The joint virtual global learning activity brought together college students from Jordan and New York City to learn about United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) #6 and explore the issues of water pollution and drinking water quality in both regions. The activity involved undergraduate students from Guttman Community College and…

Nearly a decade ago, the "Framework for K-12 Science Education" argued for the need to intertwine science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts in performance expectations. However, there are few empirical examples for how intertwining three dimensions facilitates learning. In this study, we used a…

Safe and high-quality water is essential from both the health and environmental perspectives. Water quality is so important that the United Nations has included water in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Thus, the adequate control and treatment of water are necessities. These tasks must be…

Clean energy is a topic of increasing political and cultural significance in the age of climate change, and as such can be an interesting topic with which to engage students. One avenue to produce large quantities of power is through harnessing nuclear reactions; however, the social stigma and fear of expanding nuclear power have placed several…

Although the existence of and access to clean water are essential for sustaining life on Earth, multiple studies have demonstrated students' nascent understanding of basic water principles. Students have misconceptions related to the water cycle (Ben-zvi-Assarf and Orion 2005), groundwater (Dickerson and Dawkins 2004; Covitt et al. 2009), and the…

A survey and exploratory study were conducted to analyze Lake Tempe as a resource for contextual learning (CTL). The first phase of the study included exploring the lake's potential through interviews with the people who live in the lake's coastal region. Quadrat transects were done to identify aquatic plants around the lake. A feasibility…

Recent calls for reform in K-12 science education and the National Academy of Engineering's Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century emphasize improving science teaching, students' engagement, and learning. In this study, we designed and implemented a curriculum unit for sixth-grade students (i = 1305). The curriculum unit integrated…

The purpose of this study is to investigate students' mental models of the marine environment and to further examine how these models are related to their perceptions of marine problems. One hundred twenty-eight ninth grade students from a large harbor city in southern Taiwan completed a survey including a drawing activity and a set of two-tier…

Framing, implementing, and engaging youth in authentic scientific inquiry are highly valued in science education; however, we have very limited knowledge of the nature and use of tools that accomplish these. Therefore, we proposed that board game design is a meaningful tool for engaging youth in understanding environmental issues. We reported…

In 2011, the authors developed a new study abroad course in China as part of the University of Colorado Denver Global Study program. The program focused on short-term, intensive, international field study conducted during the three-week break period between the spring and summer semesters. The course, "Sustainability Along the Yangtze,"…

Environmental education aims to change the perception of people about the environment. Primary education (four to eleven years old) is a fundamental stage in the development of children's conduct, so enhancing learning of the environment in which they live is essential for them to start recognizing nature as part of their life. We tested students'…

The active participation of citizens in scientific research, through citizen science, has been proven successful. However, knowledge on the potential of citizen science within formal chemistry learning, at the conceptual and procedural levels, remains insufficiently explored. We developed a citizen science project -- PVC: Perceiving the Value of…

Elevated blood lead levels in children--even at very low levels--contribute to learning deficits and behavioral and attentional problems. No federal law requires the testing of drinking water in schools, and recent reports from the Government Accountability Office reveal a dearth of lead testing of water or paint in school buildings. This NASBE…

Teaching the fundamentals of chemical kinetics on the college level is challenging to teachers and students alike due to its abstract nature of concepts and limited connection with real context applications. This study consisted of two phases starting with designing a chemistry education for the sustainable development-based learning environment…

Stunting is an important issue as it leads to many adverse consequences on children's health. Pakistan is in public health crisis due to higher stunting rates in children. World Health Organization entails the prevalence of stunting to be less than 2.5% in a healthy population, but every third child is stunted in Punjab (largest province of…