Ocean and Climate Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts
The Ocean Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, and Climate Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts present a vision of an ocean and climate-literate society. Many scientists and educators collaborated to produce these guides, building on efforts to define ocean and climate literacy and identify the principles and concepts of ocean and climate science that should be included in K-12 curricula. A practical resource for educators, these guides outline the knowledge required to be considered ocean and climate literate in accordance with the National Science Education Standards (NSES). Educators can use the concepts and principles in these guides to fulfill many of the NSES content standards. The Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts outlined in these guides represent content that does not always fall neatly within particular disciplines. As a result, many Fundamental Concepts illustrate more than one Essential Principle. This demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of ocean and climate sciences.
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Ocean Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts (3.9 Mb) |
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Climate Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts (4.8 Mb) |
Definitions of what an ocean and climate literate person "is"
Ocean literacy is an understanding of the oceanís influence on youóand your influence on the ocean.
An ocean-literate person:
- understands the Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts about the functioning of the ocean;
- can communicate about the ocean in a meaningful way; and
- is able to make informed and responsible decisions regarding the ocean and its resources.
You are climate literate if you understand the influence of climate on yourself and society and your influence on climate.
A climate-literate person:
- understands the essential principles of all aspects of the Earth system governing climate patterns that are presented in this document;
- knows how to gather information about climate and weather, and how to distinguish credible from non-credible scientific sources on the subject;
- communicates about climate and climate change in a meaningful way;
- communicates about climate and climate change in a meaningful way;
