Product Detail: NSTA Press Book

Description

Resources for Environmental Literacy offers a fresh way to enhance your classroom productivity. The environmental context it provides can improve your students’ science learning even as learning the science improves their ability to deal with five real-world topics:

• Biodiversity
• Genetically modified crops
• Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis
• Global climate change
• Radioactive waste

But this resource doesn’t encourage students to take a particular stand on these subjects. Instead, it builds skills in critical thinking and analytical reasoning about complex issues.

For ease of teaching, each of the book’s modules includes such useful features as:

• Student learning goals based on Benchmarks for Science Literacy and the Standards
• Background content for teachers, organized into sets of “essential questions”—such as “What is a species?” and “What is the science involved in the genetic engineering of crops?”—with answers you can draw on when guiding students.
• A suggested teaching approach, including misconceptions to watch out for and assessments to use.
• Student activities and materials you can adapt to your classroom needs.

Resources for Environmental Literacy is designed especially for teachers of middle school life science and physical science as well as high school Earth science, biology, and physics. The modules offer appropriate teaching strategies plus high-quality resources to deepen your students’ understanding of key environmental topics.

Ideas For Use

Additional Info

Contents

Preface
Introduction
About the Authors
Dedication

Biodiversity

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Student Learning Goals
From Benchmarks for Science Literacy
From National Science Education Standards

Background Content for Teachers
Essential Question 1: What Is a Species?
Essential Question 2: How Do Scientists Estimate the Number of Species?
Essential Question 3: Why Is There Greater Diversity in the Tropics?
Essential Question 4: How Are Humans and Other Organisms Dependent on Earth’s Great Biodiversity?
Essential Question 5: How Is the Earth’s Biodiversity Impacted by Human Behaviors?
Essential Question 6: What Are the Present Threats to Earth’s Biodiversity?

Teaching Approach
Activities Overview
Misconceptions
Assessing Student Learning
Recommended Resources:
• Books
• Websites

Student Activities
Activity 1: What in the World Happened to the Dinosaurs?
Activity 2: Are We Going to Follow the Dinosaurs?
Activity 3: What Is the Extinction Story Right Now?

Student Materials
What Do You Know About the Extinction of Dinosaurs?
Are We Going to Follow the Dinosaurs?
Benefits of Biodiversity
Threats of Species Extinction

Global Climate Change

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Student Learning Goals
From Benchmarks for Science Literacy
From National Science Education Standards

Background Content for Teachers
Essential Question 1: What Is the Difference Between Weather and Climate?
Essential Question 2: How Does the Earth Gain and Lose Heat?
Essential Question 3: What Causes the Earth’s Climate to Change?
Essential Question 4: If Global Warming Is Actually Happening, What Are the Likely Consequences?
Essential Question 5: If Global Warming Is Actually Happening, What Can Be Done About It?

Teaching Approach
Activities Overview
Misconceptions
Assessing Student Learning
Recommended Resources:
• Books
• Websites

Student Activities and Materials
Activity 1: LEARN Activity 5: Atmospheric Processes—Radiation
Activity 2: LEARN Activity 8: Differences Between Climate and Weather
Activity 3: LEARN Activity 9: Climate Variability
Activity 4: LEARN Activity 12: What Is a Greenhouse?
Activity 5: LEARN Activity 13: What Factors Impact a Greenhouse?
Activity 6: LEARN Activity 15: What Is the Carbon Cycle?

Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Student Learning Goals
From Benchmarks for Science Literacy
From National Science Education Standards

Background Content for Teachers
Essential Question 1: What Are the Components of the Earth’s System?
Essential Question 2: Where Are Volcanoes Located, What Kinds of Eruptions
Do They Have, How Are They Related to Earthquakes, and What Effect Do They Have on the Environment?
Essential Question 3: Where and How Often Do Earthquakes Occur, How Is Their Magnitude Expressed, How Are They Related to Volcanoes, and What Effect Do They Have on the Environment?
Essential Question 4: What Are Tsunamis and Lahars, and How Are They Generated?
Essential Question 5: What Is the Main Idea of the Theory of Plate Tectonics, How Is It Different From the Notion of Continental Drift, What Kinds of Evidence Led to Its Acceptance by the Scientific Community, and How Does It Help Explain Earthquakes and Volcanoes?
Essential Question 6: What Hazards Do Volcanoes and Earthquakes Present, and How Can the Risk Associated With Them Be Reduced?

Teaching Approach
Activities Overview
Misconceptions
Assessing Student Learning
Recommended Resources:
• Books
• Websites

Student Activity
Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Us

Student Materials
Case Study Instructions for Students
Natural Hazards Case Studies: Earthquakes
Natural Hazards Case Studies: Volcanic Eruptions
The Nature of Risk

Genetically Modified Crops

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Student Learning Goals
From Benchmarks for Science Literacy
From National Science Education Standards

Background Content for Teachers
Essential Question 1: What Is the Science Involved in the Genetic Engineering of Crops?
Essential Question 2: How Is Genetic Engineering Different From More Traditional Genetic Manipulations, Such as Hybridization?
Essential Question 3: What Steps Are Usually Involved in Genetically Modifying a Crop?
Essential Question 4: What Are the Known or Projected Risks and Benefits of Genetically Modifying Crops?
Essential Question 5: Under What Conditions, if Any, Should Crop Biotechnology Be Pursued?

Teaching Approach
Activities Overview
Misconceptions
Assessing Student Learning
Recommended Resources:
• Books
• Websites

Student Activities
Activity 1: Building Proteins
Activity 2: Genetic Engineering
Activity 3: Are Monarchs Threatened by Bt Corn?
Activity 4: Spectrum of Opinion

Student Materials
Genetic Modification
Designing Transgenes
How Do You Make a Transgenic Plant?
Bounty or Bane—Taking a Position
The Nature of Risk

Radioactive Waste

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Student Learning Goals
From Benchmarks for Science Literacy
From National Science Education Standards

Background Content for Teachers
Essential Question 1: What Is Radioactivity?
Essential Question 2: How Long-Lived Are Radioactive Substances?
Essential Question 3: What Are the Hazards Posed by Radioactivity?
Essential Question 4: How Is Radioactivity Measured?
Essential Question 5: Where Do Radioactive Wastes Come From?
Essential Question 6: What Ways Are There for Disposing of Radioactive Wastes, and What Are the Risks Associated With Them?
Essential Question 7: How Can Radioactive Waste Be Moved Safely to a Storage Facility, and What Are the Risks Associated With the Different Transport Options?

Teaching Approach
Activities Overview
Misconceptions
Assessing Student Learning
Recommended Resources

Student Activities
Activity 1: Detecting Radiation
Activity 2: Half-Life
Activity 3: Making Decisions

Student Materials
Detecting Radiation
Half-Life
Making Decisions
What Should Be Done With Radioactive Waste?

Index