Term
Spring 2023
Capstone
Capstone Project
Degree Name
MAED: NSEE
Facilitator(s)
Maggie Struck
Content Expert
Marty Baker
Abstract
Getting out of the classroom can be some of the most memorable and rewarding experiences for students. As an AP Environmental Science teacher, I began thinking of ways students can perform outdoor investigations while increasing their environmental literacy. The research question I posed for this project is: how can high school science teachers improve students’ environmental and scientific literacy and help them understand their environmental impact through outdoor investigations? After researching different techniques and ideas, I decided on creating three different outdoor investigations that focus on three different systems of Earth. The first investigation focuses on water; students will be conducting various water quality tests where they can determine if the water is healthy for aquatic organisms and/or human consumption. The second investigation deals with soil texture and quality. During this investigation, students will be comparing soil quality taken from two different ecosystems. The last investigation has students taking a look at the air quality around their school. They will set up two different tests with one collecting data on particulate matter, and the other will focus on carbon dioxide emissions from various vehicles. The goal from all three of these investigations is to get the students outside into nature while learning important problem solving and critical thinking skills. Overall, students will be able to benefit and increase their environmental literacy from performing these outdoor investigations, but they are not enough to create environmentally literate students alone. Students need multiple different resources and methods in order to achieve the best results, but getting students outside and conducting hands-on research is one of the best ways to increase awareness towards the environment.
Project Type
Curriculum
Keywords
Curriculum, Environmental Studies
Recommended Citation
Mowen, Mack, "Increasing High School Students’ Environmental and Scientific Literacies Through Outdoor Investigations" (2023). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects. 924.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_cp/924
dc_type
text
dc_publisher
DigitalCommons@Hamline
dc_format
application/pdf
dc_source
School of Education Student Capstone Projects