Science Strategies (Reading Science Text Cards)

Science Strategies 

6. Reading Science Text Cards

-Text cards help students interact with words and their meanings. Teachers can create science text cards by writing statements about science concepts on index cards. Working individually or in small groups, students discuss the statements before sorting.

Ways it can be used in the classroom:

• True/false cards. These cards include statements drawn from the text. Students sort the cards into true and false piles. For example, when teaching a unit on plants, use statements such as: “Plants use light from the sun in the process of photosynthesis” (true), and “Plants must depend on animals for food” (false).
• Agree/disagree cards. This format works well for more value-laden or controversial topics. One statement (including appropriate vocabulary) is written on each card. Students sort the cards into three categories: “agree,” “disagree,” or “not sure.”
• Matching pairs. Students are given a stack of cards and asked to match a term with its associated function, symbol, scientific name, etc. For example, a stack might include cards with the names of body parts and other cards that name the body parts’ functions. Students match each part to its appropriate function. Other topics for matching pairs could include:
  • parts of a device and its function (e.g. simple machines)
  • types of teeth and their functions for classification of animals
  • common name and scientific name
  • material and its common use
  • technical term, meaning, image
  • chemical name and symbol
• Sequencing. For cyclical concepts like the water cycle or the seasons, create one card for each stage in the cycle. Have students arrange the cards in a circular formation to represent the stages of the cycle. Examples include:
  • egg, larva, pupa, adult
  • spring, summer, fall, winter
  • evaporation, condensation, precipitation, accumulation
• Classification. Make a set of index cards naming vertebrates, for example, and another set with characteristics of each group — one characteristic per cards