How Making Cross-Content Connections Engages Students in Science Learning

Many educators find it difficult to fit science instruction into their daily schedules. Yet research shows that making time for science, especially in the early grades, provides students with opportunities to build a strong foundation for future science learning.

PhD Science® is designed with educators’ busy schedules in mind. 20–45 minute K–2 lessons and 30–60 minute 3–5 lessons are intended to occur three to five times per week. Pacing guides, which support teachers with pacing challenges, can be found in the Teacher Resource Pack along with other educator resources.

But aside from pacing support offered by the curriculum, what are some other ways to fit science instruction into your busy day? 

Make Cross-CONTENT Connections in Science

Making cross-content connections is another way to maximize instructional time. Try thinking of your science block as an integration of literacy, math, history, geography, and visual art. 

PhD Science was carefully designed to help students build cross-disciplinary knowledge. As a result, students not only develop a foundational understanding of science, but they also make meaningful connections across scientific concepts as well as connections to other subject areas. Through learning about science concepts, students are able to continue developing math and language arts skills in new, engaging contexts.

Before we see this connection-making component in action, let’s dive in to why these cross-content connections are an important part of science instruction.

Engage Students in What They Are Learning

Through engaging in science lessons, students develop and practice skills that not only benefit them in science class but in other content areas as well. For instance, the Science and Engineering Practices are one of the many ways students are exposed to a variety of skills. Students work on their speaking and listening skills as they ask questions and define problems; engage in argument from evidence; and obtain, evaluate, and communicate information. They also use writing, art, and mathematics as they thoughtfully develop and use models, analyze and interpret data, and use mathematics and computational thinking. 

Incorporating mathematics, visual art, and history into science instruction also helps students understand each module’s rich, authentic phenomena. Instead of studying imaginary locations and situations, PhD Science students explore real-life events happening in our everyday world. This enhances student engagement and provides opportunities to look deeper into historical contexts, data points, visual depictions of the phenomena, and more.

Students also get exposure to mathematics, engineering, art, speaking, and listening through PhD Science’s hands-on component. Students draw models and work together to create anchor visuals. They take part in Science or Engineering Challenges, which require students to carry out or design investigations as well as communicate and listen to one another as they discuss theories and ideas. 

Now let’s see some examples of how PhD Science incorporates cross-content connections into science instruction.

Core Texts

PhD Science purposefully incorporates award-winning trade texts into instruction to reinforce students’ literacy skills and provide an additional entry point for students when learning about phenomena. Authentic texts play an important role in the coherent design of the curriculum, allowing students to make meaningful connections across scientific concepts, modules and grade levels, and content areas. 

Fine Art

Fine art, which is also incorporated into every module, is another opportunity for students to access science content and phenomena. Each PhD Science module cover features a work of fine art that relates to the module’s phenomenon. Incorporating art into instruction opens scientific concepts up to students, sparking their curiosity and getting them excited to learn more. Art often encourages students to notice and wonder just as science invites students to observe, ask questions, and investigate the world around them. 

Art also plays a key role in STEAM. Learn more about why PhD Science was awarded the “Educators Pick Best of STEM^TM 2021” STEAM Excellence Award.

Cross-Content Connections in the Teach Book

Looking for places to make those all-important cross-content connections? The Teach book is a wonderful resource. It features Content Area Connection teacher notes that identify places for skill building throughout the lesson.

For instance, in Level 3 Module 1, students study the 1900 Galveston, Texas hurricane. Throughout this module, students draw conclusions about describing, predicting, and planning for weather based on weather patterns.

One teacher note highlights a mathematics connection that encourages students to describe data when analyzing graphs. In this lesson, students describe weather conditions, note patterns, and track maximum temperatures throughout the month. Student graphs are posted in the classroom, and students are invited to share their observations.  

In a later lesson, students prepare for a Socratic Seminar. The teacher note in this lesson provides an opportunity for an English connection. Students practice speaking and listening skills as they share what they have learned throughout the module, defend their thinking, and work together to answer the essential question.

How Will You Use Cross-CONTENT Connections in Your Classroom?

We hope you’ve picked up on some tips for weaving other content areas into science instruction or vice versa. Through cross-content connections, students build knowledge and come to realize that science is involved in almost everything we do.