Experts' Model-Based Reasoning and Interdisciplinary Understanding About Carbon Cycling

• In Event: Postsecondary Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The global carbon cycle (CC) is a key environmental literacy issue. Understanding the CC requires interdisciplinary knowledge informed by multiple science disciplines. To examine core principles and interdisciplinary nature of CC, ten experts from various science disciplines were interviewed and asked to create their carbon cycling models. The concepts and interdisciplinarity were compared to CC-related topics in the US Framework and Next Generation Science Standards. The experts showed a breadth of interdisciplinary knowledge than the standards. Many topics not included in the standards could feasibly be added (e.g., process of carbon sequestration into the ocean and rocks, and CO2 emissions by volcanic activity). This study generates concrete recommendations for science standards to guide the revision of existing curricula.

Authors

• Hye Sun You, University of Texas at Austin

• Cesar Delgado, North Carolina State University

• kaitlyn Deatley, Arkansas Tech University