Tips for Using Contemporary's GED Science in the Classroom

The primary emphasis of the GED Science Test is on the ability to understand and use scientific information, not the basic knowledge of scientific facts. The cognitive aspect of the test does not reflect Bloom’s taxonomy as it does on the social studies and reading tests. Instead, in accordance with the National Science Education Standards, the cognitive aspect revolves around a test-taker’s ability to take fundamental concepts from scientific content areas and apply them to various interdisciplinary themes—themes that are relevant to all areas of science.

For this reason, the organization and objectives of Contemporary’s GED Science focus primarily on these interdisciplinary themes and content areas; however, you’ll find that important cognitive skills do appear throughout the book’s instructional content and practice exercises.

What's in Contemporary's GED Science?

The book begins with an introduction called "To the Student" that contains general information about the GED Test and instructions on how to use the book. You may use this introduction and the test tips it includes to ease students into your class. If you intend for students to study or even just read sections of lessons independently, you'll want to go over the section "How to Use This Book" with the class.

The Pretest on pages 1–21 is a full-length multiple-choice test in GED format. The Pretest can be self-administered and self-checked by the student. However, if at all possible try to discuss each student's answers with the student. Ask why the student answered the way he or she did. Use the Evaluation Chart at the end of the Pretest to create a lesson plan based on each student's needs.

The twelve instructional chapters in this book are divided into four parts:

Part One: Themes in Science

• Chapter 1: Concepts and Processes in Science
• Chapter 2: Comprehending and Applying Science
• Chapter 3: Analyzing and Evaluating Science
• Chapter 4: Science and Technology
• Chapter 5: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
• Chapter 6: History and Nature of Science

Part Two: Readings in Life Science

• Chapter 7: Plant and Animal Science
• Chapter 8: Human Biology

Part Three: Readings in Physical Science

• Chapter 9: Chemistry
• Chapter 10: Physics

Part Four: Readings in Earth and Space Science

• Chapter 11: Earth Science
• Chapter 12: Space Science

The chapters in Part One reflect the interdisciplinary themes that are tested on the GED Science Test. The chapters in Parts Two, Three, and Four reflect the core content areas as defined by the National Science Education Standards. Each chapter follows the same format—instruction in key skills followed by a variety of practice exercises. In addition, the book contains a number of features designed to make the task of test preparation easier and more effective:

• Writing Activities at the end of each part allow students to use critical thinking skills by applying scientific knowledge to real-life topics. (See page 156 at the end of Part I: Themes in Science for an example.) Topics relate to the major scientific themes and content areas and are written in GED essay format.
• A Science Almanac at the back of the book on pages 457–460 provides lists and tables of useful scientific information along with Web sites pertaining to the major content areas.

The Chapter Review at the end of each chapter may be used for reinforcement as each chapter is completed, as a warm-up for the Posttest, or as a review between the Posttest and the Practice Test. The Evaluation Chart at the end of each test will help you determine which content areas the student needs to review. The Posttest and Practice Test are similar in format and content to the actual GED Science Test.

Suggested Teaching/Learning Activities

Following are ideas for teaching particular concepts and processes in science:

• Give students sets of relevant data—weather statistics, animal population counts, level of pollutants, and so on—and have them make line graphs, bar graphs, and pie graphs from them.
• Give pairs of students science graphs. The students can make up their own questions, exchange them, and answer each other’s questions.
• Give pairs of students scientific diagrams. The students can make up their own questions, exchange them, and answer each other’s questions.
• Ask students to diagram something that each is familiar with—parts of a car engine, for example, or a blow-dryer.
• As a class or in small groups, discuss some of the scientific issues talked about in the instructional content and in the passages in the practice exercises. Emphasize that students should try to give facts to support their opinions.
• Ask students to bring in newspaper and magazine articles about scientific topics that interest them. Discuss as a class or in small groups. Help students distinguish between facts and hypotheses found in the articles.
• Recognizing cause-and-effect relationships is always a key skill in science. As students read instructional content and passages, have them make charts listing causes on one side and their effects on the other.
• Students may want to create their own scientific models or diagrams. They can work in pairs and try to create models of scientific principles or phenomena.
• Extensive knowledge of science terminology is not necessary on the GED Science Test, but for students who need practice with basic and essential terms, such as hypothesis and cell, you may want to create a crossword or word search puzzle. Clues should be definitions, and students must fill in or find each term being defined. (Be aware, though, that some students dislike such vocabulary exercises. For those students, a fill-in-the-blank context exercise would be more appropriate.)
• As students begin a lesson, ask them to tell or write what they already know about that particular topic. Also ask them to list any questions they would like answered. This activity is useful in a class situation because it helps you determine where to start in your class presentation. It’s useful for students reading independently, too, since it gives you a way to interact with them. In both cases, you can use the students’ responses to clear up any misconceptions that they may have. Once a lesson is finished, you may also want students to write summaries of what they have learned. You can answer any questions they still have or direct them to resources where they can research the answers themselves.
• Whenever a student answers a question orally or in writing, encourage paraphrasing rather than repeating words directly from the text. Ask, “Could you say that in your own words?”
• Whenever appropriate, ask students to explain why they answered a question in a particular way. This tactic is especially helpful with inference questions. Ask, “How do you know that?” so students will need to pinpoint the clues they used to infer the necessary information.
• Analyze some of the questions found in the GED Practice questions with the class, especially those that require step-by-step thinking.
• Assign the reproducible activity sheets in Contemporary's GED Instructor Resource Binder if students are having problems in these particular areas:



• interpreting diagrams
• analyzing tables and charts
• analyzing graphs
• applying information
• cause-and-effect relationships
• distinguishing facts from hypotheses and opinions
• assessing data
• drawing conclusions
• testing hypotheses