Climate change education should include a focus on solutions and emotions

Due to the increasing global impacts of climate change, climate change education is becoming increasingly prevalent. Integrating climate change for classroom curricula can be challenging, however, in part because climate science is interdisciplinary. Previous research indicates that numerous factors affect students' receptivity to climate change education, including what they have learned outside the classroom and their families' beliefs. The importance of cultivating wonder is has been explored in science education but little research has been done on this concept in environmental education. Research has also found that tying climate change impacts to teachers' and students' experiences is critical, as is making space for the emotional implications. In this research, the authors were interested in students' questions, which they called wondering questions, inspired by what they were learning. This study investigated middle students' wondering questions after a climate change activity and how their teachers adapted the activity based on these questions.

The study took place across multiple classrooms in Maryland, which ranged in size from 20-25 students. A total of 14 middle school science classrooms were given the activity “It's a Gassy World.” In this activity, students do a hands-on experiment to understand how much CO2 may be absorbed in warming oceans. During the study, students wrote down their wondering questions as part of the activity. In addition, the researchers conducted interviews with five teachers about how they would use this information to modify future uses of the activity based on the questions students had written. The data were analyzed for themes.

The researchers identified three categories of wondering questions. The first category, direct observation, is focused on the observations and data with which the student was engaged. The second, interdisciplinary connection, were questions that connect multiple topics. The third category, future projections, were questions pertaining to the future of observed impacts of climate change. Most of the questions were interdisciplinary questions, and future projections were a close second. The diversity of questions can be explained by students' curiosity and desire to learn more about the unknown.

In response to students' wondering questions, the teachers were inspired to make changes to make to the activity. Some students had questions about the impacts of climate change and solutions for these problems. In response to this, many of the teachers planned on adding information about climate change mitigation. All the teachers planned on adding real-world data for the activity in the future.

When looking for words related to emotion in students' wondering questions, the authors identified them primarily in the future projections category, such as when students were considering impacts or solutions. Teachers mostly talked about their own emotions rather than those of their students. Previous studies suggest that teachers' attentiveness to student emotion is essential for engaging them in science.

This study has limitations. The results of this study are specific to the participants and place; another study in a different location may have different results. The wondering questions that students in Maryland have about climate change may differ from the wondering questions from other areas of the United States or the world. Another limitation that the researchers pointed out is that the teachers they interviewed all had 10-15 years of teaching experience. Teachers with other levels of experience may have had different reactions to students' wondering questions.

The authors recommend including information about adaptation, mitigation, and solutions in climate change education. Being attentive and focusing on the students' emotions could help them engage with the topic.