"This isn't English class, why do we have to read and write in science?"
Have you ever heard this before? We hear it all the time. Most students think science class is all about blowing stuff up and getting dirty in the dirt! We see this in commercials, in movies, and social media. The problem is, if you only blow stuff up, you lack the skills needed to communicate what’s going on and how it connects to the real world.
In our classrooms it is vital that students have the opportunity to do science! Doing science is how you engage your students, but we also need to emphasize that doing science also includes some to the other stuff. This includes synthesizing their findings and then writing a summary, verbally presenting the information, or drawing a model to demonstrate their understanding. Giving students opportunities to explain what is going on, is giving students the opportunity to learn.
This begs to ask the question, if students only do science and do not engage in the science and engineering practices, are they really doing science?
Scientists rely on gathering information by reading, collaborating with others, and then investigating their understanding of a concept or phenomena. Oftentimes, these investigations do not go as planned! Failed investigations are essential for students to learn. From these, we learn to make adjustments and move forward. Failure is a part of science!
Read
We read everyday! In science, we read texts like journal articles or informational text. However, reading in science does not only involve words and text. Reading in science also includes graphs, data tables, and images. All of these “texts” provide scientists with opportunities to decipher information and make meaning from it.
Scientists read a variety of text to find out what has already been done, what experiments have been completed before, and what current ideas are being generated and explored in science. Scientists will always need to complete research, so it is important for students to learn how to read and dissect information from a text. Text can include informational text, journal articles, biographies, graphs, data tables, and so much more. Students need to practice reading a variety of texts and evaluating their validity.
Write
We read everyday! In science, we read texts like journal articles or informational text. However, reading in science does not only involve words and text. Reading in science also includes graphs, data tables, and images. All of these “texts” provide scientists with opportunities to decipher information and make meaning from it.
Scientists read a variety of text to find out what has already been done, what experiments have been completed before, and what current ideas are being generated and explored in science. Scientists will always need to complete research, so it is important for students to learn how to read and dissect information from a text. Text can include informational text, journal articles, biographies, graphs, data tables, and so much more. Students need to practice reading a variety of texts and evaluating their validity. Writing is a tool we use in classrooms to allow students to explain their learning. Writing can be formal or informal. What is important however, that we emphasize and value the process of writing.
What does this mean? Often, we see writing treated as a formal evaluation of student learning. This is usually asked of students at the end of a science experiment when we require students to write a summary or conclusion of their findings. While this is an important skill, and mimicked in the real world, writing can provide tremendous value to the learning process if utilized beyond formal evaluation of learning.
Writing is important at all stages of science. Charles Darwin is notably known for his writing. For many years he traveled the globe and he wrote all of his observations, and drawings, and maps of coastlines. He also induced his notes and thoughts about how species in different parts of the work resemble one another. This was a very informal form of writing, but provided Darwin with the space to make sense of the world around him. It allowed him to draw connections and explain what he was learning as he traveled the world.
This simple act of writing provides a means to process what you are currently thinking. Once it is all out, you can begin to process and make sense of it later. Allowing students to just write, is not a practice many students are used to. Many fear writing because it is often how teachers evaluate learning.
So, why wait until we are evaluating students to provide them with an opportunity to write. Have them write early and often in the learning cycle. Encourage them to make sense of their own learning. And, while we are at it, why not model this process for our students to help them grow comfortable in this process.
Collaborate
When you collaborate, you put your thoughts to words. Collaboration is key to offering students another chance to explain their thoughts and ideas. It is another opportunity for them to make sense of the world around them with their peers.
Providing space for students to collaborate, offers students to gain multiple perspectives. All students bring diverse experiences and understandings with them to class every single day. When tackling a problem, it is important to get multiple viewpoints and leverage all people’s strengths to develop the best solution. If we never collaborate, we might miss out.
In 2021, NASA made history when Perseverance landed on Mars. In order to land Perseverance on Mars, they needed multiple experts and diverse perspectives to make this happen. Astronomers, atmospheric scientists, computer hardware engineers, electronic and mechanical engineers, aerospace engineers, avionic technicians, photographers, and technical writers were all involved in order to make that happen. Many projects go beyond what we think of when we think of the typical scientists and engineers role.
When you think about your classroom, keep all of this in mind! We are not preparing all kids for science careers, but we are preparing students to be successful in life no matter the career path they choose. Our job is to expose them to the beautiful wonders of science, and get them excited! Who knows, you might have a budding photographer sitting in your classroom who latches on to the wonders of the rainforest and spend their life traveling the world capturing the beautiful images of the rainforest. Exposure to all the topics, concepts, and phenomena, opens their eyes to a world of endless possibilities.
Read. Write. Collaborate.
So, the next time you hear “why we do have to do this,” or “this isn’t English class, why are we reading and writing,” make a clear connection to why you are doing this. If you were an all star at stoichiometry, do you think that if you got hired as a chemist, you would sit there and solve stoich problems on a little worksheet your boss gave you when you showed up?! I don’t think so! Chemists see problems, and set out to solve problems – and I am talking about more than a simple stoich problem! I am talking about problems like climate change that we need to solve in order to make this world a better place!
Make it a point to leverage the science and engineering practices so students can get a feel for what it would be like to work in the science field. Even if they don’t go to be the next Darwin, NASA engineer, or chemist, all of the science and engineering practices are life skills that are applicable to everyday life.
Looking for a way to get you students to read, write, and collaborate? Our Helping Trio is the way to go! Check out a few of the resources below!
