In their research of the state’s middle-school textbooks, Busch and Román analyzed almost 3,000 words and almost 300 clauses that were related to climate change. A passage in Focus on Earth Science” (Prentice Hall) said global warming could have positive effects for farmers, such as allowing them to plant two crops per year instead of one, but also said: “many effects of global warming are likely to be less positive.
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In recognising the need to improve women’s participation, COP 7 has continuously noted the impact of gender balance in decision making citing studies of more progressive and positive outcomes and greater sustainability-focused decision-making across sectors, linked with engaging a critical mass of women at the forefront of climate talks and negotiations. “With that said, however, the science in the science textbook should be accurate”. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the language employed in these materials frames this topic. The linguistic variables investigated were: types of nominal groups; processes; circumstances; and the modality system.
In their study, the researchers measured how four sixth-grade science textbooks commonly used in California portray the subject of climate change.
Climate change is happening: The dispute is over, the science is clear, the skeptics are dangerously wrong. “2013). Furthermore, ‘natural variations” are the only agents of climate change explicitly identified in text sample one.
Beth Dushman, a geology professor at Del Mar College said, “the current rate of change is much much faster than the rate of change that we see in the geologic record”.
Politicians also refuse to accept the idea of climate change as being an issue.
The authenticity of claims made by scientists regarding the scope and devastating consequences of extreme weather patterns had been challenged, leaving students to believe that climate change may not be a modern-day issue after all.
K.C. Busch, a doctoral candidate in science education at Stanford Graduate School of Education, said, “We found that through language choices, the text portrayed climate change as uncertain along several lines, such as whether climate change was happening, whether humans were causing it and what the effects will be”. We then describe our research questions, the methodology, and the results of our study.
Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science believes that scientists should inform the public about climate change in smaller settings where more questions could be answered, and not in big town hall meetings. In other words, we argue that the language found in the science textbooks analyzed is more akin to the public discourse of doubt rather than to the scientific discourse.
So just what the hell is represented in these damn textbooks? Because of such false information, the public became very confused and misinformed with regard to climate change, Pollack added.
As the world prepares for the start of a global warming summit in Paris next week, a Yale University study released in March shows one-fifth of the United States populace does not believe climate change is taking place. But it is not the historical changes that have happened on earth that concern scientists today. In addition, students are unclear about the effects of climate change, incorrectly linking climate change to skin cancer and believing that the effects will be the same for all parts of Earth.
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One example of this can be found in the textbook Earth Science, which stated: “Until recently, climatic changes were connected only to natural causes”.
