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Using Interactive Technology to Support Students’ Understanding of the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming

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Abstract

In this work, we examine middle school students’ understanding of the greenhouse effect and global warming. We designed and refined a technology-enhanced curriculum module called Global Warming: Virtual Earth. In the module activities, students conduct virtual experiments with a visualization of the greenhouse effect. They analyze data and draw conclusions about how individual variables effect changes in the Earth’s temperature. They also carry out inquiry activities to make connections between scientific processes, the socio-scientific issues, and ideas presented in the media. Results show that participating in the unit increases students’ understanding of the science. We discuss how students integrate their ideas about global climate change as a result of using virtual experiments that allow them to explore meaningful complexities of the climate system.

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Notes

  1. We recognize that using the term trap could lead to incorrect assumptions about how greenhouse gases and infrared energy interact. The actual process entails the greenhouse gases absorbing and re-emitting infrared energy into the atmosphere. In our discussions with students and teachers, we referred to this as an interaction between the greenhouse gases and infrared energy. As teachers and researchers presented the visualization, they pointed out the limitations of scientific models and discussed the visualization as a scientific model that seemed to show greenhouse gases making the infrared energy bounce back but that the actual process involved absorption and re-emission.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants No. ESI-0334199 and ESI-0455877. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors gratefully acknowledge comments and discussion with members of the Technology-Enhanced Learning in Science center.

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Correspondence to Keisha Varma.

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Varma, K., Linn, M.C. Using Interactive Technology to Support Students’ Understanding of the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming. J Sci Educ Technol 21, 453–464 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-011-9337-9

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