Teaching Environmental Sustainability With a Watershed Modeling Curriculum

• In Event: 63.064 - Environmental Education Across Subjects and Milieus: Investigating Student Learning and Inclusive Climate

Abstract

The study investigates whether a watershed-modeling curriculum is an effective tool for increasing students’ understanding of watersheds and the impact of human decisions on local watershed conditions. While statistically significant learning gains were measured, most students failed to reach the highest levels of watershed understanding. Further refinement of the curricula is needed to help students trace water along multiple pathways and to enable them to trace the connections among groundwater, surface water and atmospheric water vapor.

Authors

• Nanette I. Marcum-Dietrich, Millersville University of Pennsylvania

• Susan E. Gill, Stroud Water Research Center

• Carolyn Staudt, The Concord Consortium