Webinar: Thinking Scientifically in a Changing World

Webinar Recording and Presentation Slides

Presentation Slides :NGSS_ESS_Webinar_3_13_19.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 9.4MB Mar14 19)

Presenter: Doug Lombardi, Temple University

Webinar Description

Critique and evaluation are central to the scientific enterprise. A Framework for K-12 Science Education identifies critiquing, arguing, and analyzing as evaluative processes that are foundational to both science and science learning. However, it can be challenging for students to think critically and scientifically about many socio-science topics found in Earth, environmental, and space science. The MEL Project team has developed instructional scaffolds that help students to purposefully evaluate connections between lines of evidence and alternative explanations of phenomena. In doing so, students construct deep understanding of socio-scientific topics, as well as strengthen their scientific thinking skills. In this webinar, teachers will learn about these instructional scaffolds, which cover complex socio-scientific issues including climate change, freshwater resources, fracking, universe origins, and fossil dating. The MEL2 team has created these scaffolds through support from the National Science Foundation, with all materials freely available to teachers.