Content and understanding strategies contribute in large measure to the instruction we provide. Yet the effectiveness of the most carefully crafted lessons and instruction will be enhanced or undermined by the classroom climate—including relationships among students and between students and the teacher. Therefore, the learning environment is the third essential element of effective science lessons. Strategies that compose this element of the framework help you focus on the question “What’s really important in science lessons?” Ultimately, what matters is student learning, and the educational setting of student learning is the classroom environment.