The Solar Panel Modeling Project challenged 10th-grade chemistry students to apply knowledge of Atomic Models to explain electricity generation in a solar panel, deepening their scientific literacy about climate solutions. Here, I describe the project’s implementation and outcomes, including the solar panel model template, the 9-day learning sequence, and the evolution of student thinking captured in the summarizing whole-class model. Throughout the unit, students alternated between investigating new chemistry concepts and iteratively refining models, exercising their NGSS sense-making skills. Content learning focused primarily on Atomic Models and the Octet Rule, but also included brief introductions to Lattice Stability and the Photoelectric Effect. The real-world context of the project showed students the practical utility of the otherwise esoteric skill of mapping electron locations and movements between elements. By the project’s end, students could verbalize how the specific structure of Silicon, Boron, and Phosphorus in a solar panel results in electron movement and electricity. These students now face the upcoming decades of climate solutions debates armed with deeper scientific literacy about the readiness of this technology for widespread implementation.

Science in the wild — misinformation beyond the boundaries of the science classroom and curated media sources — threatens our culture Here, I present one fun classroom activity, in an engaging game format, that fits in the NGSS framework and can help us build a more media-savvy public.

Many teachers are asked by their students how the science content they are learning in class matters in the "real world." Although these connections may be clear to expert teachers, students often require additional support and scaffolding to see how science relates to their lives and interests. This article will detail how one 9th grade Biology teacher, Mrs. Kalivas used a guiding framework called Democratic Science Teaching to identify sources of disengagement in her class. She then developed a photo journal project that supported her students in building connections between their lives and classroom content. As a result of this work, students reported substantial growth in seeing how science could solve problems in their lives and communities. The article also provides additional considerations for using Democratic Science Teaching in a variety of contexts.

Biological evolutionary models have become popular tools for inquiry. Models can help expose complex systems and guide experimentation. Not all research questions require modelling. However, evolutionary models are helpful at quantitative predictions like determining the mathematical relationships among genotypes and phenotypes. The activities presented in this article allowed students to conceptually explore and apply mathematical models of fitness through a hypothetical activity where black-footed ferrets eat prairie dogs over several generations. In addition, students examined models of butterflies being eaten by a bird, showing directional, stabilizing, and disruptive selection. Finally, students applied a mathematical model created in Excel by entering relative fitness values and interpreting the resulting graphs.

As teachers we commonly learn our subject matter in high school and college. We acquire more knowledge in graduate school and in life experiences. At what stage do we learn how to teach? Answers vary. This article is about how I learned much about teaching by observing the teaching skills, or lack of them, while I was a student—years before I began my teaching career at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) in 1964.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a natural process whereby microorganisms break down organic material in the absence of oxygen. Biodigesters (sealed tanks where AD occurs) are complex ecological systems where different microorganisms work together to produce biogas (a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide). They are used to produce energy and fertilizers from organic wastes, such as food waste, crop residues, and animal manure. This article describes the use of a simple model biodigester, built from low-cost materials (water bottles), as a way to introduce students to physical and conceptual models while learning about resource recovery, waste management and sustainability. We piloted our curriculum with pre-service teachers at a [US University], in a middle school [US city] and a high school in [Sub-Saharan African city, country]. Students learned about AD, developed research questions, and built a model biodigester as a tool for scientific inquiry. They collected and analyzed data (e.g., daily biogas and methane production), and they interpreted their results to answer their research questions and make recommendations for local biodigester construction. This article provides an overview of the curriculum and how it can be used in science classrooms to engage students in science and engineering practices.

This two-part article will describe four powerful key ideas embedded in the Framework and the NGSS and ways in which early educators might leverage them with consideration to the unique characteristics of young children and developmentally-appropriate practice (DAP).

Early Years Column.

This article explores a lesson on structure and function in an inclusive first grade classroom. The class is co-taught by a general and special education teacher. The lesson describes how the teachers co-teach through team teaching to plan for possible barriers and use universal design principles to ensure their lesson is accessible to all students.