Essential Question #2

          We all hear it in the classroom whether we think it’s true or not, “why do we have to do this?”  It is hard to get children to understand why we have to teach them what we do.  Trying to overcome this reluctance to want to learn is hard to achieve, but with the use of young adult literature we can help them by trying to relate the subject to them or so they can see how these subjects can potentially occur in their world.  Textbooks are very dense with material and it throws it at the reader all at once, but when the topic is brought up in a novel, then it delivers a message with ease and understanding of a plot line.

            An example of a book that is often used in a science based classroom setting is “Hot Zone.”  This book is written as if it was a fiction novel, but it is based on a true story.  The wording is easy to understand and give enough suspense to keep the reader enthralled by what could happen next.  This is a great book to introduce disease and microbiology to students.  It lets them know that these things are really out there and that is not just something that happens in third world countries, but can happen to places like where they live.  This book shows how it can drastically change people’s lives moments with something that we can not even see with the naked eye.

George, Marshall. (2001). What's the Big Idea? Integrating Literature in the Middle School. Retrieved from http://www.adlit.org/article/22976/

Stallworth, Joyce. (1998). The Young Adult Literature Course: Facilitating the Integration of Young Adult Literature into the High School English Classroom. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall98/stallworth.html

Essential Question #1: How can young adult literature peak students interest in science?

How can young adult literature peak student's interest in science?        

          Young adult literature approaches topics that are important to the reader.  Young adult literature focuses on an audiences between the ages of 12 and 20.  These books will often touch base in topics are important to them and using these books teachers can also cover topics that can convey to the classroom.  Most teacher often skip over science fiction as one of the genres covered, but it is important for students imagination to have that spark and realize we can expand much more on our current technology standard. 

          Most writers do not have a background in the science industry, but they are able to put into words what most imagine.  In these books there are usually some current scientific ideas, but then there are others where the truth is stretched.  Teachers can have students search the text to find what is science and what is science fiction. Most know Star Trek from the famous television series, but it is also a Science Fiction novel series.  There are some great examples of where ideas like the space-time continuum is talked about that Einstein originally conceived.  So literature like this can hopefully jump start student’s interest in science, with the intriguing stories that integrate science with science fiction.

Bean, Thomas W. (2003, December). Using Young-Adult Literature to Enhance Comprehension in the Content Areas. North Central Regional Education Laboratory. 

Batchelor, David Allen. (2009, May 5). Science of Star Trek. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/star_trek.html

 

Fink, Lisa Storm. (2012) Finding the Science Behind Science Fiction through Pared Reading. Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/finding-science-behind-science-927.html

carbon dating

Carbon dating and video

Here is a site that would be a great out side reading material for further exploration of the topic, carbon dating.  In class we would explain how it works, but if a student would like to know more about how it works, this link give a nice explanation and a video to supplement.  On the site there are explanations to how C14 is naturally occurring and this is why we can use if for dating living objects.  There are diagrams and even example math problems for students to see how half life is calculated.

Making a Cladogram

 Cladograms
This is a great video to use in class to show how to build a Cladogram.  It pairs a cute succinct description and with cartoon images. Cladograms are a useful tool for the comparison of animals that are alike and different.  The explanations are slow and succinct and hopefully will demonstrate how these charts are made.

Mitosis

Mitosis

A good hands on lab where students get to see mitosis in progress is looking a layers of an onion.  Most labs have you draw out the stages of the cell in class and answer questions about cell division.  This would be a great reference before a test, so students can compare their drawings and notes of the onion cells to actual pictures.