Supplementary Materials Figure S1. Interview Protocol Introduction: Hello my name is [AUTHOR NAME, TITLE, & INSTITUTION]. During this interview, I would like you to interact with a computer simulation that will show you things in the world that you can’t normally see with the naked eye, and then I am going to play a short film to follow up or conversation. As you interact with the simulation, I would like to hear about what it is that you see and what you are thinking about. This interview is expected to last about 20-30 minutes. Any information you share with me will be kept confidential. Please let me know if you feel uncomfortable answering a question or would like me to stop the interview at any time. (Note: Items in BOLD were added after pilot interviews) What We Say/Do Why We/Do This Possible Responses Follow Ups Simulation Protocol [Show page 1, simulation is Gage initial reactions to I have no idea. What if you were in idle] What do you think simulated environment. walking down here? this is? A sunny day, a computer What would it look game, chocolate malt balls, like/feel like? Establish common molecules, atoms, a vocabulary for the sun, thermometer, this is the What else do you the ground, and the ground, if they read the notice? buttons that can be labels: (sun on ground, clicked. Give them a photons, infrared, visible Did you notice the sun? chance to read the light, temperature)… labels. Another student said Is this a multiple choice? that this is the ground. Why does the ground look like that? What do you think will Prompt a prediction. I have no clue. Go ahead and click the happen if you click the play play button! button? What do you see? Where is Establish vocabulary I see squiggles coming down Ok, what else do you the visible light coming for sunlight, infrared. from above, the balls are notice? from? Why are the atoms on lighting up, there are two What should we call the the ground lighting up? kinds of squiggles, the squiggles? Where is the infrared light temperature is going up. Did you see the labels coming from? Where does it on the side? go? Guide students to attend to sunlight The ground lights up, and that What happens to visible absorption and Infrared is all. Did you notice the light when it hits the emission. infrared light? Where is ground? it coming from? 2 Now click the button that Elicit perceptual Green balls. What should we call the says “sun on CO2”. What do judgments of green balls? Let’s call you see? simulation before them CO2. It’s a animation. Establish molecule in the air. common vocabulary for CO2. Well go ahead and find What will happen when you I think the light will crash into out! click play? the CO2. Did you notice the light waves? What do you notice? Where Guide students to The temperature is not Did you notice the is the sunlight coming from? attend to the changing. sunlight? Where is it going? transparency of CO2. How does the sunlight Do you think the The sunlight is making the sunlight is bumping into interact with the CO2? CO2 move the CO2, or passing through? Now click the button that Elicit perceptual The sun disappeared. says “Infrared on CO2”. What judgments and do you see? What will predictions. happen when you click play? What do you notice? How is this different than visible Guide students to I can’t tell, it’s hard to see. Try clicking the slow attend to absorption and motion button light on the “CO2”? Where is the infrared coming from? emission of infrared light. The infrared passes through It does. Does all Why does the “CO2” light up? the CO2. infrared pass through the CO2? What happens to the CO2 Guide students to Nothing. When it bumps into Choose a CO2 molecule after it lights up? attend to absorption and another CO2 the light goes for me, and let’s watch re-emission (this is very away. it light up, and see what difficult to see in the happens after. Did you simulation. Students see that? No? Ok, keep may need explicit watching. instruction.) Another student noticed that the CO2 releases an infrared wave when it loses its glow. See? How does infrared interact with the “CO2”? Page 2 of 236 3 Now click the button that Elicit perceptual Tell me more? How do says “Sun on ground and judgments and you know? What are CO2”. What do you see? predictions. you thinking about in What will happen when you order to make that click play? prediction? Did you picture what would happen? Did you notice the sun is back? What do you predict will happen when the sunlight leaves the sun? Where will it go? What do you see? Where is Prompt students to the visible light coming synthesize the Ok, let’s hit play and from? Where is it going? mechanisms of the find out! Does the visible light crash greenhouse effect in into the CO2, or pass this cumulative, through? What happens when complex scenario. visible light hits the ground? Where is the infrared light coming from? What happens to the infrared light when it hits the CO2? Tell me the story of what happens to sunlight after it leaves the sun. What is the temperature? Prompt a an The temperature is changing. Right. Can you bound How would you compare this opportunity for students the temperature for me? temperature to the to establish causal Do you think it will ever temperature of the sun and inferences between exceed the second ground with no CO2? rising temperatures and mark? Why not? the presence of CO2. Let’s find out the difference! Go ahead and click “sun on ground” again and let’s watch the temperature. Why? Why not? What effect does CO2 have CO2 has no effect. Explain. How do you on temperature? know? Video Protocol TRANSITION: What you Transition into just described to me is discussion of global called the greenhouse effect. warming. What do you know about the greenhosue effect? Ok, now we are going to Orient students toward What’s climate change? Have you heard of watch a brief, 3 minute film notion of climate global warming? about climate change. But change/global warming before we watch this, tell me what you know about climate change. Do you feel connected to the problem? Page 3 of 236 4 Do you think it’s real? Do you think that your actions reflect global consciousness? What are your feelings/emotions about global warming? Do you view science as a relevant aspect of this issue? Are you ready? What are your impressions of the video? What are your Elicit students personal How do you know? thoughts on climate views about global Why? Tell me more. change/global warming? Do warming/climate you buy it? Do you think that change, and their humans cause temperatures to scientific justification rise globally? Did any of this of them. change your mind? Do you think climate science is a debatable issue? Page 4 of 236 5 Figure S2. Transcribed Interview Data PARTICIPANT 1 Interviewer: Hello, I am [NAME, TITLE, INSTITUTION] and my contact info is on the information sheet that I gave you. During this interview I'm going to ask you to interact with a computer simulation that I'll pull up on the screen in a minute and I'm going to ask you to ... I'm also going to play you a three minute film that summarizes the stuff that we go over. As you interact with the simulation, I'm going to ask you questions to walk you through the simulation, learn about what you see and what you're thinking about. You're going to get full credit for this regardless of whether or not you answer the questions in any particular way, so don't worry about that. It's supposed to last about 20 to 30 minutes and any information you share with me will be audio recorded, but it'll be kept confidential. I'll transcribe everything and your name won't be attached to anything and the audio will be deleted. Let me know if you feel uncomfortable answering any questions or want me to stop the interview at any time and we can stop. Before we start, what do you know about climate change? Participant: I do know about the carbon radiation that creates this methane effect that adds to a heated sort of greenhouse effect that adds to ... Yeah, it makes it hotter. It increases the temperature and it's not going to go down unless the ozone layer ... Ozonolysis, I think, it breaks down from O3 into O2 because of the oxygen radicals and all that stuff. I took some chemistry so we had to learn about all of those things. Interviewer: Oh okay. You have methane and ozone that you're talking about there. You think that has something to do with it? Participant: Yeah. Interviewer: Okay. Anything more? Participant: Basically the burning of fossil fuels and volcanoes have sulfur and those things they contribute to an escalation in the percentage of carbon in the air that leads to this sort of global warming. Interviewer: All right, great. What are you attitudes about global warming in general? Participant: I think given the melting of the polar ice caps and how it's effecting organisms in general, we should probably take a stand towards minimizing the effects.