Editor’s Note
NSTA Press publishes high-quality resources for science educators. This series features just a few of the books recently released. The following excerpt is from Activities Linking Science With Math 5–8, by John Eichinger, edited for publication here. To download the full text of this chapter, go to www.nsta.org/pdfs/Activities5to8Ch3.pdf. NSTA Press publications are available online through the NSTA Science Store at www.nsta.org/store.
Overview
The national standards in science and mathematics call for these subjects to be taught from personal and social perspectives, thus strengthening students’ decision-making skills. Preeminent science educator Paul DeHart Hurd called for “a curriculum that relates science to human affairs, the quality of life, and social progress” (1994, p. 109). In this activity, students will examine news articles not only from the perspective of science, math, and technology, but also based on the implications of the news story for its impact on real people—that is, based on human rights and social justice. Interdisciplinary connections are embedded in an engaging, accessible, and human context, as students read, analyze, and openly discuss a teacher-selected news article. By facilitating honest dialogue, the teacher helps students confidently face controversial topics and develop crucial critical-thinking skills.
Processes/Skills
- Describing
- Analyzing
- Concluding
- Inferring
- Inquiring
- Communicating
Recommended for Grades 5–8: Individual, Small-Group, or Whole-Class Instruction
Time Required: 1–2 Hours
Materials Required for Main Activity
- Enough photocopies of a news article for the entire class (consider newspaper, magazine, and internet sources)
Connecting to the Standards
National Science Education Standards
Grades 5–8 Content Standards
Standard A: Science as Inquiry
- Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (especially using appropriate tools to gather data, thinking critically, and considering alternative explanations)
Standard E: Science and Technology
- Understandings about science and technology (especially that perfectly designed technological solutions do not exist)
Standard G: History and Nature of Science
- Nature of science (especially that thorough evaluation and interpretation of investigations is a crucial part of scientific inquiry)
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Standards for Grades 3–8
- Communication (especially analyzing and evaluating the mathematical thinking of others)
- Connections (especially recognizing the connections among mathematical ideas and to investigations outside mathematics)
Safety Considerations
Basic classroom safety practices apply. If students use online sources, be certain to monitor student web use to avoid contact with inappropriate sites and information.
Activity Objectives
In this activity, students read and analyze a current event not only for its content in science, math, and technology, but also for its human impact, including human rights and social justice implications.
Main Activity, Step-By-Step Procedures
Step 1
Begin by choosing a current event article from a newspaper or news magazine. The article should be directly relevant to some aspect of science, math, or technology. Because real-world issues seldom fall conveniently under a single subject heading, your article is likely to have indirect connections to other fields. Your choice of current events could raise issues and questions related to history, sociology, psychology, or politics. Be sure to exercise sensitivity to school district policies and community perspectives when choosing a news item. As you choose articles, you might also consider the human rights issues associated with the news event. Such issues are not beyond the scope of the elementary or middle school classroom and are in fact, highly motivating for students due to the relevance of the topics and the opportunities for authentic dialogue. Take into account the human rights issues associated with news stories regarding global climate change, immunization, cloning, colonization of other planets, organ transplants, environmental hazards, health care, or waste management.
Step 2
Photocopy the article for all class members and read it together, clarifying new concepts and terms as necessary. Have students break into small groups for analysis of the article, with each student recording responses. Facilitate the analysis by moving around the room from group to group, listening, asking, and assessing.
Step 3
Resume whole-class instruction by discussing the groups’ results and reactions to the article. Throughout the analysis and discussion, prompt students to notice and express their personal responses to the article. Encourage an awareness and use of authentic student voice, keeping in mind this activity is designed to illuminate student perspectives via intellectual exploration, not simply to generate standardized, right/wrong responses. Personalize the discussion, especially at the elementary level; for example, ask “How might a young person like you react to these conditions?” Ask students to consider the article’s impact on various demographic groups.
A basic approach to this analysis and discussion is as follows:
A. Clarify the problem. What is going on? Broaden students’ understanding of the situation.
B. Define the basic pro and con reactions to the article, concentrating on science, math, and technology connections.
C. Consider the human rights implications: violations, infringements, advancements. Who is affected by the situation, and how are they affected?
D. Through open dialogue, determine workable solutions to the problem. Determine areas of impasse.
E. What must be done to implement the solution(s)?
F. What additional information is needed to help solve the problem?
The teacher has a number of responsibilities in this activity: to help students understand every problem may not have a simple answer, to learn to accept an element of uncertainty, to seek fairness in presenting and discussing the topic, to avoid proselytizing and the tendency to oversimplify complex topics, and ultimately, to induce authentic, critical thought.
Discussion Questions
Ask students the following:
- Do all situations in real life have simple solutions? Explain your answer.
- When faced with a complex problem, is it a good idea to consider more than one perspective before making any decisions? Explain your answer.
- What sorts of careers might involve solving complex problems?
Assessment
- Were students able to summarize the chosen article?
- Could students explain the importance of the article in terms of its science, technology, and math content?
- Were students able to discuss the human rights aspects of the current event?
- Did students, through open dialogue, arrive at solutions to the problem, or could they explain why a solution is not yet feasible?
Other Options and Extensions
Students, either individually or in groups, might wish to expand their knowledge about the news topic. Encourage them to present their research to the class in the form of a debate, play, poem, video, or art project.
- Have students write letters related to the news report. They should address the letters to parties in or related to the current event article and actually send them. Be judicious about sharing your own perspective so that your students will more readily develop and record their own views. This exercise is especially empowering when the news issue is local and students can see the results of their correspondence.
- Have students explore news sources for relevant articles of their own choosing. Let them present and discuss those articles in groups or in a classwide forum.
Resources
Hurd, P. D. 1994. New minds for a new age: Prologue to modernizing the science curriculum. Science Education 78 (1): 103–116.
Jennings, T. E., and J. Eichinger. 1999. Science education and human rights: Explorations into critical social consciousness and postmodern science instruction. International Journal of Educational Reform 8 (1): 37–44.
LeBeau, S. 1997. Newspaper mathematics. Teaching Children Mathematics 3 (5): 240–241.
McLaren, P. 1995. Critical pedagogy and predatory culture: Oppositional politics in a postmodern era. New York: Routledge.
O’Connell, S. R. 1995. Newspapers: Connecting the mathematics classroom to the world. Teaching Children Mathematics 1 (5): 268–274.
Silbey, R. 1999. What is in the daily news? Teaching Children Mathematics 5 (7): 390–394.