Career of the Month

Fact or Faux?

Focus on Physics

A classroom guide to resources about misinformation

Editor's Corner September/October 2024

This paper explores a restorative-type intervention with a high school student who is suspended from school for repeated threats to other students. Throughout the paper, we explore the use of restorative practices in the context of science teaching. Science in process and content is used in tandem with various restorative practices to provide the student a lens through which to better understand what led to her suspension, learn science content, and find perspective change in the process as it pertains to her developing sense of self. The methods and tools are then transformed into practical use through a modified version of the 5E method of science inquiry that targets student emotions and support the formation of logic.

This biology lesson uses the science of central dogma to “critique and question the politics of representation that systematically devalue[s] Blackness” (hooks, 1995, p.131). Students’ understanding of protein synthesis is extended in discussing melanin and its significance to protecting the body from harmful radiation from the sun. Through data analysis, students are able to explain the function of melanin and the evolutionary benefits to various skin colors. In addition to a discussion on the biology of skin color and the gene responsible (mc1r), students engage in a lesson that is culturally relevant/responsive. Through challenging racist ideologies and understanding the biology of skin color, students are the center of discussions on racism and the impacts of the social construction of race. The title “Black is Beautiful” is inspired by Jamaican reggae artist Chronixx and the work of Michelle Grace Williams, “They Never Told Us Black is Beautiful: Fostering Black Joy and Pro-Blackness Pedagogies in Early Childhood Classrooms”. Through artivism, students challenge eurocentric ideologies on beauty and genius through literary or visual arts. In addition to being an act of activism, artwork will also demonstrate an understanding of melanin’s role.

The ability of our northern Indigenous peoples (Inuit, Iñupiaq, and Yupik) to survive and thrive in the Arctic depends significantly upon underlying chemistry and chemical principles. Here, we explore four of these connections, then show how the Indigenous experience can be incorporated into science and chemistry courses. To accomplish our goals, we have have knitted together the Indigenous experimental knowledge and cultural background of two Inuit science students with the depth and breadth of chemistry knowledge of a teaching-focussed chemistry professor. Their combined investigations resulted in a series of published articles explaining the chemistry underpinning many aspects of Inuit life in the Arctic. Then we provide commentaries of the experiences of two high school science teachers who have incorporated this work into their chemistry and science classes in very different teaching environments. We contend that incorporating contextualized Indigenous content is important for two main reasons. Making chemistry more relevant for Indigenous students will spark their interest in the subject, make them feel valued, and possibly proceed to further science studies. Incorporating Indigenous-relevant chemistry for the wider population of students will enable them to appreciate the sophistication of an Indigenous culture and add an additional dimension to their chemistry studies.

Science classrooms are most engaging when students have the opportunity to engage in the practices of scientists. Unfortunately, many attempts to incorporate science into the classroom are disconnected from real scientific practice. When classroom science is divorced from genuine scientific research, collaboration also suffers. Students may sometimes collaborate with each other during traditional labs at school, but too often, the end goal is simply for students to see what the instructor wants them to see. Citizen science, however, gives students the opportunity to help scientists with real-world research projects. In a well-designed citizen science project, no one knows what the results will be! This creates the conditions for further collaboration: between students and teachers, between students and professional scientists, and even between students and the general public. Gung ho for Ginkgo (Enthusiastic for Ginkgo) is a citizen science project in which students help scientists by counting cells in online microscope images. Then students graph their data, analyze their graphs, and write about their results. Furthermore, the project could provide insight into the impacts of future climate change.

Researchers have long called for integrating socio-scientific issues (SSIs) in science instruction, recognizing the importance of connecting science learning with societal challenges. Our proposed three-day unit design addresses SSIs in secondary school science classrooms. We present the implementation of SSIs by showcasing an issue related to solar energy and land use. By incorporating real case issues from a Midwestern state in the US, students immersed themselves in a relevant local problem. We design role-play activities and a town hall meeting to engage students in multiple perspectives of the issues. This design centers the students' ideas and invites them to (1) act out as residents of the proposed solar farms, (2) think as experts in solar energy, such as electrical engineers and environmental scientists, and (3) share their viewpoints in town hall meetings. We follow the 5E instruction model (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate) and dramatic inquiry approach to support the students in making evidence-based decisions and becoming responsible citizens. This SSI unit design serves as inspiration for secondary science teachers to incorporate interdisciplinary pedagogy in their curriculum to enhance students’ scientific literacy and promote meaningful science learning.