Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Reading For Meaning In Science
Course: Ged Test Prep
Subject: Science
Chapter: Chapter 1 Reading For Meaning In Science
Reading for Meaning
What does reading for Meaning in Science entail?
- Reading in science for meaning is a research-based strategy that supports students to develop skills for making sense of challenging scientific texts.
- It may also mean reading, making connections to prior knowledge, drawing inferences, and determining the relevance of scientific comprehension.
- Reading for meaning in science demands a student to be an active reader, listener, and thinker.
What do students need to read for meaning in science?
- Reading for meaning in science demands that students use critical thinking, analysis, and active engagement skills that are applied in undertaking hands-on scientific activities.
- They must also apply the 5Es (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) instructional model to understand scientific texts.
- Science uses scientific vocabularies that often act as a barrier to understanding scientific texts. Therefore, all students must be adequately prepared to read comprehensions and understand the meaning of the different words used in such texts.
Importance of reading for meaning in science
- Be critical readers capable of understanding complex texts
- Make claims and inferences
- Allows students to identify the main ideas in a text
- Gather and evaluate evidence
- Improve writing and note-taking skills
- Think flexibly, think about thinking, apply past knowledge to new situations, and communicate with clarity
- Develop powerful explanations and interpretations
- Conclude and make predictions.
Claims and Evidence in Science
Difference between claim and evidence
- Claims refer to belief statements that can be argued against other ideas.
- Scientists often caution one not to blindly accept these claims if they are not supported by evidence.
- Evidence refers to any relevant and appropriate scientific data that specifically supports a claim.
Characteristics of valid evidence
For evidence to be accepted as correct, students must ensure that such evidence is:
- Appropriate and related to the observed event/phenomenon
- Sufficient and stronger than the claim
- The evidence is observation-based
Relationship between theories and Science
Science is a research-based discipline that relies on evidence-based data to make conclusions and inferences. Students must understand how to connect claims to evidence by understanding the different scientific theories and hypotheses that assist one in making sense of natural phenomena. Theories such as the evolutionary theory, particle theory, and gravitational theory among other allows scientists to make valid predictions based on evidence regarding a natural phenomenon. Therefore, the role of students is to read science passages and identify the evidence, theory, or conclusion drawn from the theory. The process of testing claims and ideas for evidence is provided below;
From the above diagram, it is evident that;
- Science aims at testing ideas/claims, which are often developed through reasoning.
- Ideas/claims are tested through exploration and discovery, community analysis and feedback, and benefits and outcomes.
- Scientific work is correct only when ideas/claims are supported by evidence (observation) or incorrect when ideas/claims are contradicted with evidence as depicted in the diagram below;
How can students Construct arguments based on evidence?
Science students should construct and present arguments based on evidence to support or refute proposed claims. Reading for meaning in science demands that students advance and support their ideas/claims/ interpretations and advocate for what they propose as the best explanation for observed phenomena. Arguing and reasoning based on available evidence is one of the ways that students use to identify solutions for explaining all natural phenomena in the scientific world. To support claims, one should be an active listener who can effectively compare, refine, and evaluate proposed ideas or arguments based on reasoned judgment or evidence.