Gifts from Dry Creek: Land as Teacher in a Place-Based Stream Ecology Curriculum

Recognizing Complexity in Our Changing Contexts: Centering What Matters in Comparative and International Education

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Native science is ... a map of natural reality drawn from the experience of thousands of human generations.... [and] can be said to be 'inclusive' of modern science, although most Western scientists would go to great lengths to deny such inclusivity. (Cajete 2000, p. 3) As institutions, science and science education alike have rarely included the perspectives and contributions of indigenous peoples pertaining to the natural world. Yet, people worldwide have benefited from the traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous communities. Western science and technology, though broadly worthwhile, have been a source of global environmental damage (Wildcat 2009). Research has shown that indigenous ways of knowing can help students develop complex and multilogical understandings of the natural world (Aikenhead and Mitchell 2011; Cajete 1999; Chinn 2007; McKinley 2007). In particular, students can learn from native knowledge systems how to live in more sustainable ways (Kincheloe and Steinberg 2008; Wildcat 2009). In this article, we describe a lesson on climate change that explored possibilities for a more multilogical science education. Ninth- and tenth-grade science students investigated collaborations between Inuit elders and Western scientists working to understand how climate change alters bird migration patterns. The lesson connects to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States 2013) and the nature of science (see box, p. 34). We conclude by discussing possibilities for integrating indigenous knowledge in science education. Comparing sea ice and observations To begin exploring how indigenous people and Western scientists collaborate to understand natural phenomena, class started with a quick activity focused on Inuit understandings of sea ice. Using the Inuit siku (sea ice) atlas (see On the web), I, the first author, created 15 cards with either pictures or descriptions of different sea ice conditions (see On the web). Cards with pictures were separated from the cards with descriptions, which also had the Inuit term for each condition. Working in groups, students tried to pair pictures with their correct term and description. Students then shared their experience with the class. Many noted how difficult the task was and were surprised there were so many different kinds of sea ice. We discussed the many ways of knowing about a natural phenomenon and how traditional ecological knowledge (or indigenous ways of knowing) represents a highly complex system for documenting (in writing or orally), sense of, and responding to natural events. We then prepared to explore how climate change affects ecosystems using bird populations as a case study, drawing from both Inuit and Western science knowledge and practices. Students were first asked to share their own observations of birds and bird behaviors. Since birds are ubiquitous, students living almost anywhere can draw on their personal experiences to connect with the lesson. During initial discussion, students described seeing birds seeking food, eating at bird feeders, and swarming a hawk. We then introduced the driving questions for this activity: How do we learn about changes in nature? and How can changes in climate affect an ecosystem? Students wrote in their science notebooks their initial ideas about the questions, including making observations, taking pictures to compare how things have changed, and asking people what things were like in the area a long time ago. Then, we provided students (divided into groups of three or four) a set of observational scenarios including both indigenous and Western science observations related to temperature patterns and birds. The indigenous observations were made by Arctic groups, including the Inuit, Inuvialuit, Yupik, and Saami, and were selected from Krupnik and Jolly (2002) and Huntington et al. (2005). Their qualitative observations addressed changes in the climate and how these changes affected animal migrations and the ability of the elders to predict the weather over time (Figure 1). …

Communicating Uncertainty about Climate Change: The Scientists’ Dilemma

A Laughing matter? Confronting climate change through humor

Karim-Aly S. Kassam: Biocultural Diversity and Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Human Ecology in the Arctic

“Indigenous” Nature Connection? A Response to Kurth, Narvaez, Kohn, and Bae (2020)

A salinity projection model for determining impacts of climate change on river ecosystems in Taiwan

Climate change and transdisciplinary science: Problematizing the integration imperative

River ecosystems are driven by linked physical, chemical, and biological subsystems, which operate over different temporal and spatial domains. This complexity increases uncertainty in ecological forecasts, and impedes preparation for the ecological consequences of climate change. We describe a recently developed “multi-modeling” system for ecological forecasting in a 7600 km2 watershed in the North American Great Lakes Basin. Using a series of linked land cover, climate, hydrologic, hydraulic, thermal, loading, and biological response models, we examined how changes in both land cover and climate may interact to shape the habitat suitability of river segments for common sport fishes and alter patterns of biological integrity. In scenario-based modeling, both climate and land use change altered multiple ecosystem properties. Because water temperature has a controlling influence on species distributions, sport fishes were overall more sensitive to climate change than to land cover change. However, community-based biological integrity metrics were more sensitive to land use change than climate change; as were nutrient export rates. We discuss the implications of this result for regional preparations for climate change adaptation, and the extent to which the result may be constrained by our modeling methodology.

The Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines is recognized worldwide as a sustainable landscape where humans live in harmony with nature. The success of the Ifugao Rice Terraces largely depends on the attunement of local farmers to their environment and their ability to adapt to perceived changes, as manifested in their complex body of traditional ecological and climatic knowledge. This paper examines the local perceptions on climate change and other challenges to sustainability through focus group discussions with farmers and traditional knowledge holders. Our main findings can be summarized as follows: (i) Ifugao farmers were able to observe climatic changes in recent years, and these changes were intimately linked with broader environmental and socio-cultural changes in the Ifugao social-ecological system; (ii) The climatic changes qualitatively observed by the farmers were in agreement with trends in datasets commonly used in scientific assessments, although this agreement depends on the spatial and temporal resolution of the dataset, and the type of statistical analysis performed, and; (iii) The Ifugaos stressed the importance of traditional knowledge and culture in climate change adaptation, and preferred measures which could increase internal adaptive capacity while addressing broader sources of community vulnerability. Our results support calls to recognize Indigenous and Western science as equally valid ways of knowing. Discussions with the farmers revealed that in the Ifugao context, climate change may be better framed in the context of multiple stressors on rural livelihoods, with adaptation integrated into broader development objectives. Our findings also emphasize the need for greater engagement of indigenous Ifugao people in planning processes in order to identify adaptation strategies that are culturally appropriate, equitable, and effective in responding to local needs.

Technocratic decision making has been long criticized for dampening participation and limiting the range of adaptive choices through its overreliance on infrastructure-based solutions. There has been growing attention to how technocratic approaches shape long-term resilience of water systems, especially under the threat of climatic change impacts. In Brazil, even under its highly decentralized and participatory water management system, technical expertise and science-based decisions have been often promoted as a desirable mechanism to insulate governance outcomes from the country's prevailing clientelistic and rent-seeking politics. Yet, Brazilian river basins continue to struggle with long-standing problems (such as universal access to sanitation) and increasing challenges for guaranteeing water provision under recurrent drought. In this study, we examine how technocratic insulation, different ways of knowing (WoKs), and participatory governance shape long-term resilience in one of Brazil's most important river basins, the Piracicaba-Capivari-Jundiaí (PCJ). By taking an in-depth look at how the PCJ River Basin's governance system responded to the 2014 Brazilian water crisis, we seek to understand how planning decisions in the aftermath of the crisis were influenced by different actors, and how the outcomes of those decisions are likely to shape long term resilience. Based on 27 in-depth interviews with members of the PCJ River Basin Committees, we show how a distinct preference for infrastructure-based solutions to deal with on-going and upcoming challenges may be unsustainable under climate change as the basin's traditional technocratic approach failed both to insulate its decisions from politics and to explore adaptive water management solutions that might be key to shape long-term resilience.

While the previous chapters of this book tackle reforms in existing, established national programs, this chapter is an emergent proposition to a change in policy at local school district levels in the United States. Change is dependent on and influenced by the educational ecosystem around the student which includes such stakeholders as parents, teachers, teacher preparation programs, community groups, curriculum and textbook developers, businesses, universities, local and federal agencies, and policy leaders. The criteria for what makes a climate change curriculum “effective” are difficult to name: first, because the subject itself is divisive, and second because humankind has not yet fully understood all there is to know about tackling climate change. Thus, in this chapter, a normative pro stance is taken in support of climate change education, as the need to implement climate change education in school echoes UNESCO's notion that climate education “is crucial to promote climate action. It helps people understand so they can address the impacts of the climate crisis, empowering them with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes needed to act as agents of change (Education for climate action, 2021). In Orange County, California—like many places in the United States—climate change is a politically charged and controversial topic. When 20 states adopted the well-regarded Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2014, it was hoped that schools across the country would improve climate change education. However, we found that adopting new science standards does not necessarily mean that teaching and learning about climate change has improved in general, and this is made more complex by the fact that each state determines its own education system, and little can be mandated at a national level. Many factors contribute to inadequate student learning about the causes, impact, and especially the strategies to mitigate climate change among Orange County middle school students. We aim for education leaders to understand these best practices and encourage them to apply these to their contexts. We offer a curriculum based on best practices, one that is peer-led and garners hope. We wish for students to see themselves as agents of change and leaders of the not-so-distant tomorrow who become inspired to mitigate, adapt, and reverse climate change.

Climate change refers to future fluctuations of temperature, precipitation, wind and alternative components of Earth’s climate system. Global climate change within the style of higher temperature, reduced downfall, and inflated downfall variability reduces crop yield and threatens food security in low financial gain and agriculture primarily based economies. Ethiopia is one of the most vulnerable countries experiencing drought and floods as a result of climate variability and change. The general objective of this review is to administer and summary on adaptation and mitigation measures initiative in Ethiopia in response to climate change. In Ethiopia the foremost vulnerable sectors to global climate change and variability are agriculture, road, water energy and health. Thus Mitigation and adaptation measures pursued to effectively address climate change. In Ethiopian farming communities have important indigenous knowledge, skills and technologies that are essential for tackling hazardous environmental conditions including climate variability and change. They employ a number of short- and long-term climate change mitigation and adaptation measures to cope with and overcome the impacts of climate variability and change. On the opposite hand, Ethiopia has shown both conservation and policy responses to combat climate change. Protected area systems, a forestation and reforestation programmes, renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, ecological agriculture, flexible livestock production, agro forestry systems, harvesting and climate change education, are all feasible strategies for mitigating and adapting climate change.

Chapter 16 - Projecting the Consequences of Climate Change on River Ecosystems

Teaching holistic environmental thought: A classroom approach