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In the past decade, emphasis on promoting "climate literacy" in K-16 science classrooms has increased. Teachers play a critical role in cultivating these opportunities, especially in secondary science classrooms. However, most prior climate education research has focused on students and student learning; little is known about how teachers implement climate-focused curricular interventions. Here, we report findings from a concurrent mixed methods, multiple-case study of four secondary science teachers' implementation of a new, NGSS-aligned, model-centric climate curriculum module grounded in the use of a data-driven, computer-based climate modeling tool--Easy Global Climate Model (EzGCM). We employ multiple data sources, including video-recorded classroom observations, interviews, and instructional artifacts, and both qualitative and quantitative analyses, to investigate how teachers implemented the curriculum. Findings show that, overall, teachers implemented the curriculum in ways that were less model-centric than designed, placing greater emphasis on EzGCM itself rather than using the model to investigate Earth's changing climate. Additionally, we present detailed single-case studies of each participant teacher that highlight differences in teachers' implementation of the curriculum module and their reasoning for making observed instructional decisions. This research sheds light on the design of secondary science learning environments by illustrating the varied ways teachers implement a climate-focused curriculum to support students' developing climate literacy. This has important implications for the design of climate-focused curriculum and supports for teachers.

A gap has existed between the tools and processes of scientists working on anthropogenic global climate change (AGCC) and the technologies and curricula available to educators teaching the subject through student inquiry. Designing realistic scientific inquiry into AGCC poses a challenge because research on it relies on complex computer models, globally distributed data sets, and complex laboratory and data collection procedures. Here we examine efforts by the scientific community and educational researchers to design new curricula and technology that close this gap and impart robust AGCC and Earth Science understanding. We find technology-based teaching shows promise in promoting robust AGCC understandings if associated curricula address mitigating factors such as time constraints in incorporating technology and the need to support teachers implementing AGCC and Earth Science inquiry. We recommend the scientific community continue to collaborate with educational researchers to focus on developing those inquiry technologies and curricula that use realistic scientific processes from AGCC research and/or the methods for determining how human society should respond to global change.

To enhance teaching and learning about Earth's climate and global climate change (GCC) in secondary science classrooms, the authors are engaged in a four-year, National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project to develop, implement, and evaluate a new four-week curriculum module grounded in the use of a data-driven, computer-based climate modeling toolkit--EzGCM (see Forbes et al. 2020). Instructional approaches focused on investigations grounded in climate data have been successful in improving students' understanding of the global warming phenomenon, as well as the methods scientists use to develop the evidence (e.g., Holthius, Lotan, Saltzman, Mastrandrea, and Wild 2014). However, it is challenging to obtain, analyze, understand, and present large scientific data sets and complex computer models in the classroom. Tools such as EzGCM make modeling and big data more accessible to students and more appropriate for classroom teaching and learning. However, if not integrated meaningfully, students' interactions with these data and models remains superficial (Bowen and Rodger 2008). In this article, the authors describe their approach to using models to support students' reasoning about Earth's climate and GCC through the use of EzGCM.

Geography educators have long taught anthropogenic global climate change (AGCC) using geospatial data, visualizations, analysis tools and models. We examined the attitudes of teachers at secondary schools, research institutions, colleges and universities tasked with teaching using one such technology. We designed a seventeen-question online survey about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Educational Global Climate Model (EdGCM) that was completed by 115 respondents. Researchers and educators at more than 150 research and educational institutions internationally have utilized EdGCM since 2005. There are numerous reasons why teaching AGCC with a global climate model (GCM) is attractive, and this study examined the successes and challenges teachers confront when implementing such educational technologies. Those in our sample provided insight into what methods and approaches proved effective in reinforcing conceptual understandings of the geographic processes that shape the Earth system. Our findings show educators are willing to use complex scientific models in their classroom but prefer those that enable genuine student research. We also found that more easily accessible online technologies pose fewer technical challenges and often are preferred by teachers to more complex climate education technologies.

This study with 79 students in Montreal, Quebec, compared the educational use of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) global climate model (GCM) to climate education technologies developed for classroom use that included simpler interfaces and processes. The goal was to show how differing climate education technologies succeed and fail at getting students to evolve in their understanding of anthropogenic global climate change (AGCC). Many available climate education technologies aim to convey key AGCC concepts or Earth systems processes; the educational GCM used here aims to teach students the methods and processes of global climate modeling. We hypothesized that challenges to learning about AGCC make authentic technology-enabled inquiry important in developing accurate understandings of not just the issue but how scientists research it. The goal was to determine if student learning trajectories differed between the comparison and treatment groups based on whether each climate education technology allowed authentic scientific research. We trace learning trajectories using pre/post exams, practice quizzes, and written student reflections. To examine the reasons for differing learning trajectories, we discuss student pre/post questionnaires, student exit interviews, and 535 min of recorded classroom video. Students who worked with a GCM demonstrated learning trajectories with larger gains, higher levels of engagement, and a better idea of how climate scientists conduct research. Students who worked with simpler climate education technologies scored lower in the course because of lower levels of engagement with inquiry processes that were perceived to not actually resemble the work of climate scientists.

To explore the National Fatality Review Case Reporting System (NFR-CRS) as a new data source to (1) characterize pediatric vehicular heatstroke (PVH) deaths among children <15 years of age reviewed by Child Death Review teams, and (2) identify factors independently associated with common PVH scenarios and incident locations. Data for 2005–2019 were used to characterize 296 PVH deaths. Frequencies and percentages were calculated to describe child, supervisor, and incident characteristics. Multiple logistic regression with and without imputation were carried out to identify factors associated with the two outcomes of interest: PVH scenario (left in vehicle vs. gained access) and incident place (supervisor workplace vs. other locations). Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR, 95% CI) were calculated. Most children had been left unattended in vehicles (N = 225, 76.0%) and 13.5% (N = 40) had gained access independently. Children were most often male (N = 168, 56.8%), non-Hispanic White (N = 131, 44.3%), and <2 years of age (N = 172, 58.1%). Disability or chronic illness was noted for 4.7% (N = 14), 13.9% (N = 41) had a history of maltreatment, and 6.1% (N = 18) an open CPS case at the time of incident. Children left unattended were more likely to be <2 years of age (adjusted imputed OR 26.7, CI 7.3–97.2) and less likely to have an open CPS case (0.2, 0.0–0.4) and for the incident to occur at home (0.2, 0.1–0.9) compared to children who gained access. PVH deaths occurring at the supervisor's workplace were more likely to be <2 years of age (6.2, 2.4–15.8), to have occurred on a weekday (5.9, 1.7–20.9), and to have been supervised by their parent at the incident time (2.7, 1.1–6.7) compared to other locations. The results align with previous PVH findings and added new information on child race/ethnicity, CPS action, disability/chronic illness, and maltreatment. With the exception of parents being more likely to be the supervisor in incidents occurring at home, which was expected, neither supervisor characteristics nor child race/ethnicity or sex were independently significant in multiple regression, suggesting that PVH is pervasive and that education campaigns should be similarly broad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews university-level efforts to improve understanding of anthropogenic global climate change (AGCC) through curricula that enable student scientific inquiry. We examined 152 refereed publications and proceedings from academic conferences and selected 26 cases of inquiry learning that overcome specific challenges to AGCC teaching. This review identifies both the strengths and weaknesses of each of these case studies. It is the first to go beyond examining the impact of specific inquiry instructional approaches to offer a synthesis of cases. We find that inquiry teaching can succeed by concretising scientific processes, providing access to global data and evidence, imparting critical and higher order thinking about AGCC science/policy and contextualising learning with places and scientific facts. We recommend educational researchers and scientists collaborate to create and refine curricula that utilise geospatial technologies, climate models and communication technologies to bring students into contact with scientists, climate data and authentic AGCC research processes. Many available science education technologies and curricula also require further research to maximise trade-offs between implementation and training costs and their educational value.

The Maritime Continent (MC) forms the western boundary of the tropical Pacific Ocean, and relatively small changes in this region can impact the climate locally and remotely. In the mid-Piacenzian warm period of the Pliocene (mPWP; 3.264 to 3.025 Ma) atmospheric CO 2 concentrations were ∼ 400 ppm, and the subaerial Sunda and Sahul shelves made the land–sea distribution of the MC different to today. Topographic changes and elevated levels of CO 2 , combined with other forcings, are therefore expected to have driven a substantial climate signal in the MC region at this time. By using the results from the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Phase 2 (PlioMIP2), we study the mean climatic features of the MC in the mPWP and changes in Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) with respect to the preindustrial. Results show a warmer and wetter mPWP climate of the MC and lower sea surface salinity in the surrounding ocean compared with the preindustrial. Furthermore, we quantify the volume transfer through the ITF; although the ITF may be expected to be hindered by the subaerial shelves, 10 out of 15 models show an increased volume transport compared with the preindustrial. In order to avoid undue influence from closely related models that are present in the PlioMIP2 ensemble, we introduce a new metric, the multi-cluster mean (MCM), which is based on cluster analysis of the individual models. We study the effect that the choice of MCM versus the more traditional analysis of multi-model mean (MMM) and individual models has on the discrepancy between model results and data. We find that models, which reproduce modern MC climate well, are not always good at simulating the mPWP climate anomaly of the MC. By comparing with individual models, the MMM and MCM reproduce the preindustrial sea surface temperature (SST) of the reanalysis better than most individual models and produce less discrepancy with reconstructed sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) than most individual models in the MC. In addition, the clusters reveal spatial signals that are not captured by the MMM, so that the MCM provides us with a new way to explore the results from model ensembles that include similar models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maritime Continent (MC) forms the western boundary of the tropical Pacific Ocean, and relatively small changes in this region can impact the climate locally and remotely. In the mid-Pliocene (from 3.264 to 3.025 million years before present), atmospheric CO2 concentrations were ~ 400 ppm, and the subaerial Sunda and Sahul shelves made the land-sea distribution of the MC different to today. Topographic changes and elevated levels of CO2, combined with other forcings, are therefore expected to have driven a substantial climate signal in the MC region at this time. By using the results from the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project phase 2 (PlioMIP2) we study the mean climatic features of the MC in the mid-Pliocene and changes in Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) with respect to preindustrial. Results show a warmer and wetter mid-Pliocene climate of the MC and lower sea surface salinity in the surrounding ocean compared with preindustrial. Furthermore, quantify the volume transfer through the ITF; although the ITF may be expected to be hindered by the subaerial shelves, out of 15 models show an increased volume transport compared with preindustrial. In order to avoid undue influence from closely-related models that are present in the PlioMIP2 ensemble, we introduce a new metric - the multi-cluster mean (MCM), based on cluster analysis of the individual models. We study the effect that the choice of MCM versus the more traditional analysis of multi-model mean (MMM) and individual models has on the discrepancy between model results and reconstructed proxy data. The clusters reveal spatial signals that are not captured by the MMM, that the MCM provides us with a new way to explore the results from model ensemble that include similar models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maritime Continent (MC) forms the western boundary of the tropical Pacific Ocean, and relatively small changes in this region can impact the climate locally and remotely. In the mid-Pliocene (from 3.264 to 3.025 million years before present), atmospheric CO2 concentrations were ~ 400 ppm, and the subaerial Sunda and Sahul shelves made the land-sea distribution of the MC different to today. Topographic changes and elevated levels of CO2, combined with other forcings, are therefore expected to have driven a substantial climate signal in the MC region at this time. By using the results from the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project phase 2 (PlioMIP2) we study the mean climatic features of the MC in the mid-Pliocene and changes in Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) with respect to preindustrial. Results show a warmer and wetter mid-Pliocene climate of the MC and lower sea surface salinity in the surrounding ocean compared with preindustrial. Furthermore, we quantify the volume transfer through the ITF; although the ITF may be expected to be hindered by the subaerial shelves, 10 out of 15 models show an increased volume transport compared with preindustrial. In order to avoid undue influence from closely-related models that are present in the PlioMIP2 ensemble, we introduce a new metric – the multi-cluster mean (MCM), based on cluster analysis of the individual models. We study the effect that the choice of MCM versus the more traditional analysis of multi-model mean (MMM) and individual models has on the discrepancy between model results and reconstructed proxy data. The clusters reveal spatial signals that are not captured by the MMM, so that the MCM provides us with a new way to explore the results from model ensemble that include similar models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of observations submitted to the citizen science platform iNaturalist continues to grow, it is increasingly important that these observations can be identified to the finest taxonomic level, maximizing their value for biodiversity research. Here, we explore the benefits of acting as an identifier on iNaturalist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: To describe the epidemiology of battery-related emergency department (ED) visits among children aged <18 years in the United States from 2010 to 2019 and compare with previous study findings. METHODS: Data on ED visits were obtained from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Using narrative descriptions and diagnosis codes, battery-related cases were coded into four exposure routes: (1) ingestion, (2) mouth exposure, (3) ear insertion, and (4) nasal insertion. RESULTS: An estimated 70 322 (95% confidence interval: 51 275-89 369) battery-related ED visits among children aged <18 years occurred during the study period, or 9.5 per 100 000 children annually. Button batteries were implicated in 84.7% of visits where battery type was described. A statistically significant increase in the ED visit rate occurred from 2010 to 2017 (P = .03), followed by a nonstatistically significant decrease from 2017 to 2019. The ED visit rate was highest among children aged ≤5 years compared with those 6 to 17 years (24.5 and 2.2 per 100 000 children, respectively). The mean patient age was 3.2 years (95% confidence interval: 2.9-3.4). Ingestions accounted for 90.0% of ED visits, followed by nasal insertions (5.7%), ear insertions (2.5%), and mouth exposures (1.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric battery-related ED visit rates continued to significantly increase from 2010 to 2017, with children aged ≤5 years having the highest rates. Prevention efforts have not significantly reduced injury rates; therefore, regulatory efforts are needed. Ultimately, hazard reduction or elimination through safer button battery design is critical and should be adopted by the battery industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]