Literacy and Numeracy in Biology

How can scientific posters be used to exercise literacy and numeracy skills?

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Maths in Science

The science and math departments are closely related, and while there are certain curricular overlaps, the language and context are not always shared. As part of a collaboration between the two STEM departments, Boohan and Needham (2016) two free publications. The guidebook is an excellent method to brush up on teacher and student numeracy, and with that foundation in place, creative freedoms emerge. The final numbers in scientific reports frequently require multistep calculations and numeracy abilities. We cannot presume that all pupils are aware of the preceding procedures. Consider using the guidebook to create flow charts that scaffold the stages for developing visual data representations.

Furthermore, simulations like this one by John Darkow (n.d.) allow students to manipulate variables and generate graphs that depict the results automatically. Students can investigate more examples because they do not have to conduct the calculation themselves. Students can observe how changes in the value of variables are plotted on a graph in real time.

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Practicing Oracy

Although a scientific poster may initially capture people's attention, conversations are what keep people interested in projects. Thus, projects centred on scientific posters provide an opportunity to practise another aspect of literacy – oracy (Nature Education, 2014). Because poster presentations are so brief, presenters must focus on the most important aspects of their research. This necessitates frequent modifications, and peer dialogues are a fantastic way to receive feedback on the clarity of a message and opportunities for improvement (O’Brien et al., 1995). Students, like at a science conference, are communicating knowledge to individuals who are as scientifically literate as they are.

This table made by Grant et al. (2012) prompts students to compare their thoughts about designing an experiment and evaluating the success of their investigation with a partner.

Sentence starters placed in visible locations could further facilitate this discussion. They familiarise students with the language typical of science academia and guide thinking with cognitive verbs.

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Frayer Word Cards

The sciences contain a variety of specialist words that may differ in meaning compared to when they are used in everyday conversation. This is another challenge to learning biological language and thus accessing information in biological texts. Frayer word cards go beyond rote learning dictionary definitions. It challenges learners to critically evaluate the concept communicated by the word (Grant et al., 2012). This helps combat misunderstandings of what a word means which often leads to inaccurate usage. Template Lab (n.d.) collated adaptions of Frayer Word Cards that can be used in teaching practise.

40 Best Frayer Model Templates (Word & PDF) ᐅ TemplateLab

One of the best ways to expand your students' vocabulary is by using frayer model examples. Here are the frayer model templates that you can

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Introducing new terminology with Dual Coding

Consider the following animation which describes the process of photosynthesis. A transcription of the video will suffice to communicate all of the necessary information, but when combined with visuals, its meaning becomes more obvious. The photosynthesis process contains a lot of jargon that students are probably encountering for the first time. Presenting information in a variety of ways, both verbal and nonverbal, aids in storage in memory. This is the premise of Dual Coding Theory, which states that storing information associated with a concept in multiple formats maximises chances of retrieval. As in, reading the word ‘chloroplast’ will hopefully activate visual images of chloroplasts and vice versa (Paivio, 1990). When introducing a topic's essential terminology, non-verbal aids can be helpful. This is especially true since relying on prior knowledge of another specialised word makes learning new words more challenging (Buehl & Fitzgerald, 2017). Labelling diagrams connects visual stimuli with language. Conducting an experiment connects tactile stimuli with language.