Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning
Alonna has worked at the K20 Center since June of 2019. Previously, she worked as a high school science teacher and department chair at Oklahoma City Public schools. Alonna is currently pursuing her master's degree in secondary science education at the University of Oklahoma. As a curriculum specialist, Alonna spends her time working directly with teachers to implement authentic teaching practices, as well as writing ready to use lessons for K20's LEARN website.
In this lesson, students use an online fossil database to explore changes in life forms throughout the history of life on Earth. Students also make predictions about environmental changes and how those changes affect organisms living in different environments. Students then analyze anatomical similarities... Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: August 7th, 2025
Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
This lesson is intended to support life science standards found in biology. The lesson is not intended to cover the standards completely but to supplement them and raise awareness of ethical issues and racism in science and medicine. Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: February 18th, 2025
Ethics in Scientific Research
This lesson guides students to apply Newton's third law of motion and has them find solutions to problems associated with collisions. During the lesson, students observe various forms of collisions, examine and explain evidence that supports Newton's third law of motion, and identify real-world problems... Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: January 24th, 2025
Forces and Motion
This lesson builds upon students' understanding of gravity and guides students to understand that gravity is attractive, correlates with mass, and inversely correlates with distance. Students conduct a lab then evaluate various statements about gravity based on their understanding of the lab. At the... Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: January 24th, 2025
Relative Gravity and Gravitational Force
During this third lesson in the Connecting Social Issues and Health Gap unit, students will view Oklahoma's life expectancy map, identify environmental threats that contribute to these life expectancies, and discuss what these threats mean with regard to air quality and society. Students then compare... Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: March 25th, 2026
Comparing Communities
During this second lesson in the Connecting Social Issues and Health Gaps unit, students will analyze Oklahoma City's air quality and pollutant levels from 2020 and summarize important information about air pollutants in a public service announcement. Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: March 25th, 2026
Environmental Factors
In this introductory lesson to the Connecting Social Issues and Human Health Gaps unit, students will explore asthma through a variety of station activities, videos, readings, and charts. In doing so, students will better understand what occurs in the respiratory system before, during, and after an... Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: March 25th, 2026
Understanding Asthma
Participants will develop a broader understanding of what makes real-world phenomena engaging, student-centered, relevant, and grade-appropriate. During this session, participants will explore the role of phenomena in lessons that may be delivered virtually or in blended learning environments. By centering... Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: January 30th, 2026
This strategy encourages students to share their questions and observations about anchoring phenomena. By sharing their thoughts throughout the learning experience, students can connect personally and culturally to the content. Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
February 22nd, 2024
