"Catalase," an enzyme found in both plant and animal cells, prevents the accumulation of toxic levels of hydrogen peroxide (H[subscript 2]O[subscript 2]) by catalyzing its decomposition to water and oxygen gas. Because this enzyme is ubiquitous, it is frequently used in high school biology laboratories to explore enzyme reactions. This…

Some high school science students now have access to new sophisticated research tools using synchrotron radiation and other instruments not found in a typical high school setting. Students use these tools to collaborate on projects in a variety of disciplines with support from classroom teachers and scientists. Access to these tools advances…

Most laboratory activities conducted by students involve measurement, and measurement can only be as precise as the instrument with which it is made. When Julia Metz began her teaching career, she assumed most of the 10th grade chemistry students would have previously used common measuring devices such as metric rulers, graduated cylinders,…

The practice of obtaining, interpreting, and contextualizing data across scientific disciplines is crucial to understanding the natural world. The authors developed the Teal Spruce sampling activity to encourage students to explore the reality of scientific data collection while also providing hands-on experience in interpreting and sharing…

Teacher talk moves are useful for supporting students' learning, but they are not enough to create a science learning community in the classroom. Talk moves focus on functional engagement with individual students' ideas and sensemaking. Norms must be established by having a nuanced understanding of how those individual talk moves create patterns…

Many students (and adults) do not understand a basic tenet of energy literacy: how electricity is produced. They do not know how coal or other fossil fuels are used to make electricity, nor do they understand how nuclear power, hydroelectric power, and wind power work. The author developed a series of lessons to help students understand how…

Animal biology is fascinating for its incredible diversity in life strategies. These strategies amaze scientists and can also fire the enthusiasm of science students. One group of animals impressive in this way is the phylum "Cnidaria," containing some 10,000 invertebrate species that include jellyfish, corals, sea anemones, hydroids,…

In this article, two lessons are introduced in which students examine Arctic lake sediments from Lake El'gygytgyn in Russia and discover a climate signal in a lake or pond near their own school. The lessons allow students to experience fieldwork, understand lab procedure, practice basic measurement and observation skills, and learn how to…

When Dan Damelin was a high school chemistry teacher, he always asked for the lower-level science classes with a high portion of students on individualized education plans (IEPs). He felt these students could do as well as everyone else with the right approach and technological supports, and wanted to explore how an inquiry approach using…

December 26, 2004 was one of the deadliest days in modern history, when a 9.3 magnitude earthquake--the third largest ever recorded--struck off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia (National Centers for Environmental Information 2014). The massive quake lasted at least 10 minutes and devastated the Indian Ocean. The quake displaced an estimated…

In this article, the authors share a unique science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) online field trip structure developed for high school students. The ninth-, tenth-, and eleventh-grade students who participated in the virtual field trips were from multiple high schools. This article focuses on two virtual trips that the authors…

In this activity, students learned scientific practices and evidence-based reasoning by formulating and testing hypotheses about factors affecting human reaction time and examining those hypotheses with data from ruler-drop tests. The project aligns with all eight of the science and engineering practices (SEP) embodied in the "Next Generation…

Increasingly, science teachers are expected to devote instruction to technology and engineering, as encouraged by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States 2013). Just as scientific literacy requires understanding the nature of science (NOS), technological literacy must include understanding the philosophy and nature of technology…

Many teachers are confused about how to implement the phenomena-based teaching recommended by the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013). This article describes one possible approach--purposely repurposing existing activities. This process involves having teachers: (1) Choose a phenomenon that informs the development…

Science students should use mathematical and computational thinking to explain phenomena, but few examples of teachers engaging students in this important scientific practice have been found. This article describes a strategy for enhancing a lesson in which students use a mechanistic model to explain friction by adding mathematical and…