PERC 2021 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Connecting mathematics education and climate change education through covariational reasoning |
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| Abstract: | The present study examined the covariational reasoning of three preservice mathematics teachers (PSTs) as they make sense of a simple model to introduce climate change. The PSTs worked on a mathematical task that required PSTs to activate their covariational reasoning abilities in order to explore two key notions related to climate change: (i) the balance of energy between the components of the climate system (Sun, surface, and atmosphere), and (ii) the link between carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution and global warming. The PSTs completed the task during an individual, task-based interview of approximately 60 minutes. The analysis revealed that, in order to develop a operative understanding the climate system model, the PSTs' covariational reasoning must support, at a minimum, the ability to: (i) understand how the balance between the energy inflow into and the energy outflow from the climate system regulates the variation of the plante's mean surface temperature over time (dynamic relationships), and (ii) conceptualize the energy exchange between the surface and the atmosphere interms of two energy flows changing in tandem and obeying a circular relationship as time elapses (feedback loop). The analysis also revealed that the differences in the PSTs' covariational reasoning abilities coincided with two ways of thinking about the link between CO2 pollution and global warming: a productive way of thinking that had the potential of making visible the role of human activities in driving global climate change, and a less productive way that had the potential of promoting misconceptions about regarding that environmental challenge. The study's results show that PSTs can engage in covariational reasoning while they learn about climate change and that covariational reasoning (and in general mathematics education) can have a role in promoting climate change education. |
| Abstract Type: | Symposium Talk |
| Parallel Session: | Considering covariational reasoning in math and physics |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Darío A. González Universidad de Chile |
