Supporting Elementary Learners to Explore Causal Interaction Patterns

Abstract

This study explored how scientific modeling supports 3rd-grade students’ consideration of causal interaction patterns in the context of a socio-scientific issue. Four 3rd-grade teachers enacted a new unit on ecosystem interactions using an approach we call model-oriented issue-based learning. We varied the order of the modeling and issue lesson sequence across participating classrooms to explore how modeling supported students causal reasoning on the issue. In two classrooms, students had a modeling lesson between taking an initial and final position on an issue while in two classrooms, they did not. The socio-scientific issue writings from the students that had the modeling lesson in-between showed growth in their consideration of causal interactions, while students from the other two classrooms did not.