Maria C. Grant

I have spent the past few decades working to support young people in the public school system as they learn to think, talk, and write about science, and engage in science and engineering practices in a real world sense. As a K-12 teacher who has taught in a wide array of school systems, including those of high poverty and great cultural diversity, I have come to understand the need to support all learners to become empowered citizens with an ability to participate in local, national, and global conversations about the environment, technological advances, and a wide array of science-related issues from ocean acidification to the use of genetically modified foods. As a university professor and a professional development consultant, I have worked with teacher candidates as well as in-service teachers, to support science literacy for every individual who takes a seat in our nation's classrooms. With the advent of the Next Gen Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards, educators are looking for ways to help students grapple with new tasks requiring deeper thinking. My co-authors, Douglas Fisher and Diane Lapp, and I, have written these books for the purpose of providing effective teaching tools and strategies to foster abilities in problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, and inquiry-based studies. I hope they will be used by educators to support science literacy for every child.