Safety science as a catalyst for learning

Across the country, educators are searching for ways to help students engage with science and math in ways that advance the safety, health and sustainability of their communities.
To address this need, a group of faculty members at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation are bringing their knowledge of Action-Oriented Pedagogies to help K-12 educators connect students with STEM topics through the Xplorlabs Educator Fellowship program.
The program, which is supported by the UL Research Institutes’ Institute for Research Experiences and Education, offers professional learning for educators to design science safety lesson plans. The goal is to use AOP to encourage students to learn while doing as they explore safety science topics such as lithium-ion battery recycling, fire hazard reduction, composting and more.
This year the program is reaching nearly 2,000 students in the Arizona region through the participation K-12 educators. The program also aligns with the college’s Learning Futures Collaboratives initiative, which bridges research and practice through community-focused projects that have the potential to advance scholarship, and to scale.
Safety science in K-12
"Safety science represents an innovative topic of learning in K-12 education, offering a unique opportunity to integrate STEM and social sciences,” said Michelle Jordan, MLFC associate professor. “By engaging students in this multidisciplinary field, we can empower them to better understand and actively contribute to the systems that shape their communities.”
Jordan and MLFC Associate Professor Andrea Weinberg coordinate the regional Greater-Phoenix Xplorlabs Educator Fellowship program alongside research project manager Sarah Suloff
The University of Pennsylvania, which is also part of the project, supports educators in the Philadelphia region, and UL Research Institutes’ Institute of Research Experiences and Education supports a third group of educators distributed across the rest of the United States.
Jordan and Weinberg, working with graduate students Rebekah Jongewaard, Nicole Oster and Dilraba Anayatova — all members of MLFC’s Education for Planetary Futures LFC — have created the Action-Oriented Pedagogies framework that enables K-12 students to work in various roles to connect with the world around them as agentic learners and actors.
Applying this approach to the project, the scholars say, means encouraging students to imagine their future world, connecting and collaborating with the surrounding community, and developing projects for impact, while encouraging ongoing reflection and project iteration.
“This Fellowship bridges the gap between theory and practice by equipping educators to bring safety science into real settings and empowering students to launch projects that matter,” said Weinberg. “When students act on real challenges in their communities, they can make that connection between the value of learning science and designing resilient futures.”
From battery collection to fire safety
This is the third year of ASU’s involvement in the Fellowship program. The local 2025-26 Fellowship cohort is a mix of 12 classroom teachers, community educators and four middle and high school youth who are learning skills in project design and implementation.
Each summer, fellows from across the country came together for a three-day workshop led by MLFC faculty and partnering project coordinators at IREE and University of Pennsylvania to fine-tune lessons for the upcoming school year.
Among the projects educators are working on are:
- Safe handling of lithium-ion batteries. At her middle school, Arizona mathematics teacher Candace Holland Morris is identifying ways for her students to use data collection and analysis to explore safety science and sustainability issues related to fire hazards and lithium-ion battery devices.
- E-waste disposal. Arizona high school educator Madison O’Neal, who teaches physical and biological sciences, is developing a project around e-waste disposal, also with a focus on lithium. Her project will start with students developing an understanding of how lithium is mined, used and disposed of as a starting point for them to develop their own projects.
- Fire safety. Mayra Ramos’ students in New Mexico will be encouraged to organize community-based projects after learning about fire safety, burn scene analysis and sustainable building. The projects will build on their STEM knowledge in topics such as chemical reactions, chemical changes, the impacts of natural disasters and evidence-based argumentation.
“Safety science reminds us that every solution begins with understanding risk, and every act of learning is a step toward a more resilient world,” said Weinberg. “When students learn to see the systems around them, to ask better questions and to imagine safer futures, they begin to recognize their own power to shape solutions.”
Learn more about other projects being developed through MLFC’s Learning Futures Collaboratives initiative.