Abstract
The global society of today struggles with grand challenges, such as climate change, the degradation of ecosystems, and the loss of bio- and geodiversity, as identified in several documents. The search for solutions to these and other problems on the way to sustainable development necessarily involves a better understanding of the Earth system and its dynamics. The Earth system is composed of five highly dependent and interrelated subsystems that exchange matter and energy. This notion is at the base of what in the literature is named Earth System Science (ESS). Humanity has been profoundly altering the dynamics of this system, leading to the proposal of a new geological epoch—the Anthropocene. Developing a holistic understanding of the complex and tangled relationships between subsystems and the role of human impacts is the target of study of Earth System Education (ESE). With the assumptions of ESS, ESE is emerging as a new approach in science education. Based on a deep knowledge of the planet and the development of specific competencies, such as system thinking, it is possible to perform more actively and consciously in the relationships that citizens develop with the Earth system, enabling the existence of a more viable future for humanity.
Highlights
Global society is dealing with urgent grand challenges related to environmental, economic, and social sustainability [1]
According to UNESCO, sustainable development “ . . . is an organizing principle for global development that supports the well-being of both people and the planet” [2] (p. 3)
An understanding of the Earth system must be articulated with the complexity of the feedback processes in various domains, such as environmental and anthropogenic, among others. This integration of concepts and their relationships is essential for the development of more accurate models of the Earth system and its functioning [47]; this would allow for a recognition of its holistic nature, making it possible to forecast and retrospect different phenomena/processes, both in time and space
Summary
Global society is dealing with urgent grand challenges related to environmental, economic, and social sustainability [1]. An understanding of the Earth system must be articulated with the complexity of the feedback processes in various domains, such as environmental and anthropogenic, among others This integration of concepts and their relationships is essential for the development of more accurate models of the Earth system and its functioning [47]; this would allow for a recognition of its holistic nature, making it possible to forecast and retrospect different phenomena/processes, both in time and space. The competencies developed in the previous unit are integrated with the elements of the natural world, applying system thinking to real examples and increasing the level of abstraction [57] To this end, the field activity should provide students with contact with the natural world through the observation of geomorphological and lithological aspects and/or interactions between the different subsystems. In the summary unit the activities to consolidate the competencies developed abroad in the form of multiple intelligences are completed, raising the level of abstraction with the application of knowledge to new situations [57] (Figure 1)
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