It takes a practiced hand to be able to take complex, abstract ideas, and describe them in simple ways. In many ways, this is the job of educators. We take it upon ourselves to grapple with abstractions and find novel connections, comparisons, and metaphors to help others understand a new idea. Brod Bagert, who we met […]

Rewritten October 2026. The first version of this post (2019) mapped kits we have since renamed or retired, so we started over. Standards have a reputation for squeezing the fun out of a lab. They do not have to. The NGSS ask students to plan investigations, analyze their own data and argue from evidence, which is […]