Got COVID-19 Cabin Fever? Journey through Space in Search of Habitable Alien Worlds from Wherever You Learn

ABSTRACT

Fall 2020 presented myriad challenges for teachers trying to plan curricula to meet students' social-emotional and learning needs following an unprecedented spring and summer of isolation and loss due to the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (Rivera and Wallace 2020). The result of creative planning and adjusting of curricula for remote instruction led to a new component of thinking about differentiation Beyond differentiating to students in the classroom, teachers were and continue to differentiate to students in different learning environments. The unit presented in this article is an example of how the authors reimagined their Earth and Space Science class for ninth- and tenth-grade students for remote instruction that included strong data analysis and critical-thinking components. As written, the unit emphasizes building a strong classroom community online, creates opportunities for students to follow their own curiosity, and teaches transferable skills--specifically argumentative writing skills--that will support students' success across subject areas.