For Vernita Moore, science is not limited to textbooks, vocabulary lists, or classroom walls. It is happening every day in canyons, rainforests, rivers, rocks, weather patterns, plants, animals, and the environments all around us.
As a Cindy Edelman Excellence in Teaching Fellow, Moore used her Fellowship learning experience to visit the Grand Canyon and Costa Rica, bringing back firsthand examples of Earth’s systems, landforms, and ecosystems to her 8th grade science students at Jean Ribault Middle School.
The purpose of Moore’s project was to help students make stronger real-world connections to science standards. Through her travels, she gathered photos, observations, and examples that helped students better understand weathering, erosion, deposition, Earth’s changes over time, and differences in ecosystems.
The Grand Canyon gave students a powerful example of how Earth’s surface changes slowly through natural processes. Costa Rica offered a very different learning opportunity, giving students a window into tropical rainforests, higher humidity, increased rainfall, warmer temperatures, dense vegetation, and diverse wildlife.
By comparing these two places, students were able to see how landforms, climate, plants, animals, and environmental conditions work together to shape an ecosystem. Instead of simply memorizing science terms, students analyzed real images, completed comparison charts, participated in discussions, answered higher-level questions, and explained their thinking using evidence.
The project was implemented as part of Moore’s regular 8th grade science instruction and assessment review, reaching approximately 100 students across multiple class periods. The lessons were especially helpful for students who benefit from visuals, repeated practice, and concrete connections between classroom standards and the real world.
For Moore, the Fellowship strengthened her instruction and helped her create lessons that were more engaging, rigorous, and meaningful. It also reminded her that science tells a story, one students can better understand when they are able to connect concepts to actual places and natural processes.
Her students may not have stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon or walked through the rainforests of Costa Rica, but through Moore’s Fellowship experience, those places became part of their science classroom.