"The whole thing?" "We have to connect every component in the system?" "How do we represent the different kinds of relationships between components?" "Can I use a different geometric shape to represent abiotic nodes?" Such are the questions of engaged high school science students as they grapple with a systems approach to a scientific problem. Bellevue School District high school biology students are not only grappling with understanding systems they have chosen to study an organism that lives in extreme environments.

Recent advances in experimental practice, accompanying computational techniques and systems thinking have advanced biological inquiry. However, the practice of today´s biology does not resemble how biology is taught in today´s high schools. The Baliga Research Group at the Institute for Systems Biology is using today’s practices to launch classroom activities that promote conceptual development of standards based instructional outcomes for students as a potential solution to this mismatch. Students are engaged by the forefronts of biological thinking and computation available in these materials.

Students will ultimately experience five modularized sets of instructional materials to shape their understanding of biology from a systems perspective. The modules include: ecological networks, protein networks, gene networks, evolution and physiological networks. The links in this sentence will connect you with the materials development process, descriptions of completed materials, a primer on systems biology and technology tools used in classrooms.

The Baliga Laboratory has collaboratively resourced the materials development effort. The collaboration includes practicing scientists, a school district, science educators, evaluators and granting organizations. A careful plan for evaluation and dissemination of the materials is ongoing.