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Mora Jiang

Earth Science & Environmental Science Teacher

Graduated with a Master's degree in Education from Beijing Normal University. She is a geography teacher for the Youth Group of the Chinese National Geographic Exploration Team and a National Geographic Certified Geography Teacher in the United States.

Mora teaches courses in Earth Science, Advanced Environmental Science, and the On-boarding Project: Finding the Right Location with GIS. As the school's competition coach, Mora leads her students in the China Thinks Big Global Youth Research Innovation Forum, where they have achieved a national second-place award (Top 10-30%) and two national first-place awards (Top 10%). Her team was also invited to the Global Innovation Forum at Harvard University, where they earned a third-place global award (Top 10-30%). Additionally, she coaches for the SDG Sustainable Innovation Marathon Challenge, where her students have earned national second-place awards twice (Top 10-30%).

Mora believes that rather than simply memorizing academic content, students need to develop higher-order cognitive skills such as problem-solving, exploration, and discovery in the face of the unknown. In her courses, she encourages curiosity by asking questions that prompt students to observe phenomena, formulate hypotheses, and use various methods to collect empirical evidence. This approach challenges students to continually refine their reasoning and data analysis skills. Mora is passionate about Project-Based Learning (PBL) and, while she offers well-established projects for students to work on in her Ascend Project course, she also gives students the freedom to choose whether to tackle a teacher-prepared project or identify their problem to solve. This approach provides students with more autonomy, opportunities to make mistakes, and a space for continuous improvement through feedback.

Curriculums2

EASC3001: Earth Science

Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and other natural hazards happen every day. Where is it safe to live? How has the global climate changed since the Ice Age? Why is London warmer than Heilongjiang, even though London is closer to the North Pole than Heilongjiang? How do earth processes influence our lives? What stories do landscapes tell? If you are interested in exploring these questions, you're welcome to join this introductory course, which provides you with a basic knowledge of Earth's natural features that affect them. Understanding how earth, an integrated system, functions and how it varies over space and time is crucial for making informed decisions about the use and preservation of Earth's natural environments and resources. Focusing on the four components of the earth system — land, water, air, and life — and their interactions, this course identifies physical phenomena and natural processes and stresses their characteristics, relationships, and distributions. GIS, geographic data, maps, satellite images, and numerous landscape photographs are offered for learners to study and analyze the physical environments around us.


This course is suitable for learners who are attracted and amazed by the beauty of nature and wonder how and why this rich and colorful world is created. Perhaps you may not study earth science or a relevant major in the future, considering that such fields are often financially unfavorable. However, it equips you with the ability to read the signals of nature. In the summer meadows, when a cloud drifts by, you can speculate that there might be a lake below. When walking through a mountain valley at noon, you know that climbing up the hillside will bring a refreshing breeze blowing from behind... These are the romantic experiences unique to those who study Earth science.


This course is also suitable for learners who plan to study Earth science, environmental science, geography, geophysics, ecology, urban planning and other related fields in the future. One of the highlights of this course is the use of GIS (Geographic Information System) which is rarely taught in high schools in China, but it is a recommended skill when applying for earth science-related majors such as geography, environmental science, animal protection, urban planning, and others.

ENVS5001: Advanced Environmental Science

The Advanced Environmental Science course is designed to engage learners with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships within the natural world. The course requires that learners identify and analyze natural and human-made environmental problems, evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and examine alternative solutions for resolving or preventing them.

Environmental science is interdisciplinary, embracing topics from earth science, biology, chemistry, environmental studies, and environmental science. Course content includes ecosystems, biodiversity, biological and human populations, earth systems and resources, land use, energy resources and consumption, aquatic, atmospheric, and terrestrial pollution, global change, and a sustainable future.


Projects2

Finding the Right Location with GIS

Discipline/ Subject：GIS, Design Key Themes: GIS Campus Map, Sign Design Course Background Originally titled "Finding the Right Location with GIS," this onboarding project was designed by Mora Jiang, who structured the research questions, project outcomes, and all the acceptance criteria in advance. The course has been offered at MSA for several years. After examples of how GIS can impact everyday life, Mora would always ask learners: "Do you have any problems you want to solve using geographic thinking? Let’s work on them together. If not, we’ll proceed with my prepared project. Your choice." Problem Identification In the Fall semester of 2024-2025, a group of 9th grader freshmen responded to Mora’s question by venting their frustrations about the school’s confusing layout: "The campus design is disorienting. — I often lose my sense of direction." "There aren’t enough maps or wall signs. Even when I find them, they’re sometimes incorrect." After discussion, they formulated their research question: Why do people in MSA community frequently get lost? Validation & Data Collection Mora challenged them: "Is it possible that only newcomers get lost? What evidence supports the claim that ‘people always get lost’?" She also pointed out that statements like "there aren’t enough maps" lacked data. Students conducted on-site investigations: Documented uneven distribution, obstruction, and inaccuracies in existing maps/signage. Deepening the Inquiry To address whether non-newcomers also struggled, these students designed a survey. Mora advised: "Interview community members first to confirm this is a genuine issue." Interviews with 31 students, teachers, staff, and parents revealed widespread navigation challenges. Key findings from 175 survey responses: 90% admitted struggling to locate rooms. Top issues: missing/incorrect map info and ineffective interior signage. Solution Development When there was sufficient evidence, the learners chose to start with the most popular problem they were capable of solving: dividing themselves into two groups, the map group and the wall sign group. The map group was responsible for correcting the errors in the school map and adding more user-friendly features such as "current location" and the shortest routes. While Wall Sign Team group needed to modify the inner-circle wayfinding system from a design perspective. This definitely required the help of a design teacher. Fortunately, not long after the students sent out their questionnaires, they received support from Design Teacher Guo Xuzheng. Guo Xuzheng not only fully supported the design of the wayfinding system, but also agreed that the final output of this boarding class could be used as the final assignment for the design course. The assignments of the two courses could be combined to reduce the students' burden and enable them to focus more on the project. At the same time, another design teacher, Kyson Zhang, got highly involved. He not only gave detailed suggestions on the students' inner-circle wayfinding system, but also participated in several rehearsals in person. Unexpected Challenge The students originally thought that making the map and redesigning the inner-circle wayfinding system would solve the problem. However, as the project progressed, a major obstacle stood in their way: the classroom numbers in the school were irregular. For example, the room after C102 was not C103, but E102. To quickly locate a room, they had to rearrange the door numbers; otherwise, no matter how many maps and wayfinding systems were placed, people would still get lost. Rearranging the numbers of all the rooms in the school was far beyond their capabilities. How could they drive this change? They had to approach the school leaders. But how could they get the school leaders to agree to such a major change? They carefully planned an on-site presentation and PK competition targeted at the founder of Moon School, the principals of the high school department of Moon School, the person in charge of the logistics department of Moon School, the person in charge of student affairs at Moon School, their grade leaders and coaches. Please watch the VCR.

Treasure Hunting-A Grave with No Shadow

Discipline/ Subject：Earth Science  Key Themes: The Earth revolution around sun In a Guangzhou graveyard, a secret tale is untold. Once a year, at a moment's hold, Shadow vanishes at a precious cue, For a fleeting few minutes, a chance so true. Where a treasure's rumored, beneath a tomb's clay, But this fleeting moment, a blink of fate, Is the only time to unlock its gate. People gather, filled with eager delight, But among so many graves they stand, Lost and confused in a sea of stones. To seek the riches, you must advance, At the right day, the right minute, don't be late, For the shadows disappear, and you must navigate. With shovels and maps, and hearts so bold, Assemble your team to seek the hidden gold, In those fleeting minutes, do your best. Find the treasure hidden if you dare. You need to: Find out where the treasure is. Please provide its rough coordinate (GPS 坐标，精确到分即可) and point it out in a map. Explain why you think it's there with a clear model and solid evidence using model and CER template enclosed in this page. Explanation = Claim (What you know) + Evidence (How you know it) + Reasoning (Your thought process) Create a STEM experimental exploration report with maps to show your findings.

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