Abstract
Current high school Earth Science curricula and textbooks organize scientific content into isolated “units” of knowledge. Within this structure, content is taught, but in the absence of the context of fundamental understandings or the process of how the science was actually done to reach the conclusions. These are two key facets of scientific literacy. I have developed curriculum from a historical perspective that addresses two particular units of study in Earth Science (“geologic time” and “plate tectonics”). The curriculum traces the evolution of the theory of plate tectonics. It includes contextualized experiences for students such as telling stories, utilizing original historical texts, narratives, and essential questions, to name a few. All of the strategies are utilized with the goal of building understanding around a small set of common themes. Exploring the historical models in this way allows students to analyze the models, while looking for limitations and misconceptions. This methodology is used to encourage students to develop more scientifically accurate understandings about the way in which the world and the process of scientific discovery work. Observations of high student engagement during the utilization of this contextualized approach has demonstrated that a positive effect on student understanding is promising.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abell S, Lederman N (eds) (2007) The handbook of research on science education. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, NJ, p 1330
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (1989) Benchmarks for scientific literacy: project 2061. AAAS, Washington, DC, p 418
Atwater T (2001) When the plate tectonic revolution met North America. In: Naomi Oreskes (ed) Plate tectonics: an insider’s history of the modern theory of the earth. Westview Press, pp 243–263
Begoray D, Stinner A (2005) Representing science through historical drama: Lord Kelvin and the age of the earth debate. Sci & Edu 14(5):457–471
Boulter C, Buckley B (2000) Constructing a typology of models for science education. In: Gilbert J, Boulter C (eds) Developing models in science education. Kluwer Academic Publishing, pp 3–17
Bybee RW, Taylor JA, Gardner A, Van Scotter P, Carlson Powell J, Westbrook A, Landes N (2006) BSCS 5E instructional model: origins, effectiveness and applications. Colorado Springs, CO: BSCS. http://www.bscs.org/pdf/bscs5efullreport2006.pdf
Cartwright J (2007) Science and literature: towards a conceptual framework. Sci & Edu 16(2):115–139
Clough M (2003) The nature of science: understanding how the “Game” of science is played, Chap. 8. In: Weld J (ed) The game of science education. Allyn and Bacon, pp 198–227
Clough M (2006) Learners’ responses to the demands of conceptual change: considerations for effective nature of science instruction. Sci & Edu 15(5):463–494
Clough M, Olson J, Stanley M, Colbert J, Cervato C (2006) Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA. Project title: humanizing science to improve post-secondary science education: pursuing the second tier. National Science Foundation Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Phase II (Expansion) Program. Please contact the principal investigator, Michael Clough, at mclough@iastate.edu
Cutler A (2003) A seashell of the mountaintop: a story of science, sainthood, and the humble genius who discovered a new history of the earth. Dutton Publishing, 298 pp
Earle S (2004) A simple paper model of a transform fault at a spreading-ridge. J Geosci Edu 52(4):391–392
Ellis B (2001) The cottonwood: how i learned the importance of storytelling in science education. Science and Children, NSTA publication, January 2001, pp 43–46
Gilbert J, Boulter C (eds) (2000) Developing models in science education. Kluwer Academic Publishing, 387 pp
Gilbert J, Boulter C, Elmer R (2000) Positioning models in science education and in design and technology education. In: Gilbert J, Boulter C (eds) Developing models in science education. Kluwer Academic Publishing, pp 3–17
Gilbert S, Watt Ireton S (2003) Understanding models in earth and space science. National Science Teachers Association Press, 124 pp
Gobert J (2000) A typology of causal models for plate tectonics: inferential power and barriers to understanding. Int J Sci Edu 22(9):937–977
Gobert J (2005) The effects of different learning tasks on model-building in plate tectonics: diagramming versus explaining
Gobert J, Clement J (1999) Effects of student-generated diagrams versus student-generated summaries on conceptual understanding of causal and dynamic knowledge in plate tectonics. J Res Sci Teach 36(1):39–53
Halloun I (2007) Mediated models in science education. Sci & Edu 16:653–697
Hess F, Kunze G, Leslie S, Letro S, Millage C, Sharp L, Snow T, National Geographic Society (2002) Earth science: geology, the environment, and the universe. Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, Columbus Ohio, 970 pp
Hutton J (1797) Excerpts from the theory of the earth. In: Savoy L, Moores E, Moores J (eds) (2006) Bedrock: writers on the wonders of geology. Trinity University Press, pp 56–59
Jackson P (2006) The chronologers’ quest: the search for the age of the earth. Cambridge University Press, 291 pp
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2004) GPS time series: global velocities. http://sideshow.jpl.nasa.gov/mbh/series.html
Justi R (2000) Teaching with historical models, Chapter 11. In: Gilbert J, Boulter C (eds) Developing models in science education. Kluwer Academic Publishing, pp 209–226
Johnson J, Reynolds S (2005) Concept sketches – using student- and instructor-generated, annotated sketches for learning, teaching, and assessment in geology courses. J Geosci Edu 53(4):85–95
Lawson A (2004) T. rex, the crater of doom, and the nature of scientific discovery. Sci & Edu 13(3):155–177
Matthews M (1994) Science teaching: the role of history and philosophy of science, Routledge, 287 pp
Metz D, Klassen S, McMillan B, Clough M, Olson J (2005) Building a foundation for the use of historical narratives, paper presented at the 8th international history, philosophy, sociology and science teaching conference, July, 2005, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, 21 pp
Miller S, Duggan-Haas D (In review) Defining big ideas in earth science
Moreno N (2007) Teaching science in the 21st century – Teaching the nature of science: five crucial themes, national science teachers association WebNews Digest,http://www.nsta.org/main/news/stories/nsta_story.php?news_story_ID = 53152
Mullner R (1999) Deadly glow: the radium dial worker tragedy. American Public Health Association, 192 pp
National Research Council (1996) National Science Education Standards (NSES), National Academies Press, http://books.napedu/readingroom/books/nses/html/See especially content standard G
National Science Teachers Association (1996) Volcanoes and hot spots. Project Earth Science, National Science Teachers Association, pp 119–125
New York State Education Department (1970) Regents earth science syllabus. The University of the State of New York
New York State Education Department (1993) Earth science program modifications. The University of the State of New York
New York State Education Department (2000) Physical Setting/Earth Science Core Curriculum. The University of the State of New York, 15 pp
Nuhfer E, Mosbrucker P (2007) Developing science literacy using interactive engagements for conceptual understanding of change through time. J Geosci Edu 55(1):36–50
Oreskes N (1999) The rejection of continental drift: theory and method in American Earth Science. Oxford University Press, 420 pp
Piaxão I, Calado S, Ferreira S, Alves V, Morais A (2004) Continental drift: a discussion strategy for secondary school. Sci & Edu 13:201–221
Rutherford F, Ahlgren A (1990) Science for all Americans. Oxford University Press, 246 pp
Sawyer D, Henning A, Shipp S, Dunbar R (2005) A data rich exercise for discovering plate boundary processes. J Geosci Edu 53(1):65–74
Sengör A (2001) Is the present the key to the past or the past the key to the present? James Hutton and Adam Smith versus Abraham Gottlob Werner and Karl Marx in Interpreting History. Geological Society of America Special Paper number 355:51pp
Sengör A (2003) The large-wavelength deformations of the lithosphere: materials for a history of the evolution of thought from the earliest times to plate tectonics. Geol Soc Am, Memoir 196:347pp
Singer S, Hilton M, Schweingruber H (2006) America’s lab report: investigations in high school science, vol 5. National Academies Press, pp 82–85
Solomon J, Duveen J, Scot L, McCarthy S (1992) Teaching about the nature of science through history: action research in the classroom. J Res Sci Teach 29:409–421
Solomon J, Duveen J, Scot L (1994) Pupils’ images of scientific epistemology. Int J Sci Edu 16:361–373
Stern R (1998) A subduction primer for instructors of introductory-geology courses and authors of introductory-geology textbooks. J Geosci Edu 46(3):221–228
Stevens A, Collins A (1980) Multiple conceptual models of a complex system. In: Snow R, Federico P, Montague W (eds) Aptitude, learning and instruction volume 2: cognitive process analyses of learning and problem solving. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, pp 177–197
Stinner A (1995) Contextual settings, science stories, and large context problems: toward a more humanistic science education. Sci Edu 25(5):555–581
Stinner A, Teichmann J (2003) Lord Kelvin and the age of the earth debate: a dramatization. Sci & Edu 12:213–228
Tarbuck E, Lutgens F (2006) Earth Science: New York Student Edition, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 804 pp
Verne J (1992) A journey to the center of the earth. Originally published in 1864 in France as Voyage au Centre de la Terre Readers Digest, Pleasantville, NY, 280 pp
Wandersee J (1985) Can the history of science help science educators anticipate students’ misconceptions? J Res Sci Teach 23(7):581–597
Wiggins G, McTighe J (2005) Understanding by design 2nd edn, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 372 pp
Wilson E (2002) The power of story, American Educator, American Federation of teachers publication, pp 8–11
Winchester S (2001) The map that changed the world: William Smith and the birth of modern geology, Harper Collins, 329 pp
Appendix: Some of the resources used to produce the unit on the historical development of the theory of plate tectonics
Bolles E (1999) Galileo’s commandment: 2,500 years of great science writing. W. H. Freeman, 485 pp
Cutler A (2003) A seashell on the mountaintop: a story of science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius who discovered a new history of the earth. Dutton Publishing, 298 pp
Danson E (2006) Weighing the world: the quest to measure the earth. Oxford University Press, 289 pp
Grant J (2006) Discarded science: ideas that seemed good at the time, facts. Figures and fun, 336 pp
Hellemans A, Bunch B (1988) The time tables of science: a chronology of the most important people and events in the history of science. Simon and Schuster, 660 pp
Jackson P (2006) The chronologers’ quest: the search for the age of the earth. Cambridge University Press, 291 pp
Mullner R (1999) Deadly glow: the radium dial worker tragedy. American Public Health Association, 192 pp
Oreskes N (1999) The rejection of continental drift: theory and method in American earth science. Oxford University Press, 420 pp
Oreskes N (2001) Plate tectonics: an insider’s history of the modern theory of the earth. Westview Press, 424 pp
Repcheck J (2003) The man who found time: James Hutton and the discovery of the earth’s antiquity. Perseus Publishing, 247pp
Savoy L, Moores E, Moores J (eds) (2006) Bedrock: writers on the wonders of geology. Trinity University Press, pp 56–59
Sengör AMC (2001) Is the present the key to the past or the past the key to the present? James Hutton and Adam Smith versus Abraham Gottlob Werner and Karl Marx in Interpreting History, Geological Society of America Special Paper number 355, 51 pp
Sengör AMC (2003) The large-wavelength deformations of the lithosphere: materials for a history of the evolution of thought from the earliest times to plate tectonics, the geological society of America, Memoir 196, 347 pp
Verne J (1992) A journey to the center of the earth, originally published in 1864 in France as Voyage au Centre de la Terre, Readers Digest, Pleasantville, NY, 280 pp
Winchester S (2001) The map that changed the world: William Smith and the birth of modern geology, Harper Collins, 329 pp
Acknowledgements
I would sincerely like to thank Michael Clough and HsingChi vonBergmann for encouraging me to put my work on paper. I would also like to thank Rebecca Remis and Charles Turecek for their efforts in making the manuscript much more readable.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dolphin, G. Evolution of the Theory of the Earth: A Contextualized Approach for Teaching the History of the Theory of Plate Tectonics to Ninth Grade Students. Sci & Educ 18, 425–441 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-007-9136-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-007-9136-0