Constructing Earth system science learning through multidisciplinary studies of global change

A productive topic for introducing Earth systems science in K-12 classrooms is global environmental change. Beginning with changes in the local environment, students are led to construct an understanding of how these changes affect all of Earth´s subsystems, including humans and their activities. They follow the local changes into national or regional ones on a larger scale of space and time, and conclude at the higher grades with studies of global phenomena such as alterations in atmospheric composition, ocean circulation patterns, and biological diversity. Curriculum materials and teacher education programs offered through the Ohio Sea Grant Education Program at The Ohio State University focus on such topics of change, and use remotely sensed images, electronic networking and other modem technologies in a collaborative learning setting