The Anthropocene and the Frameworkfor K-12 Science Education

A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas is considered to be the most current and compelling guide available for science education across the various disciplines. The future of Earth Science education, and within that, teaching about the Anthropocene is likely to depend in large part on the ability of the Earth Science community to apply the framework. Analyses, discussion, and elaboration of recommendations about the use of the framework are needed. Later, we can design, research and evaluate, and revise standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessments in ways that will reach the ground. This chapter indicates the need to teach the Crosscutting Concepts, Practices, and Core Ideas explicitly in a way that integrates them with each other and with subject-specific concepts and practices, to include more about the nature of Earth Science, the interactions between science and society, and the interactions of natural and social systems.