A Content Analysis of the Concept of Global Warming in Textbooks for Grades 1-9 in Taiwan

Textbooks on various school subjects dealing with the concept of global warming in grades 1-9 were examined using the content analysis method. Based on literature analysis, the concept of global warming was divided into five themes (sub-concepts): weather and climate, human activities and the environment, the causes and impacts of global warming, energy development and management, and green life. A total of 176 books from various curricula containing 1365 chapters were explored for this study. The main findings are as follows: 1. Contents relating to the concept of global warming have characteristics of cross-curricular dimensions. The above sub-concepts have been primarily integrated into the curriculum of Science and Technology (99 chapters) and Social Studies (76 chapters). 2. Related subjects have been integrated into respective curricula at significantly different percentages. With nearly 44% of 225 chapters, Science and Technology ranked the highest for grade 1-9 curricula. In the aforementioned chapters, the sub-concept of green life (67 chapters) is mentioned most frequently. 3. The concept of global warming and the five sub-concepts are integrated increasingly into textbooks with increases in grade levels.