Dr. Joyce Parker, Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences and Teacher Education at Michigan State University and former staff at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, delivers a webinar for National Council for Science and the Environment on May 8, 2017.

GLBRC Education Researcher Joyce Parker explains some of the common misconceptions students have about matter and energy and encourages teaching "thinking" instead of "stuff."

Global climate change is a serious problem that requires the involvement of a scientifically literate public to solve. But what does the public understand about this complex issue and its relationship to the combustion of fossil fuels?

Our society is currently having serious debates about sources of energy and global climate change. But do students (and the public) have the requisite knowledge to engage these issues as informed citizenry? The learning progressions research summarized here indicates that only 10% of high school students typically have a level of understanding commensurate with that called for in The Next Generation Science Standards.

In this report, we help teachers understand and prepare for the expected changes in science education described in the Framework and Standards. We examine more closely the dimensions and new emphases in the expectations for K-­12 science laid out in these documents and describe how GLBRC educational materials and professional development help teachers meet these new demands.