From Windy Day Stories to Wind Farms of the Future: Leveraging Student Resources to Make Sense of Phenomena with Data Puzzles

Abstract

This article introduces the Data Puzzles instructional framework as a means to engage middle school students in the exploration of wind energy and its potential for future wind farm locations across the United States. By eliciting and leveraging student resources through an opening scenario that prompts personal experiences with wind, teachers can effectively connect students to abstract science phenomena and facilitate sensemaking. The Data Puzzles framework combines authentic scientific data sets with the Ambitious Science Teaching pedagogical practices to support students in constructing knowledge and addressing contemporary phenomena.

Keywords:

• Climate Change
• Phenomena
• Earth & Space Science
• Environmental Science
• General Science
• Pedagogy
• Learning Progression
• Lesson Plans
• Curriculum
• Instructional Materials
• NGSS
• Three-Dimensional Learning
• Crosscutting Concepts
• Disciplinary Core Ideas
• Science And Engineering Practices
• Inquiry

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jonathan G. Griffith

Jonathan G. Griffith ([email protected]) is a curriculum developer with the CIRES Education and Outreach team at the University of Colorado Boulder. Melissa Braaten is a co-author of Ambitious Science Teaching and an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. Ann Dubick is an 8th-grade science teacher at Campbell Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia. Anne U. Gold is the director of CIRES Education and Outreach at the University of Colorado Boulder.