“How does this even relate to us?!” This is a question you get a lot in your middle school science classes, right? It’s not always easy to show students the answer. Some topics in your science class are hard to find hands-on labs for and sometimes an online video just doesn’t do it justice. This is one of the reasons I love using current events in the science classroom. They relate what you’re teaching in the classroom to the real world.
Why Should You Use Current Events?
By using current events in your classroom, you are relating topics from your curriculum to the real world. You are giving students the opportunity to learn about something going on right now in the world that ties into what they are learning in the classroom. This brings that topic to life in a brand new way. It shows its relevance in the world and answers that famous question you get in your middle school classroom which is “why is this important?”
Science is constantly evolving and changing with new discoveries and technological advancements. Students need to understand that and what better way to help them understand it than to actually see that it is occurring in real time? Promotion of scientific literacy will also give them a way to look up this information on their own so they can make informed decisions about their lives using articles that are from reputable sources.
Also, not only are you relating your science standards to the real-world, but you are also helping your students become better critical thinkers and improving their writing skills. The ELA teachers will thank you!
How Can You Infuse Them in Your Classroom?
There are a few ways you can infuse current events into your science classroom.
1. Find an article related to what you are teaching at the time. For example, if you are currently on a unit about galaxies, you may want to find an article about a new, recently-discovered galaxy that is light years away. Have all the students complete a science current events template like the one shown below to learn about it and describe how it relates to what they are learning.
2. Dedicate a section or wall of your classroom to this. I called mine “Science in the News.” I used a string and some clothes pins to add various articles I found online to, what looked like, a clothes line. Students can walk up to the wall, find an article that interests them and fill out the same current events template shown in the image above. I loved to find informative articles as well as some more silly ones that related to science but also would peak students interest. Students would grab the article, a template and start writing.
Where Can You Find Science Articles?
Whether you teach Earth Space, Life Science, Physical Science, Marine Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, STEM, Forensics or any other secondary science subject, there is a ton of news sources you can use to find articles to suit your needs.
If you have a NewsELA subscription, you can find articles there by searching the science category. I also loved using NewsELA because you can sort by lexile levels to adjust the level of difficulty with each reading.
Here are some other sites where you can find up-to-date, relevant and reputable science articles for students:
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