Making microclimates visible: an infrared thermography field activity to support climate learning and nature connectedness on an urban campus
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Understanding local climate processes is a key challenge in undergraduate Earth science education. Concepts such as surface energy balance and heat transfer are often taught through abstract models, making it difficult for students to connect thermodynamic theory to the environments they inhabit. At the same time, fostering students’ sense of connection to the natural world is an increasingly recognized goal of environmental education, yet rarely integrated into climate science curricula. To address both dimensions, we designed a field activity using smartphone-connected infrared (IR) thermography cameras. Through inquiry- and place-based investigation, the activity invites students to observe and interpret the thermal signatures of buildings, vehicles, vegetation, and water surfaces on their urban campus—connecting these to concepts of emissivity, brightness temperature, heat transfer, and surface energy balance—and to perceive the campus as a thermodynamic ecosystem. We implemented this two-hour activity in an undergraduate climate science course (n = 28) and evaluated its effects on both students’ knowledge and their nature connectedness using a pre–post design. The evaluation showed a large gain in knowledge of thermal processes (Hedges’ g = 1.04, 95% CI [0.58, 1.50], p < .001) and a smaller increase in nature connectedness (g = 0.43, 95% CI [0.04, 0.82], p = .038); the two gains were not correlated. These results suggest that field-based IR thermography is a promising tool for supporting students’ climate literacy and may also help foster a sense of connection to the natural world.
Source: Journal of Geoscience Education
Author: Marie-Léa Pouliquen
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7225633590