Current K-12 and undergraduate students have grown up with constant exposure to visual popular culture (e.g., movies, TV programs, graphic novels, etc.). Because youth find pop culture references in the classroom to be engaging, many science and engineering instructors have shown that examples found in visual pop culture can be used to teach…

Social connections are crucial for today's middle and high school students. We address this social need through a 3-H Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Cycle. Through the Three Sisters Garden activity presented here, we teach secondary school students about biodiversity and sustainability as we integrate the arts into STEM (STEAM). Students…

Students with intellectual disabilities are among the least likely students to spend a significant amount of time in general education classrooms. When they are included, they may spend their time on non-academic learning experiences. Universal Design for Learning is a lesson planning framework that can guide teachers in inclusive lesson planning.…

There have been multiple calls to support more systematic approaches to addressing the needs of multilingual students in social studies. In this action research study, the authors point to the Maryland Humanities Inquiry Kits, which provide an example of how to leverage digital history resources in the multilingual classroom for a culturally and…

Each year, many students take the Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory Exam, and the majority of these students enroll in specialized AP music theory classes as part of the preparation process. For the teachers of these AP music theory classes, a number of challenges are presented by the difficulty and complexity of the exam subject material as…

ELA Guidebooks is an English language arts curriculum for core instruction. Made by teachers for teachers, the guidebook units ensure all students can read, understand, and express their understanding of complex, grade-level texts, ensuring their readiness for college or a career. Each text collection has a shared idea and contains authentic texts…

Students feel strongly about the controversial topics elevated by recent and historic Supreme Court cases. Supreme Court cases provide materials for teaching about contested public issues in relevant and meaningful ways that help students develop critical decision-making skills, gain civic content knowledge, improve communication skills, and…

In most STEM industries, teamwork is essential. Engineers, scientists, statisticians, and medical professionals, for example, must communicate with one another and work together. Someday, students may enter the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) workforce, where they also will need to collaborate effectively. This article describes…

Although formal papers are typical, sometimes posters or other visual presentations are more useful tools for sharing visual-spatial information. By incorporating creativity and technology into the study of geographical science, STEM (the study of Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics) is changed to STEAM (the A stands for ART)! The…

Climate change is complex, requiring critical thinking on both local and global scales. Its effects vary dramatically around the world and require new strategies to help students grasp its complexity, scale, and interrelatedness. This article describes a project to help biology students think critically about climate change from a global…

It is essential for today's students to learn about science and engineering in order to make sense of the world around them and participate as informed members of a democratic society. The skills and ways of thinking that are developed and honed through engaging in scientific and engineering endeavors can be used to engage with evidence in making…

There is an increasing focus across all educational sectors to ensure that learning objectives are aligned with learning activities and assessments. An attractive approach previously published is that of curriculum alignment projects. This paper discusses the use of the fun and famous "Elephant's Toothpaste" experiment as a customizable…

An understanding of energy is critical to today's students, as energy-related spending in the United States tops 500 billion dollars per year (U.S. Department of Energy, 2010). Often, students do not consider where something as common as electricity comes from in order to charge an MP3 player or power a microwave. Students can realize real-world…

In three semiguided inquiry lessons on population biology, students use models and simulations to examine population trends and make projections. They are guided to create and evaluate data and to use algebraic and geometric representations to examine biotic and logistic growth models as part of examining human population growth. As they recognize…

My unit on sound and waves is embedded within a long-term project in which my high school students construct a musical instrument out of common materials. The unit culminates with a performance assessment: students play the first four measures of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"--chosen because of the octave interval of the first two notes--in the key…