Researching Climate Change in Their Own Backyard—Inquiry-Based Learning as a Promising Approach for Senior Class Students

Abstract

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) enables students to personally experience climate change, which is often perceived as a rather abstract phenomenon. This article outlines characteristics of the IBL approach and sums up its most important benefits for climate change education. Recent relevant school projects, which address the topic of climate change, are presented. The article then describes main features of a prototypical IBL concept, which is being developed at the Chair of Geography Education at the University of Augsburg. In this project, Bavarian senior class high school students conduct research on the effects of climate change in their immediate surroundings. They work on individually generated study questions using anthropogeographic and physiogeographic research methods. In order to do so, students are led towards a deeper understanding of the regional implications of climate change by working with online learning modules that additionally present adequate research methods. They also present their scientific findings in front of peers, a broader public and climatologists. Finally, first findings of the project portrayed above are discussed.