Too often when we consider how to connect science and literacy, we think about using literature to support science. Maybe it’s reading a fictional book with a science theme, or exploring a biography of a famous scientist.
But we could instead turn that around and use science experiments as a way of bringing literature to life. Or we could use literature as a way to explore some of the questions about design and ethics that arise in the work of science.
As educators in Chicago, we saw that regardless of the setting, many students were not interested in science. They saw it as facts and rote memorization. In both our classwork and our outside workshops, we needed to create more meaningful connections to the sciences, and incorporating literature allowed students to engage in a different way.