If your classroom experiences are at all like some of mine, then you know the frustration of having students who either cannot or will not consider the relationship between their book knowledge and its applications in society. I provide what I consider to be scaffolded reading/thinking/discussion opportunities around current science issues connected to concepts learned in class. I’m sure I’m not the

ScienceDaily reports the California Academy of Sciences commissioned a telephone survey of over 1,000 American adults to test their basic science knowledge of things like what percent of Earth’s water is freshwater. Less than 1 percent of adults knew the answer–3 percent is freshwater. Despite their dismal performance, a large percentage of those surveyed agreed that science is important to society.

It does not require a master’s degree to grasp the seriousness of issues such as world hunger, epidemics, pollution, and lack of fresh drinking water. How can we expect a generation of scientifically illiterate citizens to create a sustainable, politically stable, healthy planet?

How to Turn This News Event into an Inquiry-Based, Standards-Related Science Lesson

The National Science Education Standards aim to provide a well-rounded science education for all students, hitting on all major science content areas, as well as the history and nature of science, scientific inquiry, and science in personal and social perspectives. Ideally, if students experience teaching according to the Standards, they should graduate with the desired knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to participate in a democracy, enabling formation of sound policy and a sustainable, healthy planet.

I recently read an insightful article, Science Education in Three-Part Harmony: Balancing Conceptual, Epistemic, and Social Learning Goals, in which the history of science education is outlined; new information in the learning sciences and science studies is connected to science education; and the design of science curriculum, instruction, and assessment models is discussed. “Issues are raised about what constitutes the appropriate ‘grain size’ of ideas, evidence, information, and explanations for K-12 science . . . .” And there, I’m afraid, is the rub.

How do we strike a perfect balance between making sure our students acquire science facts and skills and making sure they can use those facts to discuss current science-related social problems in order to create and act on plans that begin to solve these problems? We have about 182 days. What topics and concepts do we choose? How long do we spend on it? In what sequence?

The article cites a National Research Council publication, Taking Science to School, in which research in K-8 education finds that science argumentation and discussion are sorely lacking in classrooms. The authors suggest that teachers facilitate student arguments relying on evidence obtained through rigorous investigations. This kind of experience presumably would enable students to grow into citizens capable of using evidence to make useful, informed decisions. It means students need to have a clear understanding of the nature of science and a sound understanding of some fundamental science concepts.

Science argumentation is a challenge for most teachers. Students often lack the social skills to conduct such arguments and are often trained in their other classes to express their feelings, opinions and emotions connected to an issue. While these human aspects cannot and should not be isolated from discussion of social issues, they cannot supersede scientific evidence. How many times have you asked students to propose a solution to a given observed problem, expecting them to employ recent class concepts, only to have them ask, “So you just want us to give our opinion?”

We have to keep shooting for the ideal balance; discuss with, communicate with, and make clear to our colleagues the approaches, goals and outcomes we now employ with the goal of increasing student science literacy.

The following are some resources from the National Science Digital Library Middle School Portal related to teaching and learning with scientific evidence: Ready, Set, Science: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms; What Killed the Dinosaurs? ; Pop Quiz; Why Did the Anasazi Abandon Mesa Verde? and When did the Grand Canyon Begin to Form?

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