To What Extent Should Human/Environment Interactions Be Included in Science Education?

Abstract

Research and education about the Earth and environment can be considered as a cascade of information flows, from the Earth, into sensors, then to data, then to insights in the minds of scientists, curriculum materials, teachers, and finally to insights in the minds of learners. In at least some cases, the insights in the minds of learners feed back to the Earth as learners send a message to the Earth in the form of modifications to their actions and decisions. This paper asks: To what extent does, or should, science education seek to change how individual human beings and human society interact with the Earth and environment? We explore this question by examining the outcomes of 49 separate deliberative processes, the state science education standards. We find that there is serious disagreement across the nation as to whether science classes should consider human/environment interactions at all. There is more support for teaching about how human society impacts the environment than for teaching about how the environment impacts humans and human society. In most states, there is minimal or no support, in the standards, for teaching about how individuals can and do impact the environment.