Graduate Research Papers

Availability

Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

The ability to read is an important skill for members of society. Teaching students to read is often left up to elementary teachers and then secondary English teachers are expected to expand on those skills, but other content areas can help teach the needed literacy skills to students. In addition to typical literacy skills like reading and writing, students need to be able to understand climate science in order to make responsible decisions about the Earth’s future.

One way to ensure that students are getting both literacy skills and disciplinary content would be for science teachers to include a variety of texts in their curriculum. Among other courses, I teach a high school environmental science class. As an experiment, I replaced regular instruction for a unit on climate change with literacy-focused activities. Students read the book “Tending Iowa’s Land” as the center of a unit, instead of the typical lecture style teaching. Activities students completed included reading questions, graphic organizers, and group discussions, all designed to help students learn about Iowa’s soils, water, air, and life.

Students took surveys before and after the unit that asked them about their knowledge of climate science and opinion of learning activities. The data showed some increase in student knowledge of climate change ideas. However, the experiment also showed a negative impact on student opinion of the unit.

Year of Submission

2026

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Science Education Program

First Advisor

Jeff Morgan

Date Original

2026

Object Description

1 PDF file (65 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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