SubSpace Login

Do you ever find yourself standing at the front of a classroom, pouring your heart into a lesson about cell membranes, only to see a sea of glazed-over eyes staring back? It is a tough spot to be in. You want to spark that curiosity and see those lightbulb moments, but sometimes the connection just isn't there. That is why I am so excited to introduce you to Alyse from Keystone Science.

What makes this chat extra special is that we share a very specific "past life"—we both spent years in cancer research between our teaching stints! There is something about the precision of the lab that changes how you view education. Alyse has spent years figuring out how to bridge that gap between complex lab concepts and real-world interest for older students. Today, we are chatting about her transition from the classroom to the research bench and back into the world of resources. You will find that her approach to high school science student engagement isn't about flashy gimmicks; it is about making the subject accessible, relatable, and genuinely interesting for every teenager. Let’s jump into her brilliant insights.

More...

Connecting Science to the Real World

Bridging the Research Gap

When you talk to Alyse, you can immediately feel her passion for making science approachable. She started Keystone Science back in 2016 after experiencing the kind of burnout many of us know all too well. While she moved into cancer research—a field I know from experience requires immense focus—she couldn't stay away from education. Her core mission is making science accessible. As she puts it, "I'm incredibly passionate about making science applicable and directly relatable to students' everyday lives. While they may not be looking at cells under a microscope in their daily routines, there are aspects of that content and those skills that are important."

Making Content Relatable

She really focuses on making the content applicable to the modern teenager through her Keystone Science website. "I want to connect the science to their world and make it attainable for them to learn, access, and understand," Alyse explains. It is about taking those abstract ideas and anchoring them in something they already care about. When you can show a student why a specific concept matters to them personally, you’ve already won half the battle. This mindset is the foundation of her secondary science student engagement philosophy. It isn't just about passing a test; it is about understanding the world around them.

Think about the last thing you taught. If you had to explain to a person in the supermarket why that specific topic matters to their daily life, what would you say?

“

My core mission has always been making science accessible for every student that walks through my door.

I want to connect the science to their world and make it attainable for them to learn, access, and understand.

Alyse Johnson-Chilla - Keystone Science

The Power of Inquiry and Collaboration

Shifting the Classroom Dynamic

If you've been looking for a way to shift the energy in your room, Alyse’s breakthrough strategies might be exactly what you need. She is a massive advocate for the inquiry-based model. This is where the students take the lead, "asking the questions and then researching or designing experiments to answer those questions." It shifts the teacher from being the "sage on the stage" to a facilitator of discovery. This naturally leads to much higher high school science student engagement because the students have skin in the game.

Building Thinking Classrooms

But she didn't stop there. She also adapted a strategy from Peter Liljedahl's Building Thinking Classrooms. "It's originally a math strategy, but it works incredibly well for science concepts—especially when you want students to make sense of data or phenomena and create models or explanations," she explains. Students work in groups of three on whiteboards to draft ideas. "Both strategies have been incredibly powerful because they give students ownership of their learning and get them talking to each other—which was especially difficult for my students post-pandemic." It gets them moving, thinking, and—most importantly—collaborating on scientific reasoning.

Question for your class: If you were given a mystery substance that behaved like a liquid but broke like a solid, how would you start investigating what it actually is?

Struggling with cell transport? Alyse from Keystone Science shares her "secret weapon" for mastering osmosis and building student confidence through hands-on labs. @inspirationalscienceforsubs #BiologyTeacher #SecondaryScience #ScienceEngagement

Click to Post

Solving the Osmosis Puzzle with Hands-On Labs

The Secret Weapon for Cell Transport

We all have those topics that feel like an uphill struggle. For many, it is cell transport—specifically osmosis. You can draw all the diagrams of hypotonic and hypertonic solutions you want, but the terms often just don't stick. Alyse’s secret weapon for secondary science student engagement here is to stop talking and start doing. She found that "it doesn't matter how much I pre-teach those terms, show diagrams, or give practice—until we do an actual hands-on osmosis lab... they're not going to really understand what's happening."

From Observation to Reasoning

She uses labs with potato cubes or dialysis tubing to spark that "need to know." By starting with a mystery—like why some tubes gained mass while others stayed the same—she triggers curiosity. "Then the questions start flying: 'Why did that tube change? Why did this one not change?' It gets them really thinking about why the water moved where it did." This approach builds scientific reasoning from the ground up. Instead of memorising a definition, they are explaining a result they saw with their own eyes. It turns a dry vocabulary lesson into a detective story that actually makes sense.

Question for your class: Imagine you are stranded at sea with plenty of salt water but nothing to drink; why would drinking that water actually make you more thirsty?

The Human Body – Task Cards – Thumbnails-min

FREE Lesson Plan

Grab this free set of Anatomy & Physiology Task Cards designed to take your students from cells to full body systems without the prep stress. Perfect for building scientific reasoning skills, helping students make sense of how complex systems work together.
Download your no-prep set today and give your secondary science students a challenge they’ll actually enjoy!

Download the Free Lesson PlanZero prep, lively learning, completely free

The Five-Minute Connection and Smart Tools

Humanising the Science Lab

Sometimes the best way to improve high school science student engagement has nothing to do with the curriculum. Alyse uses a simple five-minute "check-in" on Mondays and Fridays. "On Mondays, we talk about what we did over the weekend. It works beautifully if I did it the Friday before because I get to check back in with students and hear how something they were looking forward to actually went." When students feel seen as people, they are far more willing to engage with the work you set for them.

Digital and Physical Toolkits

For digital tools, she swears by gamified review like Blooket. "These games keep the students that know all the answers from winning all the time!" For a physical tool, she uses a set of popsicle sticks to call on students randomly. "This allows you to engage with every student every day... students don't want to be called on without having the answer." But here is the key: if they don't know the answer, you talk them through it. "The first time or two they have to do that, they'll be more prepared next time because they don't want to be on the spot like that."

Question for your class: If you could design a video game that taught people about the laws of physics, what would the main character's special power be?

The Lab Bench Connection: Scientific Reasoning with Alyse from Keystone Science

Enjoyed the article?

Pin me 0

Helping Your Substitute Thrive

The Ready-to-Go Resource

We've all had those mornings where you have to call in a sub, and the anxiety is real. Alyse’s recommendation is her Feedback Loop product. "If students have the background knowledge of positive and negative feedback loops, this product shows how multiple feedback loops work in the human body." It is a brilliant resource for high school science student engagement because it is self-guided. Students read information and "identify sensors, control centers, and effectors by labeling different parts."

Differentiating for Success

The beauty of this resource is that it is differentiated. "The higher-level version has students identify which organ is the sensor, control center, and effector, while the modified version identifies those for them." It works perfectly in pairs, which keeps the students talking. "It's truly print-and-go or assign-on-Google-Classroom-and-go," Alyse says, which is exactly what a substitute needs to keep the day running smoothly. It ensures that even in your absence, the students are still developing their scientific reasoning and staying productive.

Question for your class: Think about a thermostat in a house; how is that similar to how your body reacts when you start to get a fever?

prop of water lab FREEBIE cover - Alyse Johnson-Chilla

FREE Science Lesson

Ever wondered why a pot of water seems to take forever to boil, or why ice has the strange habit of floating? Alyse at Keystone Science has put together a brilliant 5-page lab guide that turns these everyday quirks into a full-blown classroom investigation.

Using two teacher demonstrations and three student-led stations, your class will collect data and compare water to other substances to see its unique properties in action.

Whether you use it to kick off a new unit or as a deep-dive investigation, it’s the perfect way to get your students thinking like real researchers.

Download the Free LessonZero prep, engaging, completely free

Trusting Student Creativity

Giving the Benefit of the Doubt

Looking back, Alyse wishes she had known sooner just how capable students really are. "I wish I knew that students are way more capable and way more creative than you think." This has changed how she builds her resources. She moves away from teacher-centered lectures and towards inquiry-based activities like POGIL. "It's really important to me that students actively work with the information and learn the content in their own way so that it's more likely to stick with them."

Long-Term Impact

By trusting them to solve problems, you give them the chance to apply science to their lives. "Every student is unique, learns differently, remembers things differently, and comes to you with different life experiences. They might apply what they're learning differently because of those experiences." Whether it is through long-term projects or her free Properties of Water Lab, the goal is always the same: making the learning stick by making the student the hero of the story.

Question for your class: If you were in charge of the school for a day and had to solve one environmental problem on campus, what would you tackle first?

Wrapping Up the Scientific Secrets

It has been such a joy learning from Alyse. Her focus on inquiry, collaboration, and those vital human connections really highlights what makes a science classroom thrive. From using whiteboards for group thinking to turning osmosis into a hands-on mystery, these are the kinds of strategies that turn a standard lesson into an unforgettable experience. Remember, you don't have to change everything at once. Maybe start with a five-minute check-in on Monday or try out her resources to see how your students respond to the mystery.

If you are looking for those "print-and-go" solutions that actually maintain high levels of high school science student engagement, definitely check out her shop at Keystone Science. Her feedback loop activities and inquiry-based sets are designed to save you time while keeping your students' brains moving.

Which of Alyse’s strategies do you think would have the biggest impact on your most "difficult to engage" class? Have you tried using whiteboards for group science modelling before, and how did it go for you? Drop a comment below and let’s get the conversation started!

Spread The Love...

About the Author

Lee Baker is an award-winning software creator with a passion for turning scientific data into stories.

Data might be his natural habitat, but his passion extends far beyond the spreadsheet.

He believes that science shouldn't be confined to textbooks or worksheets, and he creates a collection of dynamic lesson plans that bring science to life, encouraging students to think critically, explore creatively, and solve problems like the innovative thinkers they are

Lee Baker

Follow me

0 0 votes

Article Rating

0 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Subscribe to our newsletter

Discover how Inspirational Science For Subs can make a difference in your classroom today!

By submitting this form you grant us permission to send you the ISS Newsletter.

You can unsubscribe at any time.

Your data are safe.

The Lab Bench Connection: Scientific Reasoning with Alyse from Keystone Science