The study introduces exemplary explicit teaching strategies as enacted by a middle school STEAM teacher. Through a 10-lesson climate change STEAM program, data were collected to explore explicit teaching strategies using O-TOP (Oregon Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation [OCEPT] Teaching Observation Protocol) and NGSS 8 Practices (Next Generation Science Standards). Data from teacher interviews and class observations were also used to identify and describe how this STEAM teacher offered students opportunities to solve real problems in their community. Examples demonstrating three stages of STEAM education: understanding context presentation, performing creative design, and experiencing emotional touch are provided. We argue STEAM programs should be presented with more realistic issues arising from the community students belong to and that explicit teaching strategies should give students the opportunity to achieve core competencies and scientific literacy. Our study offers implications about the need for systemic teacher training and professional development for STEAM education.