Impactful, Personally Meaningful, Place-Based Inquiry: Microplastics in Our Water, Air, Food, and Bodies

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 2:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Research and Remedy: Nurturing Our Indigenous Peoples and Protecting Our Environments (Table 7)

Abstract

This case study on microplastics research in Hawaii and American Samoa, remote archipelagos in the North and South Pacific, examines how place-based, inquiry-oriented STEM content and pedagogy can engage teachers, students, and community in engaged learning when the topic of inquiry is personally meaningful, impacts all, and learners have the power to manage and mitigate their exposure. The case study further illuminates how place-based inquiry oriented to sustainability can lead to the formation of a diverse community of practice.

Authors

• Pauline W.U. Chinn, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa

• Stacy Potes, University of Hawai'i Mānoa