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Data are invaluable for making sense of the world, but critical thinking and observation skills are necessary to support ­sensemaking and improve data literacy. To develop these skills and build student capacity to connect data to content knowledge and interpret multiple meanings, a new education model was created for middle school science classrooms in ­partnership with teachers from across the U.S. The Building Insights through Observation (BIO) model uses hands-on, arts-based instructional approaches with science content (specifically geospatial data visualizations) to lead students in sensemaking about global phenomena. BIO builds on techniques established in the visual arts, focusing on how learners engage with, make meaning from, and think critically about visual information. In BIO, sensemaking is supported through students collectively exploring phenomena through a combination of art and datasets, reimagining data visualization themselves, and identifying wonderings that drive future questions. The BIO goals, approach, and key features of the model are described along with its application to plate tectonics as an example. The framework is highly adaptable for most environmental and Earth science topics and supports differentiation for all learners, allowing for slowing down and discussion of ideas and interpretations, which support student-driven sensemaking of data and Earth science content. 

In May 2020, the New York City (NYC) Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency (MOCR) began convening bi-weekly discussions, called the Rapid Research and Assessment (RRA) Series, between City staff and external experts in science, policy, design, engineering, communications, and planning. The goal was to rapidly develop authoritative, actionable information to help integrate resiliency into the City’s COVID response efforts. The situation in NYC is not uncommon. Extreme events often require government officials, practitioners, and citizens to call upon multiple forms of scientific and technical assistance from rapid data collection to expert elicitation, each spanning more or less involved engagement. We compare the RRA to similar rapid assessment efforts and reflect on the nature of the RRA and similar efforts to exchange and co-produce knowledge. The RRA took up topics on social cohesion, risk communication, resilient and healthy buildings, and engagement, in many cases strengthening confidence in what was already known but also refining the existing knowledge in ways that can be helpful as the pandemic unfolds. Researchers also learned from each other ways to be supportive of the City of New York and MOCR in the future. The RRA network will continue to deepen, continue to co-produce actionable climate knowledge, and continue to value organizational sensemaking as a usable climate service, particularly in highly uncertain times. Given the complex, rare, and, in many cases, unfamiliar context of COVID-19, we argue that organizational sensemaking is a usable climate service.