This page compiles the contributions to the 2026 NARST symposium, drawing on the expertise of local teachers in Seattle who participated in the PASTEL research project.
Learning from a Local Longitudinal Network
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News & Updates
Exploring electricity from circuits to grids: A high school unit on the Texas power outage
This high school unit was developed by Lauren Petersen who teaches in the Lake Washington School...
A/B Talk During Remote Learning: Making Use of Flipgrid
Sima Faik, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy; Alec Shrode, Chicago Academy High School; In collaboration...
A Layered Approach to Modeling
• Explanatory Element Prompts • Table Tent • Poster • PPT of Explanatory Element Menu...
Teaching Climate Science Using a Local Phenomenon: Harmful Algal Blooms
Climate science is inherently interdisciplinary and complex. Physical processes at a molecular...
Whiteboarding with peers to plan for AST units
Tanya Katovich, a Nationally Board Certified teacher leader from Illinois, demonstrates a...
Our new book is out! Ambitious Science Teaching
If you are interested in changing your classroom discourse, anchoring your instructional units in...
Integrating Scientific Argumentation and Modeling for K-2 Learners
The practices of scientific argumentation and modeling involve using evidence and reasoning to...
Blog Post #1 Modeling support: Scaffolding versus White Space
Modeling support: Scaffolding versus White Space What’s a good problem to have? That your students...
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“… there were things that just didn’t make sense around what modeling is and what constructing explanations was supposed to be, but I couldn’t really put my finger on why. And I saw some of the why in those articles from Ambitious Science Teaching.”
– Professional Learner
Recent AST-related projects
Learn about recent projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the James S. McDonnell Foundation.
K-2 Science & Math Learning Labs
See K-2 AST/Teaching Channel classroom videos.
Developing NGSS Networked Improvement Communities
Learn more about developing partnerships with school districts.
Working Towards Justice-Centered, Multilingual Science and Literacy Pedagogies
Learn more about Promoting Asset-based Science Teaching for Emergent Language Learners (PASTEL).
This site is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Award #1907471 and #1315995