Literacy is a hot topic right now and teachers are frustrated trying to get their students to engage in the basics of reading. Why is this?
I’m putting a lot of it down to social media. Their (and ours, let’s admit it) attention spans have decreased. In 2004 the average attention span on any screen was about two and a half minutes. Today, it’s 47 seconds. Interestingly, there is also a correlation between the frequency of attention switching and stress. Stress goes up the faster the attention switches.
Children as young as two to four spend two and a half hours on their screens daily. Between five and eight, it averages three hours per day (screen time can be TV, Youtube or gaming). This reduces their ability to focus (American Psychological Society: Why our attention spans are shrinking).
One way to help improve focus is good old-fashioned reading. So far, so good; it’s what we suspected in any case.
This article is about science literacy specifically. And how we can integrate science into literacy and vice versa. So, what exactly do we mean when we talk about science literacy? And can we incorporate any of the techniques in this article into general literacy (spoiler: yes we can; sounds presidential, doesn’t it!).
What is Science Literacy?
Science literacy is the ability to understand and apply scientific concepts and information. It involves being able to read, write, and communicate about science effectively. Science literacy is also about being able to think critically and solve problems using scientific methods. In today’s world, science literacy equips students to make informed decisions, whether about climate change, health, or even technology.
Why Scientific Literacy is Important
A lack of science literacy can leave people vulnerable to misinformation, especially in the digital age when news travels fast. Flat earthers, moon landing deniers…. The unfortunate list of ignorance is getting longer.
For middle school students, being science literate also builds confidence. When they understand the “why” behind scientific facts, they’re more likely to engage with the subject, participate in discussions, and take an active role in their learning. It also prepares them for higher-level science courses in high school and beyond.
What’s The Secret Sauce?
Let me ask you a question. Do you read things you’re not interested in for fun? Of course not, we usually only read things we’re interested in (for fun that is, work related stuff doesn’t count). Now, bear with me on this point because you might be thinking, “well Barry that’s all well and good and all, but if we left it to our students to pick what they wanted to read, we wouldn’t get our curriculum covered”. This raises an interesting point: why don’t we let them read what they want (I’ll come to that later). But that’s not my point. My point is that we adopt a softly softly approach. First, we get them reading. We get them reading something that is (a) engaging (b) scientific and (c) is going to get them hooked on reading. Dickens isn’t going to be our first stop. But it might just be a stop along the way later in life.
Science Reading Comprehension: The Foundation of Science Literacy
One of the best ways to build science literacy is through strong science reading comprehension. Science is full of complex concepts and vocabulary, and students often struggle to make sense of what they’re reading if they don’t have the tools to break down the material.
Take the Periodic Table. I mean, this is the bedrock of chemistry and basic science. When you appreciate it for what it is it’s a thing of beauty. It’s a cheatshet for chemistry. It’s essentially an open book for chemistry exams. But when students see it first it looks intimidating. Letters that don’t mean what they say (Na/sodium and Pb/lead) and sets of numbers make the whole thing look confusing. Imagine instead of jumping right into it, you tell them a story (or better yet, get them to read the story) of how Mendeleev walked 1000 miles to Moscow with his mother to go to university only to be turned away. He then travelled on to St Petersburg where he was finally admitted. It starts to paint a picture. And that’s before we get to the solitaire playing and dreaming or the Periodic Table arrangement.
Science reading comprehension involves skills like:
- Identifying the main ideas in a text
- Understanding cause-and-effect relationships in scientific processes
- Making connections between text and diagrams or graphs (the examiners favorite)
- Analyzing and summarizing scientific arguments
By improving these skills, students can become more confident in their ability to read and understand scientific content, leading to stronger overall literacy. We science teachers can encourage this by giving students practice with science reading passages that present real-world scenarios, cutting-edge research, and articles that middle schoolers love. Do you think your students would like to read about a fungus (the same one from the Last of Us) that uses mind control on the unfortunate carpenter ant and zombifies it? Or how about octopuses that have blue blood, four hearts and a distributed mind? Maybe they’d prefer animals made from glass that keep shrimp prisoners in a really bizarre Romeo and Juliet type of arrangement?
How Science Reading Comprehension Worksheets Can Help
Reading comprehension worksheets allow students to read, process, and apply scientific concepts through targeted activities.
By engaging students with science reading comprehension worksheets, you can:
- Provide structure: worksheets guide students to focus on the most important aspects of a passage.
- Reinforce key concepts that you’re doing in class: students can practice reading and understanding scientific terms in context.
- Build confidence: when students complete a worksheet successfully, it reinforces their ability to comprehend more complex scientific materials.
It’s making sure that it’s interesting is the key. Get them wanting to read the article, not just another boring worksheet.
Using Science Reading Passages to Build Knowledge
When you choose science reading passages, look for content that:
- Relates to the current unit of study
- Introduces new vocabulary in context
- Presents questions that require critical thinking, not just fact recall
Engaging students with reading passages encourages them to become more active learners. They aren’t just absorbing information passively—they’re analyzing, interpreting, and forming opinions based on evidence. This is the essence of science literacy. Most importantly of all in my humble opinion, it gets them loving science. Science is full of wonder, curiosity and magic. Setting that literacy seed and nurturing it with stuff they actually want to read is critical.
Earlier, I asked why we don’t let them read what they want. In my school, we did precisely this. It was called DEAR – drop everything and read. Students were told the day before to bring in (appropriate) reading material of their choice and the next day it was announced at a random time over the intercom that it was DEAR time. The students literally stopped whatever they were engaged in and took out their reading material for 20 minutes. It was a great initiative and it was interesting to see their reading material as well.
Using Comics Strips to Integrate Literacy
Comic strips are another easy way to integrate literacy and science. It also allows students to express their creativity. Imagine you’re teaching density (not the easiest of topics to teach). You could present the students with text for each panel. They can add the text and draw the illustration that should go with each panel. I differentiate these by providing a completed comic (which is also handy when a student is absent), a partially filled-in comic with graphics only, a partially filled-in comic with text only, and a blank comic. All options are covered. It’s also handy for note-taking.
