This textbook provides K-12 science teachers and educators innovative uses of anchoring phenomenon-based teaching approaches from a justice-oriented lens (Morales-Doyle, 2017). It discusses topics such as the use of anchoring phenomenon-based pedagogies, qualities of productive anchoring phenomena and includes examples of unit plans that use anchoring phenomena and social justice science issues to create storylines to foster students multiple pathways to knowing and learning in the science classrooms. The book is beneficial to K-12 science teachers and science educators who are interested in facilitating students sense-making of a real-world phenomenon and engaging in three-dimensional science instruction (NGSS Lead States, 2013). By providing examples of unit plans based on theoretical groundings of anchoring phenomenon-based instruction and justice-oriented science teaching, this book provides a great resource to students, professionals, teachers, and academics in science education.
Introduction: A Futures Approach to Science Education: Centering Justice
in Anchoring Phenomena.- Part I:Pollution and Health Disparities.- Unhealthy
Harvest: How Polluted Fish Undermine Indigenous Health and Food Security.-
Pellagra: The Epidemic That Did Not Have to Happen.- Airborne Inequity:
Hurricanes Transportation of Pollutants in Cancer Alley.- Low Country
Chemical Spills: A Medical, Environmental, and Ethical Examination.- How and
Why Big Tobacco Targets Vulnerable Communities.- Health Equity in a
Microscopic World: Infectious Diseases and Access to Healthcare.- Part II:
Climate Change and Natural Disasters.- Can Wildfires be Fought with AI
Tools?: Anchoring Phenomenon for Justice Oriented Earth Science Teaching.-
Why Is It So Hot Here?: Using Community Science Data Talks to Launch Learning
About the Urban Heat Island Effect.- Learning from Climate Crises: How
Monsoon Disasters in North India Turns Local Ecosystems into Classrooms of
Justice.- How the Eruption of Mt. Tambora Shaped Present-day Missouri: The
Impact of Climate Events on Human Migration.- Navigating Sea-Level Rise:
Assessing the Impact on Norfolk Virginia and Crafting Equitable Solutions for
Vulnerable Communities.-The Science of Sinkholes: Uncovering Connections
Between Chemistry Earth Science Human Activity and Social Justice.- Climate
Justice in the Concrete Jungle: Exploring Urban Heat Islands and
Equity.- Part III:Resource Management and Environmental Impact.- Why the
Great Salt Lake is Becoming the Not-So Great Salt Lake: Drying Up and Causing
Harm.- Who Gets to Swim in the Hudson?: Exploring Human Impact on the Hudson
River Over Time and Space.- Is Access to Clean Reliable Water a Guarantee?:
How Climate Change Affects Water Accessibility in Local Contexts.- Plastic
Pollution: What Happens to the Plastics We Use Every Day?.- The World Needs
Phosphates but Who is Going to Pay the Price?.- Part IV:Social Equity and
Technology in Science.- Beyond the Binary: Sex Verification Testing of
Athletes.-Why Did the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Happen and How Did it Affect
People?.- Future of Food: Cultured Meat for Environmental and Social
Justice.- The Dangerous Use of X-ray Fluoroscopy on African Mine Workers.-
Meeting Energy Needs.
David Steele is a Science Education faculty member at Alder Graduate School of Education, California, USA. His research examines the impacts of societal barriers such as heterosexism and heteronormativity on gay men in STEM. As a science teacher educator, Steele is passionate about preparing science teachers to enact a justice-oriented science education that promotes social justice and equity.
Alison Mercier is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Science Education at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY, USA. Her research focuses on co-creating responsive STEM learning environments for pre-service and in-service teachers by focusing on justice-centered pedagogy, identity affirming spaces, and teachers' agency.
