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All about STEM Comics, called Wild Things: An article type from Science News Explores

How can comic strips help teach experimental design of research studies? Use this lesson plan to learn about an article type called Wild Things that is published by Science News Explores in print and online. Wild Things use comic strips that tell the stories of research studies on animals’ biology and behavior. You can also access a lesson plan template that can be used with any Wild Things article.

Literacy Practice: 3-2-1 Strategy

Use this lesson plan and the provided template to have your students practice the 3-2-1 strategy. This literacy strategy is a quick way to check students’ understanding of a concept, reading or lesson. It helps them summarize and organize their thoughts by listing three responses to one prompt, two responses to another prompt and one response to a final prompt.

All about Technically Fiction: An article type from Science News Explores

Use this lesson plan to learn about an article type called Technically Fiction that is published by Science News Explores in print and online. Technically Fiction articles focus on a fictional phenomenon and explain whether it could be possible and the science it would take to make it a reality. You can also access a lesson plan template that can be used with any Technically Fiction article.

Literacy Practice: Concept Map 

Use this lesson plan and the provided template to have your students practice creating concept maps for any article. This literacy strategy boosts critical thinking and reading retention by having students organize information and connect important ideas, concepts and terms.

All about Explainers: An article type from Science News Explores

Use this lesson plan to learn about an article type called Explainers that is published by Science News Explores in print and online. You can also access a lesson plan template that can be used with any Explainer article. Explainer articles take a deep dive into a key scientific concept or process.

Literacy Practice: Cornell Note-Taking System

Use this lesson plan and the provided template to have your students practice the Cornell Note-taking System with any article. This literacy strategy organizes notes into two columns that provide structure for note-taking, analysis and review and that will help increase students’ learning, comprehension and retention.

Overcooked & Outplayed

In this study, humans and AI worked together to score the win. But it’s the human partners that got played. Learn how some methods for training AI can also teach AI to influence human behavior, then answer questions about the potential implications of a future world in which AI sways human behavior.

Social Media Smarts

Social media is part of our everyday lives. It provides entertainment, news, reference information, and so much more. However, not all the content we find on social media is accurate. In this activity, students will investigate the prevalence of misinformation on popular social media platforms. In their investigation, students examine how platforms’ biases and algorithms influence the type of content social media users see and the level of misinformation displayed.

AI in bioacoustics research

Scientists recently used bioacoustics and AI to study whether certain bird species still exist in the wild. Use this lesson plan to teach students about bioacoustics and instruct them to think critically about the role of AI in the research process.

Solving Hard-to-Reach Problems with ROVs

Remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, are often used in environments that would be unsafe or difficult for people to enter to explore. In this activity, students will think critically about how engineering practices can be used to monitor environmental issues or solve real-world problems before designing and modeling an ROV that could be used to investigate a real-world problem impacting their local environment.

Paint a clearer picture with AI

Artificial intelligence, or AI, provides a new way to focus a camera’s lens! Researchers have now used AI to overcome limitations in thermal-imaging technology — and they didn’t stop there. Learn how applying this AI to existing technology, such as self-driving cars, might solve safety problems and help transform what had been science fiction into reality. Apply knowledge to new applications and answer questions that confront the nuance sometimes lost by dichotomies as literary devices.

Health Effects of Climate Extremes and Thermal Technology

Climate extremes are impacting human health and inspiring new technology. This guide provides lesson plans paired to recent news articles covering a new thermal fabric prototype and its ability to regulate temperature and how wildfire smoke impacts the air quality index and human health.