The study examines how preservice chemistry teachers can use "future phenomena" – pressing societal issues that affect students' lives and communities – as contexts for teaching fundamental chemistry concepts. The teachers were attending a teaching methods course at the University of Utah. It was a university-based secondary science teaching methods course that preservice teachers (PSTs) took during their final year of study, while they were completing their student teaching. In the university-based teaching methods course, preservice teachers designed and enacted 45-60 minute "macro-rehearsals" of lessons centered on climate-related phenomena. Three case studies are presented through teacher reflections:
Clay developed a lesson on ocean acidification to teach chemical equilibrium and Le Chatelier's principle, using hands-on activities where students added COâ‚‚ to solutions to observe effects similar to those occurring in oceans. Kaitlin created a "toxic air scavenger hunt" exploring Salt Lake City's arsenic-contaminated dust problem due to mining waste and climate-driven drought, connecting this to chemical bonding concepts. Jarom designed a lesson using copper sulfate and iron to model chemical reactions in copper mining, helping students understand single replacement reactions while exploring environmental impacts and trade-offs.
The authors identify several key findings:
1) Future phenomena provide meaningful contexts for teaching chemistry concepts while helping students see chemistry's relevance to real-world problems
2) Rehearsals offer valuable low-stakes practice for developing complex teaching skills
3) New teachers face significant challenges implementing climate-focused teaching, including curricular constraints, time limitations, and the emotional weight of climate topics.
Successful climate empowerment in chemistry classrooms demands ongoing support beyond preservice education, including curriculum resources and institutional structures that enable teachers to build "a culture of climate empowerment where conversations and phenomena about current climate or environmental issues are frequent.
The Bottom Line
This 2024 study explores how macro-rehearsals (extended approximations of teaching practice) can prepare pre-service chemistry teachers to teach for climate empowerment. The researchers, a team of in-service chemistry teachers and their former methods course instructor, document how phenomenon-based instruction focusing on climate-related issues can help chemistry teachers develop skills in teaching that addresses not only scientific knowledge but also social, cultural, ethical, and emotional facets of climate change. The study analyzes three preservice teachers' experiences developing and rehearsing lessons on ocean acidification, toxic air pollution, and copper mining, which they later implemented in their classrooms as beginning teachers. The authors argue that while rehearsals provide valuable preparation, teachers need broader institutional support to overcome systemic challenges in implementing climate-focused teaching consistently.