The science lab is a fascinating place for students starting high school, and science books should build on this excitement to take students through their early high school years and prepare them for examinations later on.
Science is a lively subject, so the cover of the first book in my Checkpoint science series features a fabulously coloured parrot in flight to delight the eye and invite the student to take a look inside.
Each book in the series begins with an introduction to get students into the course for the year. At grade seven, when students have settled into their lab and finished looking around, they’re first introduced to the four major divisions of science, supported by pictures of scientists working in them. In the chatty style I’ve adopted for the books, I then ask students what kind of scientist they might like to be.
Turn the page again and we’re into looking at laboratory apparatus like they may already see around them. Then it’s on to the Bunsen burner and the students’ first practical activity – how to use it.
Soon we’re off into the first chapter considering the signs of life and finishing with a look at how they’ve been investigated on another planet. In a couple of chapters, students are introduced to another science icon – the microscope – and a series of practical activities using it which end with a look at their own skin cells.
By chapter 5, students begin the chemistry section of their grade 7 course by considering the three states of matter and wondering what a world would be like if there were only two or even one! The particle theory comes next, then in the following chapter, the focus turns to atoms and elements. I try to relate real-life observations to science activities, and an example of this is the link between a firework display and laboratory flame tests the students can try.
People often pride themselves on their knowledge of the scientific symbols for chemicals, and I begin this topic by explaining how the symbols developed from alchemy – the early form of chemistry when practitioners were sometimes considered to be wizards!
In the following chemistry chapters, we delve deeper into what matter is made of and what goes on in chemical reactions before finishing by considering acids and alkalis and making investigations to detect them.
The physics section begins by stating that physics is the scientific study of how matter and energy interact, then looks at how we use our senses to detect this interaction and have developed measurement systems to make accurate observations.
The chapter on energy begins by considering the different ways that people think about energy, then briefly explores its many forms before presenting chapters on sound and electricity where students are challenged to make a lemon battery.
The final section of the book is entitled Earth and Space and begins with the whole class building a planet, then examining the structure of the solar system, considering the recent discoveries of interstellar objects, and looking at how the movements of the Earth, Sun, and Moon affect our lives.
The last chapter in the book is called “A Closer Look at the Earth” and goes deep into the planet, surveys the activities on the surface such as the movement of tectonic plates and volcanoes, considers the changes in the atmosphere, and maps the path of the water cycle.
Every student book ends with an extensive glossary which supports my banner statement for everyone to become scientifically literate.
If you’d like to see more about how the student books are laid out, go to the video in the section on books and videos for secondary school.
Next time
How do you build the student’s science books into a course for school and preparation for exams? They are supported by a teacher’s guide, a workbook, and Boost online resources to help use your creativity in devising science lessons and further preparing the students with extra activities and tests.
If you’d like further information about this Checkpoint series, you can email me at peter@peterdriley.com
