Project-based learning (PBL) in the science classroom provides an opportunity for students to investigate socioscientific issues that are current, authentic, and relevant. In a typical PBL unit, the teacher designs a narrative plan and acts as a facilitator who helps gather and organize student ideas. The framework of the Next Generation Science…

Viruses are all around--and within. They replicate inside the cells of living organisms. An estimated 1.6 million to 40 million of them occupy each cubic meter of the air people breathe. The activity described in this article helps students understand how the structure of a virus allows it to infect a specific set of organisms and cell types.…

"Engineering Challenge for the 21st Century," a weeklong teacher workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation, uses project-based learning (PBL) to help students and teachers build science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills. The workshop, hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, features the Coast…