Science was never really an issue for me in high school because of a combination of the teachers and the current standards – naturally, carrying out investigations was a trivial task. I'm currently honing my craft, but a giant problem is staring me in the face.

I want to be the greatest to ever do it, and that means asking the right questions.

This isn’t to say I want to have the hardest class in my school or the most in-depth one, but I want students to understand how things happen and why they work. Too many students I’ve seen in high school can say the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, or what the five parts of a plant is but have zero idea why those are. Seniors in high school have trouble with this, apart from many other areas. They don’t understand the structure or function associated with the concepts.

Structure and Function come naturally when they are presented naturally in a logical order. However, understanding where to start is a big problem. I know how torque is structured in its own set of equations, and I understand how it functions – but how I build that background in logic is beyond me. Most juniors will only be taking Algebra 2, which is not great when one decides they want to study physics in college. They need that logical background, and I’m not sure how to start them on that path.

Fortunately for me, NSTA has a slew of articles on how to instill this concept. By looking at toxic algal blooms for example, students will look at a case study of clams to see how a certain toxin affects the environment around it. Once I have a complete grasp of this example, I can then apply what I learned to physics, bridging the gap in my own knowledge while helping the students with theirs. With many of these articles, I’m sure I can understand this concept much better.

https://www.nsta.org/blog/using-toxic-algal-blooms-teach-structure-and-function