9/21/2014

1/4
Buythisissue
ShareonTwitter
ShareonFacebook
ShareonLinkedIn
ShareonGoogle+
ReadAbstract
March2011|Volume68|Number6
WhatStudentsNeedtoLearn
TeachingScienceLiteracy
MariaGrantandDianeLapp
Fouractionshelpteachersfostercitizenswhoarecriticalthinkersaboutsciencerelatedissues.
Jacqueline,a12thgrader,ispurchasingherfirstcarandfeelstornasshebalancesconflictingdesiresandmessages.
Sheyearnstobeseatedbehindthewheelofastylishvehicle,ayearningfueledbyadvertisementsportrayingwomenin
luxuriouscars.She'salsoconfrontedbybillboardmessagesthatclaim"bestfueleconomyforyourmoney!"and"greatfor
theenvironment!"
Withhermodestbudget,Jacquelineknowsshemustconsiderthecostofroutinemaintenanceandgas.Shealsocares
abouthowthefuelemissionsofdifferentbrandsofcarswillaffectairqualityandtheenvironment.Jacquelinerealizesshe
needsmoreinformationincludinginformationoncarbonemissions,theozonelayer,andglobalwarmingtomakea
carefuldecision.
Everyday,theneedtomakedecisionsrelatedtoscienceconfrontsyoungpeople.Althoughbuyingacarmightseemto
beafinancialorlifestyleissue,thechoiceconnectstoenvironmentalscience.Fortunately,Jacquelinehaspracticed
solvingproblems,analyzingdata,andmakinginformed,datadrivendecisionsinherscienceclassesandshe
understandsthatherdecisionstodaycanaffecttheenvironmentshewillliveintomorrow.
ScanningarticlesinConsumerReports,Jacquelinenotescolumnsofdatacomparingaveragemilespergallononthe
freeway,safetytestingdata,andcarbonfuelemissionsratingsofthethreecarmodelsshe'sconsidering.Shereads
aboutthestrengthsandweaknessesofeachmodel,includingpricingandresalevalue,andmakesnotestoguideher
decisionmaking.
WemightsayJacquelineiscriticallyliterateinscience,meaningshehastheabilitytoread,write,think,andtalkabout
realworldscienceissues(Lapp&Fisher,2010).
CriticalLiteracyasPersonalEmpowerment
Aspartofworkingtowardscientificliteracyforstudents,teachersmustconsidertheconceptofcriticalliteracy.Justlook
atthenumberofsciencerelatedissuesthatdirectlyaffecthumanbeingsglobalwarming,accesstocleanwater,and
theavailabilityofrenewableenergy,tonamejustafewandaskyourselftwoquestions:
1. Domoststudentsthinkabouttheeffectoftheseissuesontheireverydaylives?
2. Doourstudentsconsidertherolestheymightplayinchanginghowascienceconnectedproblemisresolvedover
thecomingdecades?
Probablynot,unlesstheyaretaughttodoso.
9/21/2014
2/4
AsTrefilandO'BrienTrefil(2009)noted,questionsliketheseshouldprovidethefoundationofyoungpeople'sscientific
literacyandrelatedsocialresponsibility.Akeypartofbeingcriticallyliterateisbecominginvolvedinissuesbeyondthe
personal.
Teacherscanhelpstudentsbecomepartofsociety'sscienceconversationsbyusingrealworldapplicationsofsciencein
instructionandbyinvitingstudentstodiscussanddebaterelevantandmotivatingcontent.Informedactsthatmakea
differenceinsocietywhetherassimpleascastingaballotfororagainstanenvironmentalissueorascomplexas
workingontheresearchanddevelopmentofanewalternativefuelsourcearecharacteristicofindividualswho
possessescriticalscienceliteracy.
Asascienceeducatorandaliteracyeducatorwhoarealsobothhighschoolteachersanduniversityprofessorswe
proposefouractionstopromotecriticalliteracyinscienceclassrooms.
1.Identifysciencetopicsofinterest.
Anastutescienceeducatorcanweaverealworldsciencetopicsintoastandardsbasedcurriculumwithoutsacrificinga
momentofpurposefulinstructionaltime.Alookatglobalwarminginthephysicsclassroomcanleadtoabasicdiscussion
ofwaterdensityortoasophisticatedexplanationoftheStefanBoltzmannlaw(whichcanbeusedtodeterminehow
muchenergythesungivesoffandtocalculatethetemperatureofEarth,bothcrucialelementsinunderstandingglobal
warming).Suchconversationslendrelevancetowhatmightotherwisebeanisolateddiscussionoftheory.Andstudents
whothinkcriticallyaboutgermaneissuesaremorelikelytobeinterested,activeparticipantsintheclassroom.
Webelieveeverystandardsbasednotionneedstobeconnectedtotherealworld.Considerthefollowingsuggestionsfor
topics:
Xraysandthehumanbody(connectedtoanatomyandnuclearmedicine).
Theeffectsofdrugsonthebodyandmind(relatedtoanatomy,neuroscience,andhealth).
Oilspills(connectedtooceanography,geology,andmarinebiology).
Droughtandwateruse(connectedtogeologyandearthscience).
Theeffectofnaturaldisasters(connectedtogeologyandearthscienceandhealth).
Classroomscienceteachersmustbuildanextensivelistofthistypebeforetheyplantheirlessonsandtheninvite
studentstoownthelistbyaddingtopicsthattheywouldenjoystudying.Thegoalistomakestudentswanttolive
science.
2.Engagestudentsinreadingtheresearch.
Afterselectingatopic,it'stimetobuildstudents'baseofknowledge.Forbackgroundscienceinformation,sciencerelated
textsarethefirstresourcetoexamine.Unfortunately,studentsoftenstumbleinreadingsciencetextbooksorscholarly
articles,whichgenerallyuseunfamiliar,multisyllabicwordsandsentencesthatrequireextensivebackgroundknowledge.
Scienceeducatorsmustgenerateconnectionsamongscienceconcepts,societalissues,andthevocabularystudentswill
meetintextbooks.Considerachapteronwaterinanearthsciencetextbookthatdealswithconceptsalignedwiththe
sciencestandards:"knowtheimportanceofwatertosociety,theoriginsoffreshwater,andtherelationshipbetween
supplyandneed"(adaptedfromtheCaliforniaDepartmentofEducationEarthScienceStandards).Thebookmightuse
suchterminologyasfluvialsystems,flowmanagement,andrestoration.Theseareimportanttermsforanyrelevant
conversationonwateruse,butlikelyunfamiliarones.Anunderstandingofwhereandhowriverwatersoriginateand
issuesrelatedtohumanuseandreuseofwatercouldhelpmotivatestudentstolearnsuchtermsandbuildafoundation
thatwouldeventuallyallowforanexpandeddiscussionofflowmanagementandrestoration.
Howmightateacherapproachthetopicofwaterinawaythat'srelevantandinterestingtoaverage9thor10thgraders
andbuildsbackgroundknowledge?Onestrategyistoassembleanarrayoftopicrelatedtextsfromvarioussources,
includingtradebooks,newsarticles,andevenpoems.Scientistsinthefieldoftenreadeveryarticletheycanfindona
topictobuildbackgroundknowledgeandgainanunderstandingofterminologycurrentlyusedinaparticularfieldof
studytheycallthispractice"readingtheresearch."
Secondarylevelteacherscanapply"readingtheresearch"toanysciencetopicathand.Forexample,tradebookslikeA
DropAroundtheWorld(DawnPublications,1998)orOneWell:TheStoryofWateronEarth(KidsCanPress,2007)
provideaccesstowaterrelatedvocabularyandfoundationalideasaboutwateruse,bothofwhichareessentialtohigher
levelreadingonthetopic.Acollectionofnewsarticlesrelatedtopertinentwateruseissuesmightignitepassionand
sparkrelatedconversationamongnewlymotivatedstudents.
ListsofsciencerelatedtradebooksandreadingresourcesareavailablefromtheNationalScienceTeachersAssociation
andtheAmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience.
Considerthesocalled"toilettotap"proposalsthatprovokeddebateinSanDiegointhe1990s.Theideaisthattoilet
waterfromonecommunitycanbecleanedandpumpedbackintoreservoirsthatprovidewatertothehometapsofother
communities.Althoughaheatedargumentledtothedemiseoftheinitialproposal,thepracticeofreusingtoiletwaterhas
beentriedinnumerouscommunities.InOrangeCounty,California,forinstance,cleanedtoiletwaterisreintroducedinto
aquifersbeforeit'spumpedbackthroughtaps.Thisisarealworld,relevantissuethatsomestatesmaysoonpresentfor
theapprovalofvoters,apopulationthatwillshortlyincludeourmiddleandhighschoolstudents.
9/21/2014
3/4
3.Teachstudentstoreadlikescientists.
Tofostercomprehension,it'snotenoughforstudentstomerelyhaveahandfuloftopicrelatedreadingstoperuse.They
mustalsodeveloptheabilitytoreadandthinklikescientists.Thismeansdevelopingstrategiesforreadingscientific
writingandbuildingadeepunderstandingofrelatedvocabulary.
Oneofthebestwaysforteacherstohelpstudentslearnhowtocomprehendasciencetextistomodelthethinkingthat
occurswhilereadinggraphs,charts,datatables,anddataanalysissections.Proficientsciencereaderswillreadthetext
thatcorrelatestoatableofdata,forexample,andthenstudythetable,lookingforfeatureslikeunitsofmeasure,data
rangevalues,andcolumntitles.Theywillthenlookbackatthetexttoreread,orcontinuereading,inanefforttoconnect
thisinformationtothetext.
Ateachercanconductathinkaloudwhilereadingsostudentscanlearnwhatproficientsciencereadinglooksand
soundslike.Forinstance,9thgradescienceteacherMs.Kimlooksatachartinatextandsays,"Ithinkthisisshowing
thepercentageoffreshwateronearth.IknowthatIjustreadinthetextthatfreshwatermeanstherearelittleorno
dissolvedsaltsinthewater."AsMs.Kimmodelshowshegoesbackandforthbetweenthetextandthechartto
determinemeaning,she'salsoshowingthatshethinksaboutthetextasshereads.
Likewise,ateachercanmodelhowtorecognizetypicaltextpatternsinsciencewriting,showhowtouserootwordsto
determinewordmeaning,orconnectpriorknowledgetonewideas.Ateachermightsay,
Irememberlastweekwhenwereadabouthowwateristransferredthroughanaqueduct,oralongsystemof
canalsandtunnels,betweenColoradoandSouthernCalifornia.MaybetheaqueductnearWashington,D.C.,is
similar.
4.Guidelearnerstoevaluatedata.
Studentsneedtounderstandhowtoevaluatedatasources.Numbersconnectedtochemicalsfoundinseawatersampled
neartheexplosionoftheBritishPetroleumoilwellinLouisianawouldprobablyholdnomeaningfortheuntrainedstudent.
However,studentswhounderstandsomethingabouttheunitsthesenumbersrepresent(forinstance,thatg/Lmeans
microgramsperliter)andthatthevaluesofbenzeneornaphthaleneneedtobeevaluatedinreferencetowhatlevelsof
suchchemicalsareharmfulcanmakemeaningfromthesedata.
Studentsneedtounderstandwheredatawerecollected,howtheywerecollected,andwhattheyrepresent.Like
scientistsinthelaborinthefield,theclassroomscientistmustlearnthatit'scrucialtoconsidermultiplesourcesofdatato
analyzeanddrawconclusions.Althoughdatacollectionmaynotalwaysbepossibleinaclassroomlab,ateachercan
ensurethatstudentshaveopportunitiestoreviewrealworlddatafrommultiplesources.VisitdatacentersattheNational
OceanicandAtmosphericAdministrationortheU.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgencyforrealdataoneverythingfrom
thelevelofoceanicsedimentstothelocationsoftoxicchemicalstoragesitesintheUnitedStates.
StudentscouldanalyzenumeroussourcesofdatarelatedtotherecentoilspillintheGulfofMexico.Forexample,in
smallgroupsstudentsmightcompareonlinesourcesshowingU.S.governmentdataontheamountofoilremainingfrom
thespillanddataonthesamequestionpublishedbyprivatewatersamplingfirms.Theycouldcreateacompareand
contrastchartandwriteasummaryoftheirconclusionsandlingeringquestions.
BeyondCarShopping
Teachingfocusedonfosteringcriticalliteracyhasfarreachingimplications.AsyoungpeoplelikeJacquelineexperience
suchinstruction,theybecomemoreperceptiveabouttheworldaroundthemandmoreempoweredtomakedecisions
abouthowtheyinteractwiththatworld.
References
Grant,M.,&Fisher,D.(2010).Readingandwritinginscience:Toolstodevelopdisciplinaryliteracy.CorwinPress:
ThousandOaks,CA.
Lapp,D.,&Fisher,D.(2010)Criticalliteracy:Examiningthejuxtapositionofissue,author,andself.Multicultural
Perspectives,12(3),156160.
Trefil,J.,&O'BrienTrefil,W.(2009).Thesciencestudentsneedtoknow.EducationalLeadership,67(1),2833.
MariaGrantisassociateprofessorintheCollegeofEducation,CaliforniaStateUniversity,Fullerton6199523389.DianeLappis
DistinguishedProfessorofEducation,CollegeofEducation,SanDiegoStateUniversity6194058705.Bothareteachersand
collegialcoachesatHealthSciencesHighandMiddleCollegeinSanDiego,California.
KEYWORDS
Clickonkeywordstoseesimilarproducts:
curriculumdevelopment,environmentaleducation,interdisciplinarycurriculum,science,teachingformeaning
9/21/2014
4/4
Copyright2011byASCD
RequestingPermission
Forphotocopy,electronicandonlineaccess,andrepublicationrequests,gototheCopyrightClearanceCenter.
Entertheperiodicaltitlewithinthe"GetPermission"searchfield.
Totranslatethisarticle,contactpermissions@ascd.org