Notes from the field for March 2025

The summaries in every "Notes from the field" share key insights from recent science education research-based publications and blog posts into actionable takeaways you can implement in your classroom. Each summary highlights practical strategies, includes relevant quotes from the original authors, and provides complete citation information for further exploration. Whether you have five minutes between classes or are planning your next professional learning session, these research briefs will help you stay informed and inspired.

In this issue...

Teaching Climate Science Effectively Across Political Divides

In this research study, Victoria Johnson and colleagues from the University of Minnesota examined how political ideology, epistemic beliefs (beliefs about knowledge itself), and information sources influence trust and belief in climate change information. Their findings provide valuable insights for educators teaching climate science in politically diverse classrooms.

The researchers found that climate science denial isn't just about politics - it's deeply connected to students' beliefs about knowledge itself and their trust in different information sources. When teaching controversial topics like climate change, educators need strategies that work across these divides.

Key implications for classroom practice:

• Consider epistemic profiles when teaching climate science. Students who believe "facts are politically constructed" or have high "faith in intuition" are less likely to defer to scientific sources. Science teachers should explicitly address how scientific knowledge is developed and why scientific consensus matters.

• Develop evaluative sourcing skills. Many students don't differentiate between partisan media and scientific institutions. Teach students to critically evaluate information sources and recognize the specific credibility of scientific institutions, especially for middle and high school science classes.

• Focus on evidence-based reasoning. Students with a high "need for evidence" were more likely to trust scientific sources across political divides. Educators can cultivate this by emphasizing evidence-based reasoning and helping students understand the nature of scientific evidence.

• Acknowledge political differences respectfully. Rather than avoiding political aspects, acknowledge them and show how scientific findings transcend political views. This works especially well in high school environmental science classes when discussing climate policy.

  
  

"Accounting for these epistemic factors improves the ability to estimate individuals' beliefs and misconceptions," note the researchers. "The encouragement of epistemic profiles that defer to scientific sources over partisan sources could serve as a 'protective' factor against science denial."

The researchers emphasize that certain epistemic beliefs can serve as a "protective factor" that helps students accept scientific information even when it conflicts with their political views. By helping students understand how knowledge is created in science, teachers can better prepare them to evaluate climate information from various sources.

"Patterns of belief and trust in climate change information" by Victoria Johnson, Reese Butterfuss, Rina Harsch, and Panayiota Kendeou in Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2025 (Vol. 62, #3, pp. 655-683); Johnson can be reached at joh19233@umn.edu

Using Physics to Analyze a TV Action Scene's Realism

In this Physics Teacher article, Gregory DiLisi and Richard Rarick (John Carroll University and Cleveland State University) examine whether a dramatic scene from the hit Amazon series "Reacher" could actually happen in real life. In the scene, the protagonist kicks the front grille of a parked car, causing the airbag to deploy and incapacitating the villain sitting inside.

The authors use this scene to demonstrate how physics teachers can engage students with real-world applications of mechanics concepts:

"As teachers of introductory physics and engineering courses, we are always looking for ways to bring current events into our classrooms. We are especially interested in finding examples where basic principles of physics can be used to cast skepticism or validation on assertions made by celebrities, politicians, or professional athletes."

To determine if the TV scene is realistic, the article first explains how modern airbags work:

• Airbags deploy based on acceleration data, not physical deformation

• A sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) processes data from multiple crash sensors

• The crash sensors are mounted behind the bumper, not on the grille

• "The SDM decides if a crash has occurred, not the sensors"

The authors present two calculation methods students could use:

Method 1: Using impulse and NHTSA guidelines

• According to the NHTSA, "Airbags are typically designed to deploy in frontal and near-frontal collisions, which are comparable to hitting a solid barrier at approximately 8 to 14 mph"

• By calculating the impulse required, they determine a force range of 35.2-98.0 kN

Method 2: Using Newton's second law and crash expert guidelines

• Airbags deploy when the vehicle experiences at least 1-2g of deceleration

• This calculation produces a required force range of 18.8-37.6 kN

  
  

Their conclusion? The scene is physically impossible. "An average adult can kick with a force of approximately 1 kN; however... Edson Barboza, a highly trained martial artist... can kick with up to 9 kN of force." Even assuming Jack Reacher could match the world's best martial artist, his kick would generate at most half the force needed to deploy an airbag.

The article ends with additional discussion points for students, including the fact that "a study by the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine found that a force of 8.0 kN resulted in a 50% probability of compressive foot-ankle fracture." In other words, Reacher "more than likely would have limped away from the villain with a broken ankle."

"Jack Reacher and the Deployment of an Airbag" by Gregory A. DiLisi and Richard A. Rarick in The Physics Teacher, February 2025 (Vol. 63, pp. 95-98); DiLisi can be reached at gdilisi@jcu.edu.

Connecting Chemistry Concepts to Climate Science through Classroom Activities

In this Journal of Chemical Education article, Jerry Bell (Simmons University) tackles a common challenge: chemistry teachers believe climate change is important but struggle to include it meaningfully in their teaching. A survey of undergraduate chemistry instructors revealed that "most felt the topic of climate change is important, but the great majority did not include it or only mentioned it in passing" due to time constraints and packed curricula.

Bell's practical solution? Extend discussions of hands-on activities teachers already use to make climate connections. As he explains, "climate science concepts are the same as those in our curricula, so 'fitting in' the climate does not necessarily require wholesale change."

Bell highlights the free online "Climate Science Activities Workbook" from the Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy, which provides ready-to-use resources connecting chemistry concepts to climate science. Each activity includes:

1. Student worksheets with directions and guiding questions

2. Instructor guides with setup tips and climate connection resources

In one sample activity on density, students observe that:

• Ice floats on fresh and salt water

• Cold water sinks in warm fresh water but remains on top of salt water

• Water expands as it warms

These observations connect directly to climate concepts:

• "The icy cold, very salty surface water is more dense than the somewhat warmer, less salty water below" explains Atlantic Ocean currents

• "Melting sea ice is floating and does not add to sea level rise" while "one obvious cause [of sea level rise] is added water from ice melt" on land

• "The warming sea expands, and the only way it has to go is up, which increases sea level"

Bell emphasizes that understanding climate science should empower students to take action: "Although an understanding of climate science is not necessarily sufficient to foster behaviors that mitigate climate change, it is important to help students understand how their climate science knowledge empowers each of them to contribute to this effort."

"Climate Science Concepts Fit Your Classroom: A Resource" by Jerry A. Bell in Journal of Chemical Education, January 28, 2025 (Vol. 102, pp. 469-472); Bell can be reached at jerryalanbell@gmail.com.

Supporting Multilingual Science Learners

In this CBE—Life Sciences Education article, Julia Svoboda (Tufts University) highlights research on supporting multilingual learners in science using translanguaging approaches. Translanguaging "describes the diverse and fluid ways in which learners use and develop language and rejects narrow definitions of language that have been used to marginalize multilingual learners."

Svoboda identifies a key tension between improving access to existing systems versus transforming restrictive language practices:

• Equity-as-access: Helping students navigate academic English requirements

• Equity-as-transformation: Challenging what counts as acceptable scientific language

For classroom application, three practical insights emerge:

1. Improve assessment clarity: Multilingual students struggle with "complex vocabulary and syntax including the use of unnecessary technical jargon, idioms, ambiguous phrases, and complicated sentences." Teachers should simplify language, remove extraneous information, and provide clear scaffolding in assessments.

2. Value multiple forms of expression: Research found that "when studies took on a more expansive framing of language, they found scientific sophistication that could have otherwise been missed." Rather than focusing only on vocabulary acquisition, encourage students to use drawings, gestures, and home languages to demonstrate understanding.

3. Shift from deficit to resource thinking: In effective professional development, teachers moved from viewing multilingual learners as lacking to "positioning themselves as listening to and learning from students' varied contributions." One teacher invited "students to collaboratively define terms using whatever modes of expression made sense to them."

"The inherent multimodal nature of modeling in science may support more expansive conceptions of language," concludes Svoboda, suggesting science educators should design experiences that allow students to use their full linguistic repertoire.

"Supporting Multilingual Science Learners" by Julia Svoboda in CBE—Life Sciences Education, March 1, 2025 (Vol. 24, #fe1, pp. 1-4); Svoboda can be reached at Julia.Svoboda@tufts.edu.

Teaching Physics Through the Titan Submersible Disaster

In this Physics Teacher article, Gregory A. DiLisi, Steven J. Eppell, and Richard A. Rarick present a classroom-ready activity that uses the 2023 Titan submersible tragedy to teach fundamental concepts of stress and strain in materials. The authors, from three different universities, demonstrate how this current event can engage students while introducing rarely covered topics in introductory physics and engineering courses.

Key classroom applications:

• Use the Titan disaster to teach how different materials deform under pressure, particularly focusing on the catastrophic failure that likely occurred at the junction of the titanium alloy end caps and carbon fiber composite hull.

• Implement a simple, inexpensive lab activity using Knox gelatin samples of varying concentrations to model materials with different mechanical properties. Students create gelatin cylinders, apply increasingly heavy masses, measure compression, and calculate stress-strain relationships.

• Guide students in creating and analyzing stress-strain curves to understand concepts like Young's modulus, stiffness, and elastic behavior. The data clearly shows how materials with different properties (represented by different gelatin concentrations) respond differently to the same applied loads.

• Connect the lab experience to real-world engineering challenges, helping students understand why the carbon fiber composite and titanium components of the Titan might have experienced catastrophic failure under extreme pressure.

"A leading theory as to the cause of the implosion of the Titan is that the dissimilar materials used in the construction of the craft had different elastic coefficients of compression. As the craft descended, the pressure exerted on these materials caused them to compress. Away from the joint, the different materials compressed by different amounts."

"For students, the conclusion was that while materials may appear the same, they can alter their dimensions by different amounts upon application of the same load. Thus, complex objects, like the Titan, that are constructed of different materials, have the potential to experience shear forces that can lead to catastrophic failure when they are loaded."

Classroom Activity: Modeling Material Stiffness with Gelatin

Materials Needed:

• 5 packets of sugar-free Knox gelatin

• Warm tap water

• Small mixing bowls

• Graduated cylinders or measuring cups

• Several 75-ml plastic chemical supply bottles (about $0.25 each on Amazon)

• Scissors or razor blades

• Cooking spray (PAM brand recommended)

• Small plastic or glass cover slips

• Rulers

• Mass sets (10-250g)

• Food coloring (different colors)

• Hot plate

• Access to a refrigerator

Preparation (Teacher Task - Day Before):

1. Create containment tubes by cutting the necks off the 75-ml plastic bottles to form 4-cm-long cylindrical molds. Each student group needs five tubes.

2. Spray the inside of each tube with cooking spray, ensuring the walls and bottom are lightly coated to prevent the gelatin from sticking.

Student Procedure (Day 1 - Sample Preparation):

1. Prepare five different gelatin concentrations between 0.015 g/ml and 0.05 g/ml. For example:

   • Sample 1: 0.015 g/ml (most compliant)

   • Sample 2: 0.0225 g/ml

   • Sample 3: 0.03 g/ml

   • Sample 4: 0.0375 g/ml

   • Sample 5: 0.05 g/ml (most rigid)

2. For each concentration:

   • Measure the appropriate amount of gelatin powder

   • Add to the specified volume of warm water in a mixing bowl

   • Stir until dissolved

   • Bring the solution to a full boil (this is critical for proper gelation)

   • Add a drop of different food coloring to each concentration to help identify samples

   • Pour the mixture into a prepared containment tube, filling to about 4 cm height

3. Refrigerate all samples overnight.

Student Procedure (Day 2 - Testing and Analysis):

1. Carefully remove each gelatin cylinder from its containment tube by gently pushing from the bottom or tapping lightly.

2. For each sample, record:

   • Initial height (h₀) using a ruler

   • Initial diameter (to calculate cross-sectional area A₀)

   • Concentration of gelatin (from your notes)

3. Test each sample:

   • Place the gelatin cylinder on a flat surface

   • Put a small cover slip on top (to distribute the weight evenly)

   • Place a mass (start with 10g) on the cover slip

   • Measure and record the new compressed height (h)

   • Calculate the change in height (Δh = h₀ - h)

   • Repeat with increasing masses (10g, 20g, 50g, 100g, 150g, 200g, 250g)

   • Stop if the cylinder deforms too much (>50%)

4. Calculate for each measurement:

   • Stress (σ) = Force/Area = (mass × g)/A₀ in pascals

   • Compressive strain (ε) = -Δh/h₀ (unitless)

5. Create a graph:

   • Plot stress (y-axis) vs. compressive strain (x-axis) for all five samples

   • Use different colors or symbols to represent different gelatin concentrations

   • Include error bars if possible

6. Analysis questions:

   • Which sample has the highest Young's modulus (stiffest)? How can you tell from the graph?

   • How does the modulus (slope of the graph) change as concentration increases?

   • Do all samples show linear behavior? If not, which ones are non-linear?

   • For the non-linear samples, does the stiffness increase or decrease as more weight is added?

   • How might these results relate to the Titan submersible disaster?

   • How would the different parts of the Titan (titanium alloy end caps vs. carbon fiber composite hull) behave differently under the extreme pressures at the Titanic wreck site?

Teaching Points:

• Highlight that Young's modulus is calculated from the slope of the stress-strain curve in the linear region (E = σ/ε)

• Emphasize that materials with higher Young's modulus resist deformation more (stiffer materials)

• Discuss how the conjunction of materials with very different moduli can create stress points and potential failure zones

• Explain that the titanium alloy and carbon fiber composite used in the Titan likely had much higher moduli than our gelatin samples, but demonstrated similar principles of different materials responding differently to the same pressure

Extensions:

• Stack two different concentration samples on top of each other and observe how the combined cylinder behaves compared to the individual samples

• Test samples while still in their containment tubes to model confined compression

• Calculate the area under the stress-strain curves (modulus of resilience) to determine energy absorption capabilities

"The Implosion of the Titan Submersible: A Stress–Strain Experiment" by Gregory A. DiLisi, Steven J. Eppell, and Richard A. Rarick in The Physics Teacher, March 2025 (Vol. 63, pp. 156-160); DiLisi can be reached at gdilisi@jcu.edu.