Page 41 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: Science, 2008 (revised)

LITERACy, MATHEMATICAL LITERACy, AND INVESTIGATION
(INQUIRy/RESEARCH) SKILLS
Literacy, mathematical literacy, and investigation skills are critical to students’ success in all subjects of the curriculum and in all areas of their lives. Many of the activities and tasks that students undertake in the science curriculum involve the literacy skills related to oral, written, and visual communication. Communication skills are fundamental to the develop- ment of scientific literacy, and fostering students’ communication skills is an important part of the teacher’s role in the science curriculum.
When reading in science, students use a different set of skills than they do when reading fiction or general non-fiction. They need to understand vocabulary and terminology that are unique to science, and must be able to interpret symbols, charts, diagrams, and graphs. In addition, as they progress through secondary school, it becomes critically important for them to have the ability to make sense of the organization of science textbooks, scientific journals, and research papers. To help students construct meaning from scientific texts, it is essential that teachers of science model and teach the strategies that support learning to read while students are reading to learn in science.
Writing in science employs special forms and therefore also requires specific and focused learning opportunities. Students use writing skills to describe and explain their observations, to support the process of critically analysing information in both informal and formal contexts, and to present their findings in written, graphic, and multimedia forms.
Scientists ... take meticulous notes to form hypotheses, document observations, conduct experiments, and solve problems. Writing for them is much more than data collection; it is exploring, revising, and thinking on paper. Writing helps them learn facts, work out what the facts mean, and use facts to make new discoveries and refine old theories.
Laura Robb, Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science and Math (2003), p. 59
Oral communication skills are fundamental to the development of scientific literacy and are essential for thinking and learning. Through purposeful talk, students not only learn to communicate information but also explore and come to understand ideas and concepts; identify and solve problems; organize their experience and knowledge; and express and clarify their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.
To develop their oral communication skills, students need numerous opportunities to listen to information and talk about a range of subjects in science. The science program provides opportunities for students to engage in various oral activities in connection with expectations in all the strands, such as brainstorming to identify what they know about the new topic they are studying, discussing strategies for solving a problem, pre- senting and defending ideas or debating issues, and offering critiques of models and results produced by their peers.
Students’ understanding is revealed through both oral and written communication. It is not always necessary for science learning to involve a written communication component. Whether students are talking or writing about their scientific learning, teachers can ask questions that prompt students to explain their thinking and reasoning behind a particu- lar solution, design, or strategy, or to reflect on what they have done.
SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAM PLANNING
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