Using phenomena is a great way to engage your students in science instruction. The definition of phenomena is, "a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question." Some examples of phenomena would include: weather, fog, thunderstorms, decomposition, germination, erosion, and earthquakes. Basically, the majority of a science curriculum are natural phenomena.

Using phenomena in science instruction is important because it gives students a purpose to learning science concepts. When students are presented with phenomena, it becomes their job to make sense of the phenomena like real scientists do and design solutions to problems like engineers.