We engaged secondary science students in a teacher and student constructed Uno card game (UCG) to change their conceptual understanding of the various energy transformations. The paper outlines how we incorporated Toulmin’s argumentation pattern (Toulmin  The Uses of Argument (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)) in the UCG, using discourse (Erduran et al  Sci. Educ. 88 915–33) and through a 5E learning cycle (Bybee  Achieving Scientific Literacy: From Purposes to Practices (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books)). The activity helped students develop a deeper understanding of the energy transformation among and between different sources. Students experienced a conceptual gain in their ways of thinking, in contrast to traditional teaching and learning practices. The collaboration and interaction between teacher–student(s) and between students fostered an environment where they became co-constructors of knowledge.

Scholars have empirically examined, rigorously developed, and analyzed various strategies to increase teachers' capacity to reach students of color. These instructional strategies and philosophies include the study of multicultural education, teaching for social justice, and theorizing the connection between school and home life. While these instructional strategies highlight the need for a more inclusive approach, they do not center race enough. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) is the pedagogical, content, and cultural knowledge a teacher exhibits (Ladson-Billings, 1995). CRP does not explicitly problematize race; yet the theory and praxis of CRP should include a critical analysis of race and racism. As an alternative framework that centers on race, researchers have begun to use Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explore aspects of race and racism in the teaching and learning realm. This qualitative case study examined how teachers make sense of their own racial selves in relation to teaching students from different racial backgrounds? (Yin, 2008). Data collection included semi-structured interviews as the primary source of data. Classroom observations and researcher memos served as secondary sources of data (Seidman, 2005;Hatch, 2002; Prior, 2003). According to critical race theorists, narratives are essential when gathering vital sources of information, in that they make the social realities of people of color, as influenced by racism, observable to the world ). As such, CRT was used to identify whether there were any influences of the students' racial identities on the teachers' development and implementation of culturally responsive practices. The analysis revealed that: (1) teachers' explicit confrontation with/of "otherness" as White female teachers and their critical awareness of societal influences on students of color presented more opportunities to be race-conscious and directly address institutional racism; and (2) teachers' critical awareness of explicit and implicit power structures and how these relationships are embedded in a "hidden curriculum" influenced their beliefs and instructional practices. These findings communicate the significance of White female teachers understanding of issues specific to urban schools, and their efforts to find ways to remedy those issues to make learning meaningful, purposeful, and authentic for students of color.