How to Teach Science through the Lives of Scientists

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When we think of science instruction, we often think of textbooks and curriculum with labs and lots of formal quizzes and activities. Given my professional background (biology teacher with a masters degree in curriculum and instruction), I am quite familiar with the conventional paradigm of science education. I’ve learned that all my structured training for classroom science, doesn’t translate well to our homeschool. We love to study science as investigation. Over the years I’ve shared activities from our brand of science instruction, but I often hesitate to blog about our science because I don’t want to intimidate people. Science is a lot of fun and I’ve recently renewed my goal to share with you how we approach science (hopefully) in a way that will make it very accessible to other families regardless of your science background. How to Teach Science through the Lives of Scientists is how our fourth grader (and youngest student) loves to learn science best.

Benefits of Teaching Science with Biographies

We are a long time unit study family and have always followed interests and learned about interesting people along the way. However, since fourth grade, Joshua, has always been extra interested in the people behind the science. I always hoped to revisit unit studies I’d done with his older siblings, but he tagged along and he remembers details! He’s a kid who once he plays something out, isn’t willing to revisit it again. Last year it occurred to me that we could learn science by learning about scientists. This has worked well for him from the age of 9 to present day at just about 18 and every time I stray to use something more formal, we end up back using biographies and learning science.

Here are a few reasons studying science through scientists is a good fit:

• Observe the common character traits and behavior of scientists– which allows you to see their habits, professional practices, etc. Plus, people who make extraordinary discoveries are extraordinary people and that is a win for gifted kids.
• Explore a wide variety of science concepts– lets you break out of doing things in order or chronologically and gives you the chance to move from discipline to discipline within science. You don’t have to study just one area of science each year.
• Follow an interest– if you read about a scientist who was inspired by Newton, you can find out who Newton is and what he was about.
• Customize the curriculum– your student is unique and offering him a way to study that capitalizes on his strengths while building weaknesses is a smart way to educate. Joshua is an engineer and loves to explore science in his own way. He wants to figure things out and invent and he adores learning about others who have done the same. This is a brilliant way for him to keep his edge!
• Meet lots of scientists– it’s exciting to meet new people and learn about their contribution to the world and to the current world of scientists. You get to read a lot of biographical information and that’s just plain fun!

Let him on the contrary, linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period, until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period. Though he is reading and thinking of the lifetime of a single man, he is really getting intimately acquainted with the history of a whole nation for a whole age. – Charlotte Mason

Biographies of Scientists

The foundation of this approach is the biographies of famous men and women in the field of science. It’s important to find the right biographies to get the most out of the potential of this method.

Look for:

• Age appropriate selections– Pay attention to who the audience is for a book. If you find an adult biography, chances are there will be content you don’t want your child to read.
• Reader friendly– Keep in mind the age and skill of your reader when choosing a book. Is it visually pleasing? Is there enough margin? All of these go into whether a book is appealing or not- especially for emerging readers.
• Do a little of your own research– Even a glance at a Wikipedia page will tell you about any big skeletons in the scientist’s closet. Some men and women have notorious reputations. Those are the ones to make sure you get a youth biography for and skip the adult section of the library for those.

Even in the high school years, we’ve enjoyed lovely picture books about scientists. Don’t be afraid to choose children’s biographies in addition to the ones written for adults. They are often beautiful as well as insightful.

Exploring the Science of Famous Scientists

While your student reads about a scientist, he can begin exploring. Some books are really fantastic at giving activities along with the biographical information. Our kids always love to try things out and our youngest, loves all things science and wants to investigate and try on his own.

Here are some of the ways we do do this:

• Try out experiments as they are mentioned in the book
• Explore the equipment a scientist might use- things like microscopes, sextant, etc
• Build models of things things shown in a book or of their inventions
• Keep a lab note book– Joshua who began keeping one at 9, has had one for years. As a teen, his notebooks are digital.

Resources for Teaching Science through the Lives of Scientists

There are many materials out there for studying about the lives of scientists. You can find biographies along with curriculum which focuses on the people behind the science. Below, I’ve listed what we have used although most times I come back to just the biographies and the science.

• Childhood of Famous Americans Book Series– This is a lovely series of books about the growing up years of many famous Americans, including scientists.
• Heroes of History– Another series for kids, but these tell about the person’s entire life. Heroes of History is the sister series to Christian Heroes Then and Now and make a lovely young person’s biography.
• Other Biographies– There is no shortage of books about scientists. Anyone who has made a significant contribution to the field will have something written about him. It may be more difficult to find a biography which is age appropriate, but there are many children’s and young adult titles.
• Beyond Five in a Row– Is a literature unit study program for ages 8-12 using chapter books and many of the books are about scientists such as George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, and Neil Armstrong. We have used BYFIAR for years and you might enjoy visiting our Beyond page.
• History of Science from Beautiful Feet– This is more a survey of history through the lens of science, but the guide introduces you to many scientists along the way.
• WinterPromise– Their themed programs provide many resources and lessons on people which include many scientists.

More about Studying Science through the Lives of Scientists

Art & Nature Study with Beatrix Potter

Teaching Science & History Books

How to Capture Snowflakes

You can adapt this to any grade level and require different skill sets of work for the same biography. It is possible to create a high school program around scientific biographies for high school level science courses. In fact, this sort of thing is my specialty.

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