Addressing Sustainability in the High School Biology Classroom through Socioscientific Issues

The Science Education Program for Public Understanding System (SEPUP) at the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, recently redesigned its high school biology program, Science and Global Issues, which is centered around sustainability-related socioscientific issues. The goal of this work was to fill a gap in standards-based, sustainability-themed high school biology curricula. Curriculum developers began the redesign process by asking the question: What does it look like for students to think about sustainability/sustainable development in the context of operationalized goals for sustainability (such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals) while also allowing them to be successful in meeting rigorous science standards (in this case, the US Next Generation Science Standards)? The process used by the developers is described, from conceptualizing the program and units to enacting the program in student-facing materials. The framework for presenting sustainability to students is described, as are the specific contexts that allow students to develop a deep understanding of scientific concepts while addressing current and important socioscientific issues. A selection of feedback from teachers and students gathered during the field test of the curriculum is shared, as is feedback from teachers who used the published program. The developers concluded that sustainability provides a powerful framework for allowing students to learn biological concepts and apply them to real-world issues.