One of our priorities at Phosphor is making it easy for teachers to improve science literacy in the classroom. It’s not just important for passing exams and getting into universities – it’s an important part of everyday life. It can be argued that scientific advancements are the backbone of society – most historic era’s are defined by the scientific breakthroughs of the time (e.g: Bronze Age, Industrial Revolution, Age of Enlightenment, etc).
Scientific literacy is having an understanding of what science is and how to use scientific information in daily decision making – with more context comes more understanding! It is also a powerful tool in increasing scientific knowledge. One key difference between us and our ancestors is that the internet allows us access to all the information we could ever want, regardless of our geographic location, social class or level of education. A major function of scientific literacy now is figuring out how to interpret that wealth of information and transform it into knowledge.
Having worked as a science teacher for 16 years before starting Phosphor, I know how hard it is to find great resources to help incorporate science literacy in the classroom (without needing to invest a huge amount of time and energy – which I was already short on!). That’s why I started the Phosphor Resource Subscription service – it’s a brilliant way of presenting scientific news and concepts to pupils in a way they will understand. The articles are followed by worksheets that will test their understanding, and further their learning by encouraging them to do their own investigation into the subjects discussed.
I know many of you will have already downloaded our free resources – but we have added a couple of new ones so do check them out!