Image Preparing Your Classroom An MBER classroom looks and feels different than a traditional classroom. In MBER classrooms students are positioned to be scientists, they are asking questions, gathering and analyzing data, developing models, collaborating, and discussing their models. Teachers are facilitators and provide opportunities for students to learn by moderating discussions, providing resources and tools, and listening and acknowledging students' ideas. Build the Culture Image Getting Started We have designed this website to serve three functions. First, it is a repository of the MBER-Living Earth curriculum, an NGSS-aligned set of resources that integrates a portion of the high school earth science standards into a fully-sequenced year of biology. Second, the website provides a number of other resources to support NGSS pedagogy and teaching (see MBER Essentials). Lastly, it is a community space meant to enable interaction on forums among teachers using MBER-LE. Let's go! Image Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) We've assembled answers to the questions we most frequently field during professional development. Feel free to ask for more to be posted or go to the Forums. Some Common Questions Image How to Use a Model Triangle Our MBER curriculum uses the PQM triangle-or Model Triangle-as a reasoning tool for students to learn about biology. We often begin with an exploration of a biological phenomenon (P vertex of the triangle), students will then generate questions (Q vertex) and finally, students will build a model (M vertex) that answers and explains the questions and the phenomenon presented when we started the model triangle. Sometimes we will go from P to Q to M, but sometimes we will go the other direction. P to Q to M or reverse! Image A Year-long Sequence We have designed this website to serve two functions. First, it is a repository of the MBER-Bio curriculum that our team and other members have designed as well as a number of other resources to support you in teaching. Second, it is a community space meant to enable interaction on forums among teachers using MBER-Bio. Explore the Map Image Typical MBER Lesson Sequence Introduce the phenomenon, break into small groups, discuss, return to whole class, generate the driving question, compare student ideas, break into small groups, construct a model to define the phenomenon... What are we trying to figure out? Image Making Student Thinking Visible In MBER, we place students and their thinking at the center of the classroom. If we want students to build the knowledge, we need to help them track their ideas as we make sense of natural phenomena. Working with Their Ideas Image What is a Model? Models are sets of ideas that can be used to explain natural phenomena. Scientific practice is about developing models to better understand and explain the processes we observe in nature. Models are shared and discussed among scientists and are continuously tested and tweaked through investigation, experimentation and more observations. As new evidence arises, models are refined, accepted or rejected. Models are for...
