Santosh Zachariah – National Stem Cell Foundation

Santosh’s Big Idea: Santosh developed an 8- to-10-week project-based learning unit that culminates in a day-long, 8th-grade-organized, campus wide event to a) showcase the students’ understanding of the factors that drive the earth’s temperature and b) educate the community.

Each of the multiple events during the day represented a team’s choice of the format in which they wish to educate a section of the community. The choice of the format and audience of the final product allowed all students to choose things that are meaningful to them. Santosh prepared his students to be effective teachers of climate change within their local communities.

The curricular goal of the unit was to understand the mechanism and drivers of the greenhouse effect. Students were assessed based on how well they taught what they had learned over the course of the unit.

Interesting facts: “It took five years of teaching before I felt ready to tackle Climate Change in my 8th grade science curriculum.”

In his own words: "When I was considering becoming a teacher eight years ago, I was torn between teaching and working for a nonprofit on Climate Change. A close friend cut the Gordian knot by asking why I could not do both."

Bruce Boehne (left) from Zion Lutheran School in Dallas, Texas, and Santosh Zachariah from the Evergreen School in Shoreline, Washington, lower a wave machine over the balcony in Gary Ransdell Hall Wednesday, June 8. The NSCF Scholars each built their own wave machines then attached several to make a large wave machine. (Photo by Sam Oldenburg)

Santosh Zachariah from the Evergreen School in Shoreline, Washington, attaches foam fins to his rocket while Melissa Harris of Warren East Middle School in Bowling Green waits to use the hot glue gun Tuesday, June 7. The simple rockets took about thirty minutes to construct. (Photo by Sam Oldenburg)

Santosh Zachariah from the Evergreen School in Shoreline, Washington, drills a hole while building a tablet microscope stand with instruction from Rico Tyler, a SkyTeach master teacher, Monday, June 6. The NSCF Scholars constructed a variety of scientific instruments throughout the week that they will ship home to use in their classrooms. (Photo by Sam Oldenburg)

Santosh at Western Kentucky University during the Scholars' Orientation Week in June 2016

Santosh and fellow 2016 National STEM Scholar Stacy Clark-Thomas at the National Science Teacher Association in March 2016

Santosh Zachariah from the Evergreen School in Shoreline, Washington, watches his rocket rise Tuesday, June 7. The NSCF Scholars recorded the rocket flight times to determine which flew highest. (Photo by Sam Oldenburg)

On being a 2016 STEM Scholar: “For many things I have done since Scholar Week at WKU, I ask WWRD – What Would Rico Do? It’s ‘how does this make the experience of a physical phenomenon more real to students?’ And with the Scholars group, it’s a place where I can keep asking everyone that question. It’s been a really good professional learning community in which to keep bouncing these ideas. There was something that happened at dinner on that first Scholar day. Everyone seemed to have decided that this was their tribe, that ‘they get me’ – and by dessert there was that trust that relationships are built on so when we began that first session we were already ten people who were a well-bonded class. What the Scholar program means to me is being part of a group of people who I feel very comfortable with. It’s a group of people where you can be honest about what you find difficult and what mistakes you make.”