APPLES Pre-Workshop Survey

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Dear Teacher,
We are excited to offer the Arctic Plant Phenology Learning through Engaged Science (APPLES) program. In an effort to determine the impact of our program, our team will be gathering information from the program participants. We are required to inform you that we will be using this data to evaluate the impact of our program and may report our findings to those providing funding support as well as other groups involved in teacher professional development. Information will be gathered in a few different ways:

- A survey about teachers’ ideas about climate change and teaching climate change to students
- Teachers’ work products from the workshop activities
- Focus group interviews with a subset of teachers following the workshop

All information will be kept confidential as all identifiers will be replaced with an assigned number. Please know that your participation is voluntary and you may decide to stop at any time. If you have questions or concerns, you should contact the CSATS Director and Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Kathleen Hill, at 814-863-2275. If you have questions regarding your rights as a participant or concerns regarding your privacy, you may contact the Penn State University Office for Research Protections at 814-865-1775.

Please indicate your voluntary consent to participate in the research below: *

I am willing to participate.

I am not willing to participate.

Survey Questions

Below is a series of questions for you to complete prior to attending the APPLES workshop. The 16-item survey is a combination of multiple choice and open-ended questions. We anticipate the survey to take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Please select responses that best represent your ideas about climate changes and practices of teaching about climate change. We ask that you do not access any resource materials (Internet, books, articles, etc…) as you select/prepare your responses.

Thank you.

1. To study the effect of a warmer climate on plants, one could: *

Measure plant growth in a warm year and in a cold year

Measure plant growth under control conditions and under experimentally warming

Measure plant growth over many years (20+) as the climate warms

B and C are correct

All of the above are correct

2. To study the effect of sea ice cover on plants, one could: *

Measure the timing of flowering in a year with earlier loss of sea ice and late-lying sea ice

Measure the timing of flowering under control conditions and under experimental conditions in which sea ice cover is manipulated

Measure the timing of flowering over many years (20+) as sea ice cover changes

A and C are correct

All of the above are correct

3. Which of the following is a disadvantage of studying climate change through experimentation: *

Only lab experiments are possible

No one knows how much warmer it could be in next 50 years

It is difficult to combine multiple ways that climate will change into an experiment

Only one species can be studied at a time

Studies must be conducted for at least 10 years

4. What are the possible ways in which species might respond to climate change? *

They might move upward in elevation or move to higher latitudes to maintain optimal climatic conditions

They might go extinct

They might stay where they are but adapt to changing conditions

They might tolerate new conditions without adapting

All of these are correct

5. Why are plants a good model system for studying the impacts of climate change? *

They have short life spans

They contain both sexes on a single individual

They have well studied genomes

They can be studied in the lab or in the field

They can be experimented upon without moral concern

6. Compared to other regions on Earth, the Arctic is warming: *

Faster than other regions

More slowly than other regions

At a linear rate, while other regions are warming at a non-linear rate

Largely independently of human influences

At the same rate as Antarctica

7. What is the difference between weather and climate? *

8. What is the difference between climate change and global warming? *

9. In science, what is the difference between knowledge and belief? *

10. What challenges do you anticipate or actually experience in teaching your students about climate change? *

11. "Recent global warming is primarily caused by human activity such as burning fossil fuels." In the boxes below, please provide your best guess about how many people in your community would agree with that statement. *

0-20%

21-40%

41-60%

61-80%

81-100%

I don't know

Parents of students in your school

Science teachers in your school district

Administrators in your school district

Climate scientists

12. Have you ever personally experienced any pressure or controversy because of teaching about climate change? *

Yes, I have personally experienced pressure or controversy.

I have not myself, but there was a controversy about teaching climate change in my school or school district.

No.

13. Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements if they apply to your classes in biology or life sciences (otherwise select "Not applicable"). When I do teach about climate change... *

Strongly Agree

Agree

Somewhat Agree

Somewhat Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

I emphasize that average global temperatures have risen in the last 150 years.

I emphasize that natural cycles have produced warming events throughout Earth's history.

I emphasize the scientific consensus that recent global warming is primarily being caused by human release of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.

I emphasize that many scientists believe that recent increases in temperature is likely due to natural causes.

I encourage students to debate the likely causes of global warming.

I encourage students to come to their own conclusions about the causes of global warming.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Somewhat Agree

Somewhat Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

I emphasize that average global temperatures have risen in the last 150 years.

I emphasize that natural cycles have produced warming events throughout Earth's history.

I emphasize the scientific consensus that recent global warming is primarily being caused by human release of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.

I emphasize that many scientists believe that recent increases in temperature is likely due to natural causes.

I encourage students to debate the likely causes of global warming.

I encourage students to come to their own conclusions about the causes of global warming.

14. Some teachers tell us that they acknowledge that human-caused climate change is controversial and adopt particular strategies to do so. Tell us about your approach to each of the following. *

I have done this

I have not done this, but might if the situation were to arise

I would not do this

Give equal time to perspectives that raise doubt that humans are causing climate change.

Allow students to discuss the controversy without me taking a position

Discuss the controversy in the context of the nature of science.

Discourage debate because I believe most climate skepticism is not based on sound science.

Offer to meet with students after class.

Send an explanatory letter to parents.

Allow students to opt out of portions of the class.

Adhere strictly to standards and not allow discussion that might become controversial.

Avoid all discussion of climate change.

I have done this

I have not done this, but might if the situation were to arise

I would not do this

Give equal time to perspectives that raise doubt that humans are causing climate change.

Allow students to discuss the controversy without me taking a position

Discuss the controversy in the context of the nature of science.

Discourage debate because I believe most climate skepticism is not based on sound science.

Offer to meet with students after class.

Send an explanatory letter to parents.

Allow students to opt out of portions of the class.

Adhere strictly to standards and not allow discussion that might become controversial.

Avoid all discussion of climate change.

15. Which of the following comes closest to your view? *

Global warming is caused mostly by human activities

Global warming is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment

Global warming is not happening

Other:

16. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? *

Humans can't reduce global warming even if it is happening.

Humans could reduce global warming, but people aren't willing to change their behavior so we're not going to.

Humans could reduce global warming, but it's unclear at this point whether we will do what's needed.

Humans can reduce global warming, and we are going to do so successfully.

APPLES Teacher Research Projects - during the workshop you will be working in small groups to develop research ideas/projects for the classroom. When thinking about building relationships that will continue throughout the school year, which type of break-out group would be most useful to you? (you can pick more than one) *

Grade-level groups - teachers of similar grade-levels: elementary, middle, high school

Geographic area - teachers closest in proximity to your location

Selected topics - teachers studying similar topics

Independent - you prefer to work on your own research development

Other:

Required

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