Finding the Science Behind Science Fiction Through Paired Readings

Lesson plan From www.readwritethink.org

Written by Lisa Storm Fink and Published by the National Council of Teachers of English

Overview

Through this lesson plan the author says that the students will lean about science in science fiction (SF) while exploring the genre and by researching nonfiction resources. The students will look for facts that supports or disputes the science in the plot of the book.

From Theory to Practice

The author gives evidence from Erin Pierce’s article from Voices from the Middle that teachers should find the time to teach SF. Pierce states that “Fantasy and science fiction allow us to step beyond our own world to discover more about this world.” This particular lesson focuses on the connections between SF and science fact by having students do research into current science and society.

The lesson basically consists of giving the students SF novels to read and analyze. Analysis includes looking for science and comparing it with nonfiction resources to determine whether it is fact or fiction. Students are asked to write down questions they ask while reading so they can do research and answer them later. Students are also asked to analyze STEM terms presented in the novel and to make sense of why these terms were used. The majority of the rest of the lesson is made up of class discussion and writing a paper.

Some of the discussion questions are listed below.

Does looking at the balance between fictional and factual information help them gain an understanding of the present and the future?

Did they learn something about science concepts by reading the novel?

Is the text fiction because of inaccuracies or is it SF because of the principles woven in the plot?

Did the author do his or her homework in the portrayal of science?

If the text were read in the future what aspects would read as contemporary realistic fiction?

What differences does the science in a SF novel make?

How believable do the situations and science in a science fiction novel need to be?

Why is the human element important in SF?

And how do science fiction novels comment on the contemporary world?