Reading about Science

Reading about Science is a series of five books intended for students to read as supplementary to introductory science courses at the secondary level. The books were first published by Heinemann Educational Books in 1982, when it was generally accepted that science education began in the secondary school. The reading level is carefully controlled so that the material is available to students of a wide range of abilities. Although accessible to some primary students, the content is appropriate to secondary students but assumes no prior learning in the primary years. The books are well illustrated with line and colour drawings and colour photographs.

The chapters within each book are coded according to the amount of prior knowledge of the topics that is required and according to the reading level for which they are most suited. At the start of each book, students are shown how to read with understanding and how to use the index to all the books which is included in each one, so that they can dip into them as required.

Aims
The purpose of the series Reading About Science was to help students relate their science lessons to the world outside the classroom and to develop critical reading skills. The longer term goal was to encourage students to read about science for themselves.

Context
In the early 1980s there was a good deal of attention to reform of the secondary science curriculum and the development of new courses in the separate sciences. ‘General science’ and non-certificate courses were developed for the less able students and it is in the context of these courses that these books were produced. They were intended as a resource for reading exercises and homework activities. There are brief notes for the reader and for the teacher at the start of each book.

The five books cover the main content of the early secondary curriculum under these titles:
Book 1: Units, Living Things, and Energy
Book 2: Substances, Solutions, Cells, and Seeds
Book 3: Heat, Electricity, and Electromagnetism
Book 4: Gases, Acids, and the Earth
Book 5: Senses, Forces, and Transport in Living Things

• URL: http://stem.org.uk/cx38q