For Carol Brandt, associate professor of science education in the College of Education and Human Development at Temple University, science is not just a subject confined to textbooks or laboratories—it’s an integral part of everyday life, waiting to be discovered in family homes, museums, parks, gardens and even city streets.
“The world outside the classroom is an exciting resource,” Brandt explains.
Her career has been dedicated to reshaping how science is taught and learned, focusing on hands-on, experiential, community-driven and socially relevant approaches that inspire curiosity and connection.
Every semester, Brandt begins her Science Education for the Early Years: PreK to 4 course with a simple yet transformative exercise: a scavenger hunt. “Each student receives a small baggie and goes right outside of Ritter Hall with a task: ‘Find 10 items connected to science that can fit in the baggie,’” she says.
The results are always surprising. “Students find insect shells, fossils, mushrooms, lichens and even butterfly wings—all within 10 minutes,” Brandt recalls. “They call out to each other with excitement: ‘Look what I found!’ or ‘What is this?’ When we return to the classroom, we categorize the items as living or non-living. It’s a basic activity, but it helps them see that science extends beyond the classroom door.”
This exercise is more than just an icebreaker—it encapsulates Brandt’s philosophy of making science engaging, tangible, equitable and accessible, all rooted in exploration.
Brandt's research and teaching interests include science education, educational ethnography and alternative learning environments such as the design studio. Her innovative approach to education is shaped by a wealth of experiences.
Early on in her career, Brandt spent a decade working on Zuni and Navajo reservations in Arizona and New Mexico, teaching students about prehistory through field trips and hands-on activities. “This work sparked my interest in creative approaches to education beyond school classrooms,” she explains.
Later, as an undergraduate biology advisor at the University of New Mexico, Brandt was inspired by the ambitions of students of color pursuing careers in health sciences. These experiences informed her dissertation on Native American women’s experiences in science and how they applied that knowledge to benefit their communities.
Her post-doctoral work at the University of California, Santa Cruz, deepened her focus on informal learning environments. Working with the Center for Informal Learning and Schools, she studied how bilingual Latino families engaged with science at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
“This work helped me explore how to document learning in these spaces and make them more equitable and accessible for diverse families and who might not be typical museum goers,” she says, noting the way in which students learn science often intertwines with their cultural identity.
Since joining Temple University in 2011, Brandt has immersed herself in Philadelphia’s vibrant urban environment.
“Philadelphia is a fantastic place for science education and exploration,” she shares. “Many institutions and outdoor spaces offer financial assistance to help teachers from underserved schools bring their students on field trips, which many may not know about.”
"There are spaces that provide inclusive opportunities for children and young adults to connect with nature, learn about the environment, and discuss issues like climate change and its impact on urban wildlife and urban forests,” she further explains. “Philadelphia’s interconnected parks and green spaces, from Fairmount Park to the Wissahickon Valley, offer endless opportunities for experiential learning.”
At the heart of Brandt’s work is a commitment to making science education meaningful and relevant. “We need to align learning with the needs of the community,” she emphasizes. “By integrating science into projects that matter, we can make learning more equitable and engaging.”
Brandt’s teaching often focuses on project and problem-based learning. In one of her classes, for example, Brandt has students tackle urban environmental challenges by designing sustainable features for Philadelphia’s iconic row houses. From green roofs to rain gardens, they conduct research, create and test models to explore solutions to issues like flooding and overheating. “These hands-on projects teach students how science can be applied to solve real-world problems,” Brandt says. “It’s about equipping them with tools they can use in their future classrooms and communities.”
Brandt often finds that many of her students enter her courses with negative perceptions of science, often shaped by rigid, textbook-driven experiences. Her classes aim to change just that. “By the end of the course, they leave excited about teaching science,” she says. “They see that it can be meaningful, memorable and even fun.”
Brandt also emphasizes the importance of fostering critical thinking. “This and future generations will face challenges we couldn’t have imagined,” she reflects. “I strive to equip them not only to engage with science but also to critique it—understanding both its potential for community good and its historical misuse. Science can be used to cause harm as well as good.”
Her love for science is deeply personal. Growing up in a small farming community in the Midwest, she spent her childhood exploring parks, gardening and observing nature. “My parents encouraged my curiosity, and our family trips to national parks deepened my love for the natural world,” she recalls.
Outside of her teaching, Brandt is involved with birdwatching groups like the Feminist Bird Club, Queer Birders and Black Birders, as well as community gardening initiatives. One of her recent projects is the Lansdowne Community Garden, developed to address food insecurity. “With support from the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, we’ve created a space to grow food for a local food bank,” Brandt shares. “We’ve also held workshops on seed starting, inviting parents and children to prepare plants for the garden.”
Today, she encourages her students to cultivate similar connections to nature, whether in urban settings or green spaces. “Experiencing nature directly has a profound impact on how students see themselves and their role in the world,” she says.
Through her work, Brandt is redefining science education—not as a rigid subject contained within the school walls, but as a dynamic, boundless and accessible tool for understanding and improving the environment around us and the world.
“Science is everywhere,” she says. “And it belongs to everyone.”