“But Aren’t Diesel Engines Just for Big, Smelly Trucks?” An Interdisciplinary Curriculum Project for High School Chemistry Students

摘要

In a collaboration between the University of North Florida College of Education and Human Services and Sandalwood High School in Duval County, Florida, social studies and science education professors and a science teacher worked together to develop student understanding about the limited use of diesel-fueled cars in the United States when compared to the countries of Europe. On the basis of discussions with a Sandalwood science faculty member and calls for subject matter integration from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Council on the Social Studies, we developed a collaborative teaching experience to both enhance high school science instruction and build stronger professional connections between college and high school faculty. Through this instruction, high school chemistry students examined the costs and benefits of using diesel vehicles and used this analysis to explain the differences between countries. This article illustrates conceptual planning processes used in developing inquiry-based classroom activities within a standards-based curriculum.