Science and Global Issues: Biology uses an issue-oriented approach to connect biology to students' lives and communities. Activities and investigations, tied to the unit issue and phenomena, require students to consider, apply scientific evidence, and analyze the trade-offs involved in personal and societal decisions. Students explore challenges to human health in a changing world, how genetically engineered crops affect the sustainability of food production, and look at how humans are changing the environment - to name a few.
The program avoids taking a position on the issues, but rather provides students with the understanding and skills that will allow them to make their own evidence informed decisions.
Learning Sequences
The four units in this program look at the issues of human impact on ecosystems, world health, genetically modified organisms, and biodiversity — complex issues that have no simple solutions. Each unit is made up of several learning sequences, each driven by an investigative phenomenon. Sustainability, the program's introductory sequence, highlights many foundational concepts.
The activities within each learning sequence are designed to allow students to construct increasingly sophisticated explanations for the science concepts and ideas relevant to the unit’s issue. Overview documents, such as those in the Related Documents above, help the teacher navigate each unit.
Equity: Science for All
The types of questions that a scientist asks, and the types of problems that an engineer tries to solve, are influenced by what they think is important to investigate. This often depends on their backgrounds, experiences, cultures, and perspectives. This is why it is essential for people from a wide range of backgrounds and with varying experiences to engage in science and engineering—to be sure that science and engineering respond to the interests and needs of all, and that the ideas of a diverse population are actively solicited, included, and valued in order to enrich explanations and arguments.
Science and Global Issues: Biology was thoughtfully and intentionally designed with a framework for equitable learning, and a variety of inclusion strategies are implemented in an effort to engage all student populations.
Organized Equipment
Science and Global Issues: Biology is a hands-on, high school science curriculum that prioritizes hands on instruction over screen time. Instructional design and unique equipment bring out student ideas and learning through personal, concrete experiences while issue-oriented science helps students see how science is connected to their lives and communities. We believe there is no suitable replacement for hands-on investigation so we’ve created a program that’s organized and manageable for teachers, and engaging and meaningful for students.
Online Portal
In addition to hardbound print books, instructional materials are also available through the online portal. Student navigation through each activity is facilitated by section tabs, and the interactive design allows students to respond directly in their portal. The online student portal is also where helpful resources can be found, like LABsent (for students who are absent from a lab), Spanish text, and embedded assessments.