Media Literacy + Science = Exciting Learning

“Okay, class, time for Science and Literacy.”

*significant sigh roars through the class*

A lot of students do not enjoy science. For whatever reason, it doesn’t appeal to them or it seems hard so they don’t enjoy learning about it. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case for me, but I’m a nerd so that’s beside the point. I am very passionate about teaching science, and I want to ensure students are excited when I tell them it’s time for a science lesson. Thinking and reflecting on our discussions in class revolving around technology, I believe it’s essential to implement a ‘fun’ component into a subject students sometimes don’t fully enjoy. A lot of students respond well to videos, games, and websites and that is what I have chosen to explore how to engage students using media resources to learn science and literacy all in one. This blog post will explore how you can implement teaching media literacy as well as science in an appealing, technology-rich way to students. Teaching or attempting to teach two subjects in one can be tough, but with time and effort, it can be successful. Imagine how much content we could get through in a year if we implement more subjects into one.

This post will explore in-depth the connection between literacy and the Ontario Language Curriculum document. We will look at how the different science resources I have chosen can satisfy specific expectations in the media literacy section of the curriculum document. Media Literacy has four main sections: understanding media texts, understanding media forms, conventions, and techniques, creating media texts, and reflecting on media literacy skills and strategies. Each section outlines specific expectations teachers are to satisfy using various lessons and assignments. Next, you will see how we can use science resources to both teach science concepts but also satisfy expectations from the media literacy curriculum as well.

Pop, Pop, Pop... BrainPop!
My first resource is BrainPop! I have personal experience with this website and remember being shown videos in elementary and high school. This website has an endless amount of content for both students and teachers. Students can explore videos, games, vocabulary, mind maps, coding, readings, worksheets and so much more. Educators can use any aspect of this to teach their students. You could use a video or game from BrainPop as a Minds On activity, have students review vocabulary and readings to create a mind map or movie for the active learning, and then have students share their findings with the class as consolidation. An activity such as this could satisfy the following curriculum expectations from the Ontario Language Curriculum document: M1.1-1.3, and M3.2-3.4. These expectations require students to explore the purpose and audience of media texts, task them with making inferences and interpreting messages, and respond and evaluate media texts (M1.1-1.3). They also ask students to identify appropriate form, identify appropriate techniques and conventions they should use during their activity, and actually producing their choice of media text (M3.2-3.4). BrainPop has resources available for more than just science; math, social studies, English, art and music, health, and engineering and tech are also available. This resource could be provided to students as something embedded into a lesson or something given as an extra for those who may want more clarification. I appreciate how this website gives you so many different options to use and not just videos or games. BrainPop also provides sample lesson plans to teachers. Unfortunately, since most of BrainPop requires a subscription or payment, I could not fully explore the educator side. Below is a sample video provided by BrainPop about Media Literacy. A lot of BrainPop videos can be accessed through YouTube.

What's Climate? Find Out at Climate Kids

Next, is Climate Kids. This website is similar to BrainPop, but I found it seemed to be geared more towards grades 6-10. It has some more advanced topics and vocabulary present. It focuses solely on science and various aspects surrounding the climate. Climate Kids has videos, activities, games, and articles to explore. This website provides experiments, "how to's", and tasks teachers can try or students could complete themselves. This website allows for a lot of open-ended questions which could lead to a fun research project for students. If we look at the Grade 9 Academic English expectations students could evaluate Climate Kids and decide if they find the website effective, and if the media presented satisfies the purpose for them (M1.3). This expectation specifically asks students to evaluate how effective the information and ideas are communicated for their intended purpose. Students can be evaluating Climate Kids specifically, relating to if they believe they can thoroughly learn about the climate through this website. This assignment could be something used before students complete a unit on climate, to understand if this resource would be valuable during the unit. I believe it is a valuable skill for students to learn not only how to use websites to learn but also to be able to review if the websites are valuable. Students could then use this resource during their unit on climate to provide additional information throughout the unit. I have embedded a sample video from Climate Kids to view and understand.

Want to explore the world? Check Out National Geographic

My third resource is using National Geographic. National Geographic has a variety of options available such as magazines, books, websites, movies, and sites for kids. National Geographic allows for an endless amount of resources for students to explore in both a literacy sense and scientific sense. National Geographic provides a lot of different multimodal options that can cater to students' preferred ways of receiving and learning new information. You can tailor to those who prefer reading, those who prefer videos, or those who enjoy exploring websites. Educators could use this resource to satisfy more than just Media Literacy expectations, but also expectations from Reading, Writing, and Oral Communication. Educators could create an assignment where students examine 3-4 different resources from National Geographic and identify different characteristics, techniques, and conventions present in the various resources (M2.1-2.2). These expectations ask students to examine how elements of these different resources combine to create and reinforce meaning, as well as to identify conventions and how they help to relay the message to the intended audience (M2.1-2.2). You could then continue this project to relate it to science and have students explore their favorite resources and complete a respective assignment. Most of National Geographic’s resources can be accessed through their website and sometimes through elementary and secondary schools will have actual magazines or movies. This resource can be used in almost any grade level and could be tied in with other literacy strands such as reading, writing, and oral communication. National Geographic is also a good choice for a reputable, well-known resource to use in class that students may come across in other aspects of their life.

 

There are endless amounts of websites and apps that students and teachers can use to incorporate science into media literacy such as Crash Course or Khan Academy to name a couple. I personally used Crash Course a lot in university to reinforce topics and give me an alternate way of understanding the information besides my textbook or lecture. Incorporating these non-traditional methods into instruction can provide further engagement for students and more interest in particular subject areas. Following any of the assignments, teachers can give students an opportunity to reflect which further satisfies expectations M4.1-4.2 by allowing students to express what worked for them what didn't, and how did their other skills help them. Any of the brief assignments I discussed could inspire new passions for science or the various aspects of media. Using this approach; tying two subjects into one; can allow for greater student interest in both areas. I remember in elementary school highly disliking language/literacy. If there were sections presented to me in a similar way to what I have discussed, I know I would have enjoyed the subject much more. This dual subject method could be implemented in math, health, social studies, geography, history and more. Think of this as a way to use one subject to make another subject more engaging. Below I have embedded a video that shows how you can use gym class to practice math skills. This is what I am trying to get at. Using a more appealing task to conquer a less appealing task!