Using paired teaching for understanding methane activity in the Arctic Ocean

Understanding how warming temperatures will alter the Arctic region and how these changes impact other parts of the globe are both scientifically valid and societally relevant. However, in the minds of many people, the Arctic Ocean and related environmental issues are perceived as remote, disconnected, and irrelevant to their lives. This is partly because the knowledge generated through scientific research in the Arctic Ocean is often done with little input or communication with the public. In particular, school communities which are important gateways to the public, have few opportunities to engage in and contribute to knowledge generation and sharing related to the Arctic Ocean. To bridge the gap between scientists and schools, the 2022 AKMA OceanSenses expedition to the Arctic Ocean brought together scientists and teachers to co-create educational materials that are scientifically accurate and pedagogically engaging. Here, we present an educational video about methane activity in the Arctic Ocean. The video follows a pedagogical model known as paired teaching. This approach enables scientists and teachers to create and instruct virtual lessons and activities that are carried out under the guidance of in-class teachers in school classrooms. The video introduces students to methane and gas hydrates, their geographical distribution, and global significance. These topics are taught through lively discussions and observation-based exercises where students work together to relate different scientific datasets to discover processes that produce methane and gas hydrates. The video and supporting materials are freely available on the YouTube channel of the European Geoscience Union (https://www.youtube.com/user/EuroGeosciencesUnion)