Subway map visualization tool for integrating the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering into the high school chemistry and physics curriculum

Making the required science curriculum interesting, relevant and engineering-focused in a K-12 classroom is a challenge for all instructors. There are few, if any, visual instructional materials available that connect classroom STEM curriculum to real world problems. This work highlights a subway map visualization tool for seamless integration of the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) Grand Challenges of Engineering into three distinct curricula: Chemistry in Philadelphia High School for Girls and Chemistry and Physics in the Kenyan national standards. Through the use of this tool, students acquire "tokens of knowledge." These tokens are lessons and/or activity modules that correlate with one specific intersection of a Grand Challenge and each curriculum unit. The concept of "graffiti" is also used; students are encouraged to write their thoughts, feelings and responses on the map throughout the year. Quantitative (Likert based) measures are used to assess the effectiveness of this visual learning tool.