For students to fully understand climate change, they need to understand the mechanisms behind it. Climate change is a complex topic, which can often lead students to have many misconceptions about it. For students to respond to climate change issues effectively, they need accurate knowledge about climate change. To make a curriculum that better educates about climate change, researchers need to know the existing ideas and misconceptions that the students already have. Researchers developed a Climate Change Concept Inventory (CCCI) that lists essential climate change concepts. This list was used to understand the student's level of climate knowledge. This study looked to answer what concepts the students needed to know about climate change mechanisms and what students understood about these concepts.
In this study, 229 students across six different schools, ages 13-16 years, were interviewed on CCCI concepts. The interviews were open formatted so that the students could clearly express themselves. Students also worked together to complete diagrams and tables to help show their understanding of climate change. The researchers recorded audio and took notes while conducting interviews. Based on the transcripts, concepts students discussed were matched to concepts on the CCCI list.
The results showed a few key misconceptions students had about climate change. Most noticeably, students overestimated the amount of fossil fuels burning in the carbon cycle, proportion of UV in sunlight, and the proportion of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The researchers were concerned with these overestimations because it may lead students to believe that small changes cannot make significant impacts. The results also showed students had misconceptions about the earth's energy balance. Students had difficulty understanding energy's ability to change forms and that energy from the sun is absorbed and then re-emitted. All these misconceptions could stem from students not fully understanding equilibrium and proportions.
Students also struggled with understanding fossil fuels and the carbon cycle. Many students struggled to know the origins of carbon, and many thought that burning fossil fuels creates carbon. This may be because of media attention focusing on atmospheric carbon pollution or students struggling with carbon chemistry concepts. Furthermore, students struggled with the concept of carbon dioxide solubility. Oceans are a major carbon sink, yet the majority of students believed that the ocean had little to no carbon.
Students also struggled with understanding greenhouse gases. Most students had the misconception that water vapor is not a greenhouse gas when it is, in fact, the most common greenhouse gas. Additionally, students struggled with understanding the relationship between electromagnetic radiation and greenhouse gases. None of the participants could explain the mechanism for how greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere.
The authors pointed out that there are some limitations with using concept inventories. When using concept inventories, the reasons behind the responses cannot be explored. A second limitation is the small sample size for this study, making it challenging to generalize the results.
The authors of this paper made recommendations based on the misconceptions held by the students. Many struggled with understanding that small quantities of a substance can still have a significant impact on the overall balance of the atmosphere. Teaching about proportions, equilibrium, and quantities may help address this misconception. Participants also struggled with understanding greenhouse gases. The authors recommend not just having students memorize the gases, but also educating them on the molecular structures of greenhouse gases. Many students also struggled with the origins of carbon and the carbon cycle. This could be solved by teaching in ways that will allow the students to visualize the carbon cycle. The authors recommend using symbol equations rather than word equations and using chemical model kits in the classroom. Lastly, they recommend climate change activities use concepts from topics students have already learned to help scaffold the learning, so students can apply their knowledge in a new context.
The Bottom Line
<p>Misconceptions about climate change could become a hindrance to students taking climate change action. To help students understand climate change, educators need to know the concepts they struggle with and how to address these struggles. The authors of this study used a climate change concept inventory, or a list of climate concepts, to identify which topics students struggled to understand. Students had difficulty understanding the proportions and equilibrium of the planet and its atmosphere. Students also struggled with the origin of fossil fuels, carbon, and the carbon cycle. Lastly, students had misconceptions about greenhouse gases and the classification of greenhouse gases. The authors recommend learning activities target these specific concerns to increase students' climate change comprehension, such as, activities about proportions and ones to help visualize the carbon cycle.</p>
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