Science News & Discoveries

Science News & Discoveries is an app-based magazine that highlights topics in a variety of science-related fields. The specific topics include the environment, space, NASA, earth, the living world, health, biology, physics, and living green. After first launching the app, users can tap the blue “Down Carrot” button on the top of the screen to personalize topics of interest using the thumbs up or down icon. This data helps the app the sort topics that are most appealing to users. Users are then presented with articles, and they can scroll through them by swiping sideways. When users find an article of interest, they can tap its headline to access its full text. On this screen, the app gives users the option to view the article in their web browser, play the video, save the article, or share it over social media and email. To access saved articles and sort articles by topic, users can again tap the blue “Down Carrot” button. Additionally, users can sort articles by data by tapping Latest, Day, and Week on the top right of the screen.

Instructional Ideas

1. As a bellringer activity, teachers can let students choose an article from this app, read and/or view it, and summarize it. Teachers can then have students post their summaries to a class website or share them orally with the class.
2. As a springboard to a research project, students can browse this app for ideas to research and then use an Office app to explain their interest in the topic and possible research ideas.
3. When reading about a topic in this app, teachers can have students conduct an online search to identify additional facts that verify or falsify the article’s claim(s).
4. Teachers could have a class debate or discussion using this app. To do so, teachers can have students choose what they think are the three most important articles published to this app in the last 24 day or week. Next, students can write a rationale that explains why they think these articles are so important. Lastly, teachers can conclude the activity by having students debate/discuss the articles they selected and their rationales for selecting them.

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