Literacy Practices

Students will explore careers in STEM by analyzing and comparing a profile of an SN 10 scientist with that of a scientist highlighted in the Science News for Students “Cool Jobs” collection. Students will think about how the profiles cover the scientists’ personal histories, research and other factors that led the scientists to successful careers in STEM. Then students will reflect on their own STEM goals and possible journey.

This activity asks students to practice two literacy skills: note-taking and summarizing. Note-taking helps students identify and remember important information, enhancing comprehension as they read. Creating a visual summary encourages students to consolidate and communicate key information.

Students will discuss what makes a good summary and practice their summarizing skills. After summarizing an article of their choice, students will share their summaries and get feedback from classmates. This exercise is based on Science News’ Top 10 stories of the year but can be used with any article.

These discussion prompts encourage students to discuss and compare the work and background of two SN 10 scientists to explore the varied paths to becoming a successful researcher.

These discussion prompts ask students to evaluate a scientific argument using the claim, evidence, reasoning model.

Students will answer questions based on the Science News article “Climate change may raise the risk of deadly fungal infections in humans. One species is already a threat.”

These questions, based on the Science News article “Radioactive cloud traced to Russia,” ask students to identify a series of events and list and evaluate evidence.

This guide reviews ways to critically evaluate the trustworthiness of a news source.

Students will develop their critical thinking skills by evaluating and rating the trustworthiness of an article and will practice presentation skills by sharing the information with the class.

After asking students where they get their news and how they share it, these discussion prompts explore characteristics of a story that can provide clues to its quality and credibility.

Students will answer questions based on the Science News article "Measles erases immune memory."

Students will explore similarities and differences in how scientific research is reported in a journalistic article versus a primary research paper.