The SEENET-MTP Seminar: Trends in Modern Physics 19–21 August 2011, Niš, Serbia Talk by Kostas Skordoulis, University of Athens, Greece

1. PROBLEMS OF THE
ENVIRONMENT IN THE SCIENCE
CLASSROOM
Kostas Skordoulis
Director Science Education & Educational
Technology Lab
Department of Education, University of Athens,
Athens, Greece

2. Our Research
• History and Philosophy of Science in
Science Teaching
• Problems of the Environment in the
Science Classroom – Critical Science
Education
• Project HEPHAESTUS: HEllenic
Philosophy, History And
Environmental Science Teaching
Under Scrutiny – (FP7 / Capacities)

3. History of Science in Science
Teaching
International Links
• International Academy of History of Science
(Paris)
• Interdivisional Teaching Commission of the
International Union of History and
Philosophy of Science – ICSU – UNESCO
• International Group Of History & Philosophy
of Science in Science Teaching (Journal
“Science & Education” – Springer)
• Network for the History of Science in
Southeastern Europe – “NewsLetter”

4. Issues facing humanity …
Social Injustices

5. Issues facing humanity …
Environmental Degradation
• Soil, Water & Air Pollution:
– e.g., hazardous chemicals in water
– e.g., increased ‘Global Warming’ gases
– e.g., pesticides with negative side effects
• Habitat Damage
– e.g., deforestation
– e.g., ozone layer destruction
• Species Loss - Biodiversity
– ~3/h; ~125/d; ~25,000/a

6. How School Science addresses
social & environmental
problems?

7. The STS-E Principle

8. Defining
Scientific
Literacy

9. “The scientifically literate person is one who is
aware that science, mathematics, and technology
are interdependent human enterprises with
strengths and limitations;
understands the key concepts and principles of
science;
is familiar with the natural world and recognizes
both its diversity and unity;
and uses scientific knowledge and scientific ways
of thinking for individual and social purposes.”
Project 2061

11. Literacy Goals for School
Science
• Learning ‘Science & Technology’
• Learning ‘To Do’ Science &
Technology’
• Learning ‘About’ Science &
Technology
• Learning to/taking Socio-political
Action

12. Introducing the Problem…
• Many scientists believe that human
activities such as burning fossil fuels
to drive cars and generate electricity
are causing the Earth’s atmosphere
to warm. This “global warming”
gradually changes the climate of the
planet. Which are, according to your
opinion, the best ways to respond to
this situation?

13. WHAT THE
IPCC
SCIENTISTS
SAY
The mean
temperature
of the Earth is
increasing and
the use of
fossil fuels is
at an all time
high.

14. WHAT THE SCIENTISTS SAY:
From the Climate Change Statement of the AAAS
Board,
released 2-18-07
• The scientific evidence is clear: global climate
change caused by human activities is occurring
now, and it is a growing threat to society.
Accumulating data from across the globe reveal a
wide array of effects: rapidly melting glaciers,
destabilization of major ice sheets, increases in
extreme weather, rising sea level, shifts in species
ranges, and more. The pace of change and the
evidence of harm have increased markedly over the
last five years. The time to control greenhouse gas
emissions is now.

15. Ice melting and and sea-level rise

16. International intergovernmental
Bodies
• UNFCCC Executive
Secretary calls for
speedy and decisive
international action on
climate change
(February 2007)

17. LEARNING SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
• SCIENCE
– what climate is and how it works;
– how global climate has been changing and why;
– how it’s likely to change in the decades ahead;
• TECHNOLOGY
– the role of humans & their technology in causing
climate change;
– technological options for mitigating climate change;
– technological options for adapting to it.

18. Teaching Science
PHYSICS:
Interaction of
electromagnetic
radiation with
matter
www.livephysics.com

19. Teaching Science
Physics: energy flows in the atmosphere

20. Teaching Science
CHEMISTRY: carbon in fossil fuels and
combustion
coal ≈ CH
oil ≈ CH2
natural gas ≈ CH4 + a bit more
so, e.g., burning oil entails…
CH2 + 3/2 O2  CO2 + H2O

21. Teaching Science / Biology
photosynthesis
6 CO2 + 12 H2O  C6H12O6 + 6 H2O + 6 O2
(Trees are made of CO2 and water!)
respiration
C6H12O6 + 6 O2  6 CO2 + 6 H2O
anaerobic decomposition
C6H12O6  3 CO2 + 3 CH4

22. Teaching Science: Earth &
Environmental Science

23. Teaching Science
Geography: land-use & deforestation
Mato Grosso State, Brazil, 2004

24. Teaching Science
Earth science: winds & jet streams

25. Teaching Science
Earth science: how hurricanes work

26. Teaching Science
Earth science: ocean currents

27. Earth science: climate & life over geologic time

28. Climate change as a teaching opportunity
Geography: climate-related health impacts
World Health Organization estimates of climate-change-related
increases in mortality for the year 2000

29. Technology
Use of fossil
fuels
Operation
of internal
combustion
engines

30. Teaching Climate Change - TECHNOLOGY
Technology for CO2 capture

31. Climate change teaching
Geology: formations that can store CO 2

32. LEARNING TO “DO SCIENCE”
-The Laboratory Course
on Climate Change -

33. Microcomputer Based Laboratory
Data Loggers

34. Carbon Dioxide Gas Sensor

35. Weather Sensor

36. MULTIPORT
PROGRAMMA
BLE
DATA LOGER

37. Monitoring the Experiment with Sensors and
data processing by programmable data
loggers
STUDENTS LEARN TO INTERPRET GRAPHS

39. Research
• Almost 1000 studies
dealing with different
aspects of climate
change have been
conducted and
published
• So… how do we
make sense of all
this?

40. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)
• Why was it created?
– Created in 1988 by
the United Nations
Environmental
Program
– Established to
provide policy-
makers with an
objective source of
information about
climate change

41. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)
• Who is in it?
– Governments
• Members of the UN
• Participate by naming
experts and reviewing the
reports before they’re
published
– Scientists
• Close to 1000 scientists
• Climatologists, ecologists,
atmospheric physicists, and
others
Dr. Susan Solomon, a NOAA atmospheric chemist, an IPCC member and
one author of IPCC summary

42. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)
• What do they do?
– Review current scientific and technical
literature relevant to global climate
change
– Provide reports on their findings at
regular intervals
– Reports are designed to be politically
neutral and of high scientific and
technical standards

43. How do they create their
reports?
It’s a multi-step process…

45. The assessments carried out by the IPCC
have influenced global action
on an unprecedented scale
1. First Assessment Report (1990) had a major
impact in defining the content of the UNFCCC
2. The Second Assessment Report (1996) was largely
influential in defining the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol
3. The Third Assessment Report (2001) focused attention on
the impacts of climate change and the need for adaptation
4. The Fourth Assessment Report (2007) is creating a strong
basis for a post Kyoto Protocol agreement

46. SOCIOPOLITICAL ACTION
In order to MAKE RESPONSIBLE
DECISIONS and UNDERTAKE ACTION ,
students should be educated in
CRITICAL THINKING and in the:
• ECONOMICS, POLITICS & POLICY OF CLIMATE
CHANGE
– population growth & economic growth as
climate-change drivers
– policy options and their impact
– actors and interests in the climate debate…
– finding a global climate-policy framework that
is adequate, equitable, and attainable…

47. What is Critical Thinking ?

48. Environmental Problem Solving

49. A Brief History of the Events
Leading to the Kyoto
Protocol
• COP 1, in March of • On December 11, 1997
1995, saw the the Kyoto Protocol was
passage of the officially adopted at
Berlin Mandate, COP 3 in Kyoto Japan.
which called for new • In 1998 a new round of
negotiations on negotiations on Kyoto
were launched at COP
more detailed
4 in Buenos Aires.
commitments for
industrialized
countries under the
UNFCCC.

50. History (cont.)
• Negotiations on the • Building on the Bonn
rules of Agreements
negotiators at COP 7
implementing the
(Marrakech, Morocco,
Kyoto Protocol October 2001) adopted
resumed during a comprehensive
COP 6 in Bonn, package of decisions
Germany, July known as the
2001. Marrakech Accords.

51. What is the Kyoto Protocol?
• In general, a protocol is an international
agreement that stands on its own but is linked
to an existing treaty.
• More specifically, the Kyoto Protocol can be
seen as an agreement, which supplements
and strengthens the Framework Convention.
Indeed, the Kyoto Protocol reaffirms the
concerns and principles set out in the
Convention and then builds on these by
adding tougher, more specific commitments.

52. What is the Kyoto Protocol: 4 Main
Elements
• The Kyoto Protocol consists of four main
elements:
• 1. Commitments
A. Specific emissions commitments
B. General commitments
• 2. Implementation
A. Domestic policies and measures
B. Land use, land-use change and forestry sector
C. Joint implementation
D. Clean development mechanism
E. Emissions trading

53. What is the Kyoto Protocol: 4 Main
Elements
• 3. Compliance
A. Facilitative Branch
B. Enforcement Branch
• 4. Minimizing impacts on
developing countries
A. Adaptation Fund

54. The European Union is a
pioneer in the battle against
climatetargets for 2020 to:
EU countries have set
change
– Cut emissions by 20% (or 30% if agreed globally)
– Increase energy efficiency by 20%
– Generate 20% of energy from renewable sources
The EU is pushing for an ambitious new global
pact to reduce emissions

55. EU: What can you do?
Simple everyday actions play a major role
in the fight against climate change
So…
– Recycle
– Save hot water by taking a shower instead
of a bath (four times less energy)
– Plant a tree, at school, in your garden or
neighbourhood

56. EU: What can you do?
• Use public transport, cycle, walk
• Don’t leave appliances on stand-by – use
the on/off function of the machine
• Don’t leave you mobile charger plugged in
when you are not charging your phone

58. www.climatechange.eu.
com

59. THANK YOU !!!

60. Students Responses