis, digestion, food webs, fossil fuel formation Movement of CO 2, H 2 O, and minerals Energy: Sunlight Energy: Chemical potential energy Energy: Work & heat Tracing Matter and Energy

7. Challenges in Describing Lower Anchor How does the world look to fourth graders? It’s NOT about matter and energy Key Challenges 1.Developing precise descriptions of fuzzy thinking 2.Describing principles or elements of accounts 3.Describing processes or types of accounts

8. 1. Precise Descriptions of Fuzzy Reasoning The match is “burned up.” Does this mean that it has turned into nothing (vs. it has been dismissed from consciousness) Does a tree need energy? “Yes.” Where does the tree get its energy? –Open response or multiple choice: “Sunlight.” –Multiple true-false: Sunlight, water, air, soil nutrients Sometimes trying to pin down exact meanings is missing the point. Sometimes there are no exact meanings to pin down.

9. 2. Describing principles or elements of accounts Upper anchor –Scale: Hierarchy of systems at different scales –Matter: Conservation of mass and atoms –Energy: Conservation and degradation of energy Lower anchor –Students use words like “matter” and “energy,” but with different meanings –Pushing for details seems to be “missing the point” from the students’ perspective –What are the developmental precursors to matter, energy, and scale?

10. Helpful Reading in Trying to Understand Children’s Accounts Steven Pinker on semantics of grammar Leonard Talmy on force-dynamic reasoning Burke and Shakespeare on “all the world’s a stage” Tina Grotzer on naïve causation Developmental research (Chapter 3 in Taking Science to School) Aristotle on: –Causes –Patterns of change (e.g., natural and violent motion) –Chain of being

11. Precursors to Matter: The Great Chain of Being (God, angels) People Animals Plants Settings: objects, materials, etc. Like main actors, supporting actors, props, and scenery on a stage From Didacus Valades, Rhetorica Christiana (1579)

12. Precursors to Energy: Force-dynamic Reasoning Natural tendencies of agents and objects: “Will power” as prime cause of events –(God, angels) People: Free will –Animals: Limited free will and vital “force” –Plants: Vital force, no free will –Settings: objects, materials, etc.: Natural (laws of nature) and violent (will of agents) motion or change Balance of “forces” –Natural tendencies of agents and objects –Enablers (or “needs”): light, food, nutrients, water, air, etc. help agents fulfill their natural tendencies –Antagonists: cold, disease, etc.

13. Where Does the “Power” Lie? Chain of Being: Power lies in God or human will. Power is attenuated in lesser animals, plants, objects. Natural Science: Power lies in the laws of nature (including chemistry and thermodynamics) that govern all systems, including humans. Loop Diagram: Human will does not transcend laws of nature, but it does determine the future of socio-ecological systems.

14. 3. Describing Types of Processes Black: Processes that students at all Levels have accounts for Red: Level 1 accounts based on informal cultural models Green: Level 4 accounts based on scientific models

15. Possible Patterns of Learning Scale: Increasing awareness of mechanisms at smaller scales, contexts at larger scales Matter: –Recognizing continuity between agents (people, plants, animals) and enablers (air, water, food, nutrients) –Agents subject to laws that govern objects and settings Energy: –Natural and violent motion (metaphorical “uphill” and “downhill) as precursors to thermodynamics –Agents subject to laws that govern objects and settings

16. Challenges Ahead Empirical validation of frameworks and assessments –Mark Wilson tomorrow –Teaching experiments Mapping out intermediate levels Expanding learning progressions –College level –Quantitative reasoning –Decision making in citizen roles

17. Thank You Major Contributors Lindsey Mohan, Hui Jin, Kristin Gunckel, Beth Covitt, Edna Tan, Blakely Tsurusaki, Jing Chen, Hasan Abdel-Kareem, Rebecca Dudek, Josephine Zesaguli, Hsin-Yuan Chen, Brook Wilke, Laurel Hartley, Hamin Baek, Kennedy Onyancha, Chris Wilson, Ed Smith, and Jim Gallagher at Michigan State University Mark Wilson, Karen Draney, Jinnie Choi, and Yong-Sang Lee at the University of California, Berkeley. 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. Website: http://edr1.educ.msu.edu/EnvironmentalLit/index.htm

18. Practices of Environmental Science Literate Citizens Inquiry: developing accounts by learning from experience Accounts: using scientific knowledge to explain and predict Citizenship: making environmentally responsible decisions based on accounts Private roles: learner, consumer, worker Public roles: voter, volunteer, advocate

19. Strands: Types of Accounts Carbon: Processes that generate, transform, and oxidize organic carbon in socio-ecological systems Water: Processes that move and transform water, and substances in water in socio-ecological systems Biodiversity: Processes that affect survival, growth, reproduction, and selection of organisms in socio-ecological systems

20. Processes We Ask About Carbon: plant and animal growth, animal movement, decay, combustion Water: rain and snow, water soaking into the ground, springs, wells, lakes and streams, water pollution and purification Biodiversity: organisms living their life cycles, evolution, succession

21. Linking Principles: Comparing Elements of Accounts Life: What is the difference between living and non-living systems? –Lower anchor: “Vital force” or natural tendency of living things –Upper anchor: Tracing matter (cellular metabolic processes) and tracing information (homeostasis and genetics) Matter: What’s the “stuff” in processes –Lower anchor: Visible parts of systems, including flames, excluding gases –Upper anchor: Chemical substances, made of atoms and molecules that can be transformed according to chemical principles

22. Linking Principles: Comparing Elements of Accounts Cause/agency: What makes things happen? –Lower anchor: Balance of “forces:” natural tendencies, enablers, antagonists –Upper anchor: Second Law of Thermodynamics: Degradable energy Energy: What is energy? –Lower anchor: All purpose enabler, fudge factor –Upper anchor: Constraint on processes Scale: Mechanisms and contexts –Lower anchor: “Forces” change visible things –Upper anchor: Hidden atomic-molecular mechanisms, connections through large-scale systems and processes

23. Intermediate Levels: Upper Elementary through College Level 4: Successful principled, model-based reasoning about processes in socio-ecological systems (high school standards). Level 3: “School science” narratives of processes in systems (middle school standards). Level 2: Events driven by hidden mechanisms (elementary standards). Level 1: Macroscopic accounts based on force- dynamic causation (natural tendencies with enablers or antagonists) and linked by informal cultural models

24. Level 2 Reasoning about the Carbon Cycle Animals Plants Carbon dioxide Oxygen Decay Plants NutrientsFood chains Sunlight The oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle Energy sources for plants: sunlight, nutrients, water Energy sources for animals: food, water Decomposers don’t need energy

25. The Research Story Iterative Development and Validation of Learning Progressions

26. Criteria for Validation Conceptual coherence: a learning progression should “make sense,” in that it tells a comprehensible and reasonable story of how initially naïve students can develop mastery in a domain. Compatibility with current research: a learning progression should build on findings or frameworks of the best current research about student learning. Empirical validation: The assertions we make about student learning should be grounded in empirical data about real students.

27. Applying the Criteria to Specific Parts of the Framework (Handout Table 2)

28. Development and Validation: An Iterative Process Develop initial framework Develop assessments (e.g. written tests, interviews) and/or teaching experiments based on the framework Use data from assessments and teaching experiments to revise framework Develop new assessments…. Mark Wilson will talk about empirical validation