Science in the News

Central Question: What current stories about science capture your attention?

Length of this investigation: 1 class period (Could also be assigned for HW)

Purpose: This activity is designed to get you thinking about the following question: What is science? I want students to see that science is all around them.

At this point in Western Civ, students will be investigating the origins of science (Here is an NPR story discussing the origins of the term scientist).

 Setup: Ask class- When you think of the word science, what do you think of? When and why do you think science began? How do you define science?

Procedure

1.  Find and read a story in the news that interests you. The story should discuss science/a scientific investigation.

2.  Post a link of the story to our Edmodo page (or Twitter feed) + a brief description of why your classmates should read this story.

3.  Be prepared in class to summarize the story you read and to discuss what interests you about this story?

Extension: It might be useful for students to investigate the antecedents to the stories/topics they selected. This will help students to see the incremental and collaborative nature of science.