Why Transforming Science Teaching Starts With Redefining Its Purpose

Why meaningful classroom transformation begins with changing what students do, not simply what teachers deliver.

In this article, you’ll learn why lasting change in a science classroom begins with purpose, how teaching science as a verb reshapes student learning, and what must change in lesson planning to make inquiry-based teaching possible.

Transformation Is More Than Visible Change

What comes to mind when you hear the word transformation?

Most of us picture something we can see. You paint the walls, replace the flooring, rearrange the furniture—and suddenly the room looks like a different place. On a cooking competition, contestants receive a basket of ingredients and create a finished dish that looks nothing like what they started with. A person loses a significant amount of weight, changes their hair and makeup, or walks out at the end of an episode of What Not to Wear looking almost unrecognizable.

The common thread is visible change. We tend to think of transformation as something we can see, but we don’t often think about transformations of purpose.

“We tend to think of transformation as something we can see, but we don’t often think about transformations of purpose.”

That distinction matters when we talk about transforming science teaching. Before we redesign a syllabus, rework a lesson, or introduce a new classroom strategy, we need to ask a more foundational question: Why are we changing it in the first place?

What My Backyard Projects Taught Me About Purpose

I love home renovation projects. For the past four or five summers, my husband and I have added to the space around our pool—building paver patios, planter boxes, retaining walls, and all kinds of other things. What began as, “Hey, we can do this,” eventually became, “What are we going to do this year?” I think my husband would rather it had not gone quite that far, but by now I can probably call it a hobby.

People see the finished projects and say, “This looks amazing. I can’t believe you did it. How did you have the stamina to keep going?” These projects consume a good portion of the summer, and I used to think the finished result was the carrot dangling in front of me. I could see the vision in my head, and the beauty of the outcome kept me moving.

This summer, though, we worked on one end of the pool where grass could not stay alive because the pool equipment sat beneath it. We covered the area with pavers and added planter boxes. The finished space looked better, of course—but what struck me most was that it finally had a purpose. We created a sidewalk-like entrance into the functional portion of the backyard. It was no longer just an awkward patch where grass refused to grow. It had become a useful, intentional space.

When I looked back at our other projects, I realized the same thing: most of them were not driven by appearance alone. They solved a problem. They made the space work better. And I realized that purpose—not merely the finished appearance—is what drives me, especially professionally.

Why My Science Teaching Needed a Transformation

In 2020, I was teaching chemistry at the same Pennsylvania cyber charter school where I have now taught for 16 years.

I was sick and tired of talking at the wall. I couldn’t stand it anymore! I was either going to leave teaching altogether, or I was going to find a way to make it work.

I had always wanted to be the teacher whose students did the work of learning for themselves. I wanted to be a teacher-coach. I wanted science to be inquiry-driven.

But how?

People talk about student-centered learning all the time, yet practical instruction for creating it can be surprisingly difficult to find.

It wasn’t until I reframed the purpose of science—and the purpose of teaching science—that I was able to create a framework for doing it.

Engagement Is an Outcome, Not the Purpose

When teachers imagine transforming a science classroom, they may picture increased engagement, better collaboration, higher test scores, or more students completing their work. Those are worthwhile goals, but I would challenge us to see them as outcomes. They are the visible evidence of transformation, not the purpose beneath it.

Before we decide how to transform our teaching, we have to answer the deeper question for ourselves: What is the real purpose of science class?

The Real Purpose of Science Class

If you teach in a state guided by the Next Generation Science Standards—or a state-specific adaptation of them—you have probably heard that science instruction should focus less on memorizing facts and more on developing skills.

Science is certainly a collection of facts. In that sense, science is a noun: a subject, like history, mathematics, or English language arts. But that collection of facts exists only because scientists went out and did something to produce it—and today’s and tomorrow’s scientists may still revise what we think we know.

“Science is a noun—but science is also a verb.”

Science Is Something Students Do

The broader purpose of school is to help students build connections in their brains and learn how to think. The subjects we teach are the vehicles that help them get there.

In science, the verbs are explore, observe, identify patterns, collaborate, hypothesize, test, revise, and begin again. You might call this the scientific method. You might call it the science and engineering practices. Whatever language you use, it means immersing students in an experience where they actively do the work of science.

That experience creates engagement. It produces deeper understanding and, as a result, can lead to better test scores. It prompts students to connect with one another—and with you—to accomplish a meaningful goal.

And when students repeatedly complete challenging experiences and achieve the goal, their confidence grows. At first, they may think, “Maybe I can do this.” Eventually, that becomes, “We can do that.” Pair deeper understanding with that kind of confidence, and you have an excellent recipe for future achievement.

Transformation Requires a Different Kind of Lesson Plan

Every transformation requires action. We cut our hair, buy the new paint, build the thing, or tear the thing down. There is always a means to the end.

So what must change if we want to teach science with a different purpose?

We need to redesign our lessons.

“Don’t come to class prepared only with information to share. Come with a prepared experience for students to undertake.”

Students need opportunities to explore, observe, notice patterns, collaborate, hypothesize, test ideas, and revise their thinking. That means our planning shifts away from preparing only what we will say and toward designing what students will do, think about, produce, and discuss.

What Changes for the Teacher

When students are doing the work of science, your role changes too. Instead of spending the entire class delivering information, you can move around the room—or between students in a virtual environment—and talk with them individually. Even during a 50-minute class, you may gain opportunities you did not have before to check in with nearly every student and take the pulse of the room.

You begin to notice who is having a rough day and who is thriving; who understands the concept and who needs another entry point; who moves quickly and who takes more time. All of those students are completely fine—but now you are far better informed about what each of them needs.

That awareness is not a separate classroom-management trick. It is one of the natural results of planning differently.

From Science as a Noun to Science as a Verb

Many educators have been told that this is the transformation science education needs. Fewer have been shown how to make it happen through realistic, concrete examples.

That is the gap I want to help fill. Here at Lab In Every Lesson, we’re going to redesign the first week of school, the first month, the first unit, and eventually the lessons that follow. We’ll turn every lesson into an opportunity for students to do the thinking and practice the work of science — even when a traditional, hands-on lab is not possible.

Start With the Experience

A transformed science classroom may eventually look more engaging, collaborative, and successful. But those visible outcomes begin with an invisible shift: a clearer purpose.

When the purpose of science class is for students to practice science — not simply receive information about it — the lesson plan has to change. Instead of asking only, “What do I need to teach?” we begin asking, “What experience can I design that will allow students to figure this out?”

That is where the transformation begins.

If this idea resonates with you, don’t stop here! The articles that follow will show you exactly how this philosophy comes to life—from redesigning your syllabus to building inquiry-driven lessons that help students think like scientists instead of simply memorizing science.

key ideas!