Getting ready for the start of the school year is a great time to review what scientific literacy is as you start your planning. Remember – parents were not educated in the same manner that students are today. Educating parents on science literacy and your goals for their children go a long way in preventing misunderstandings as the year goes on.
Every year at curriculum night I explained to parents that their child would not be bringing home a series of questions related to a reading in the textbook – “Giving reading assignments with questions is pointless. The students don’t read the assignment. They simply read the questions and skim the reading until they find similar words and copy the sentence – no learning involved”.
Every year the parents then sheepishly looked at each other and laughed as I pointed out that they had probably done the same thing. Unfortunately when we were in school that is exactly what scientific literacy meant – reading science textbooks and answering questions. If you could write out the answer so it matched what was in the textbook – you got the A! Fortunately, as science educators, our understanding of scientific literacy has evolved.
Scientific literacy is so much more! Let parents know they can expect their children to be asking questions, exploring through discovery, explaining phenomena and reading for understanding. The diagram is a useful tool for helping parents understand the shift from memorizing information to learning science for scientific literacy. Good luck with your planning and have a great year!