Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you doing?

I hope you're feeling really, really good.

My name is Ms. Avsal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling good about that because I'm really excited about our topic.

Today we are looking at how scientists communicate with the public.

I wonder if you've had some communication from a scientist.

We are gonna be exploring this subject in a lesson which is called How Scientists Communicate with the Public, and it comes from the unit of work, Living Things and the Environment.

So if you are ready to dive into this subject of scientists and their communication with the public, if you have some energy, some focus, some enthusiasm we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can describe different ways in which scientists communicate with the public using the media.

I hope that sounds really interesting to you.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them.

My turn, your turn.

Media, result, table, chart, communicate.

These are our keywords: media, result, table, chart, and communicate.

So what do these keywords mean?

Let's find out.

Media, the media gives the public news and information.

Different types of media include television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the internet.

Result, the result of a test or inquiry is what happened or what was found out.

Table, the table is a grid in which information can be recorded and stored.

Chart, a chart is a drawing that shows information.

And communicate, to communicate is to share or exchange information or ideas.

Pause here and share with someone, which of these words have you heard of before?

Thanks for sharing, and don't worry whether you've heard of these words or not, we are gonna be getting right into them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called How Scientists Communicate with the Public, and it has two learning cycles.

The first is how scientists communicate with the public, and the next is scientists in the media.

So if you're ready, let's begin by exploring how scientists communicate with the public.

Here's Izzy with a question.

"Did you hear that scientists have discovered a huge dinosaur skeleton on a local beach?

" And Sam, "Wow, that's so exciting," really is.

How can I find out more about this?

" There we can see a beach and oh my, can you imagine, there's a huge dinosaur skeleton there?

And do you know how can Sam find out more about this?

Pause here and share with someone nearby.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Sam could look at different types of media to find out more.

Do you know what media is?

Pause here and share with someone what is media?

Thanks for sharing.

Different types of media include television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the internet.

Pause here and share with someone, which of these types of media do you engage with on a regular basis?

Thanks for sharing.

I do quite like a bit of television and radio, newspapers and the internet, but I don't tend to read magazines quite so much.

Sam watches a TV news program and then reads an article from an online news website to find out more about the dinosaur.

So we can see there she was watching a television news program and finding out some more news about this fascinating story on an online news website.

Love that.

Love that headline, "Dazzling Dino Discovery.

" Here's Sam's sister, "I've seen more information about the dinosaur on social media.

" In the UK, you must be 13 years or older to have a social media account.

And that's why it's Sam's older sister and not Sam who's found out more via social media.

Let's have a check for understanding true or false.

Scientists are only able to communicate with the public through TV news programs.

Pause here and share with someone.

Do you think this statement is true or false?

Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this, scientists talk to the public via TV news programs, newspapers and social media.

Here's Aisha, "Some discoveries made by scientists that they want to show the public are really hard to understand.

" And Alex, "Scientists use different ways to help the public to understand the results of their investigations.

" Do you know any?

Pause here and share with someone.

How do scientists use different ways to help the public understand the results of their investigations?

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

And Alex is back, "Scientists use simple language, photos, tables, drawings, and charts to help the public to understand their results.

" Here we can see a photo, a table, some drawings, and a chart.

All of these can help the public to understand the scientist's results.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What do scientists use to help the public to understand their results?

Is it A, simple language, B, photos and drawings, C, tables and charts.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected all three.

Indeed, scientists use simple language, photos and drawings, and tables and charts to help the public understand their results.

Here's Lucas, "Why is it useful to know about the work that scientists do?

" Oh my goodness, look at this image of a scientist studying a glacier.

What do you think?

Why is it useful to know about the work that scientists do?

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Results of scientist tests can be used to help the public to lead healthier, safer lives.

Discoveries in medical research have led to new treatments, vaccines and cures for diseases.

Research on nutrition is used to create guidelines for a balanced diet, helping to prevent illnesses.

Oh my goodness, look at all that food.

.

Looks so healthy and inviting.

Studies about natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, help people to predict them better and get ready for them.

This means earlier warnings can be given and better plans can be made to keep everyone safe when these disasters happen.

And then we can see a hurricane blowing in, no doubt causing destruction.

If we know about these things sooner then everyone can be safe.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false?

The results of scientists studies and tests are not useful for the everyday lives of most people.

Pause here while you decide.

Is this statement true or false?

Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Results of scientists' studies and tests are used to help the public to lead healthier, safer lives.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to create a poster with information about how scientists communicate with the public.

Here's Izzy, "Can you remember the different types of media that scientists use to communicate with the public?

" And Alex, "Don't forget that scientists use simple language, photos, tables, drawings, and charts to help the public to understand their results.

" So pause here while you have a go at this task and have some fun as you create a poster with information about how scientists communicate with the public.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task of creating a poster with information about how scientists communicate with the public?

Let's take a look at this example.

Okay, so scientists use different ways to help us to understand their investigation results.

And we can see some of those different ways.

There's tables, charts, drawings and photos.

And I use simple language when explaining things.

So as another scientist.

And what else have we got here?

Scientists use different types of media.

Let's see some of the media: magazines, newspapers, television.

Oh, I like those images of the lions on the television, the internet and radio.

I'm gonna question here, what is it useful to know about the work that scientists do?

It can help us to lead healthier, safer lives.

Medical research, nutrition research, early weather warning systems.

What a comprehensive poster and really quite nice to look at.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now it's time for our next learning cycle, scientists in the media.

Here's Sam, "I used to see scientists on the television every day during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They explained why when we had to stay at home and have our school lessons online.

We weren't able to see our family, teachers or friends in person.

And here we can see a child being homeschooled.

Pause here and share with someone, why do you think this was that scientists were on television every day during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Here's Jacob, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists were often on the news giving the public information and advice on how to stay safe.

" And Sam, "I remember they told us we should stay at home and only meet friends outdoors to try to stop the spread of the virus.

" Scientists had to use simple language to explain tricky scientific information to the general public.

Here's Jacob, "Scientists used graphs and charts and drawings to show us how COVID-19 was spreading and how many people were unwell.

" We can see a graph there, perhaps it's showing the figures of how many people had contracted COVID-19.

And Sam, "They explained how the virus could be spread from person to person in the air.

" It was a very difficult time and it's good that we had the scientists to help us understand what was going on and how we could keep ourselves safe.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Who do you agree with?

Here's Laura, "Scientists appeared on TV every day to help the public to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

" And Jun, "Scientists appeared on TV every day to make the public feel worried during the COVID-19 pandemic.

" And Sophia, "Scientists appeared on TV every day to tell the public how clever they are during the COVID-19 pandemic.

" Pause here while you decide who you agree with, Laura, Jun or Sophia.

Well done if you selected Laura.

Indeed, scientists appeared on the TV every day to help the public to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andeep is in the school library.

He observes lots of science books.

They're all written by people who are experts in science.

I wonder why so many science experts and other people who communicate about science write books.

What do you think?

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Science experts and communicators write books to share their knowledge about science and help the public to understand the world around them.

How else could they do this?

Pause here and share with someone.

Do you have any other ideas for them?

Thanks for sharing.

Some science experts also present television programs to tell the public more about their work and what they have discovered.

Here's Jacob, "I watched Brian Cox on the TV talk about the mysteries of the universe.

He was really interesting.

" Oh my, me too, Jacob.

I've seen him talking about the mysteries of the universe and I've been absolutely fascinated.

And Sophia, "I watched a program with Liz Bonnin talking about the environment.

I learned about how to look after our planet.

So important.

So glad you watched this program.

And what about you?

Have you ever watched television programs where scientists explain tricky scientific ideas?

Pause here and share with someone if you have.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false?

Scientists communicate with the public.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false?

Well done if you selected true.

Indeed, scientists communicate with the public in many different ways.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to imagine you have written a science book.

Yes, you, you are a scientist, and now you are an author as well.

I would like you to write the blurb for the back cover of the book to explain what the book is about and how to entice people to read it.

Here's Andeep, "What will your book be called, and what will it be about?

How will you convince people that they want to read it?

" The blurb is so important on a book.

I rarely pick up a book to read without having checked out the blurb first of all.

So how are you going to entice your readers?

Pause here while you have a go at writing the blurb for the back cover of your science book, explaining what the book's about and enticing people to read it.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It is great to be back with you.

So how did you get on with that task?

Imagining you've written a science book, writing the blurb for the back cover of the book to explain what the book is about and to entice people to read it.

Let's have a read of this blurb.

Discover how our planet is transforming in amazing ways.

"Our World in Change" shows how small actions like planting trees and recycling can help animals find new homes and make our air cleaner.

Perfect for young explorers, this book teaches children how they can be earth heroes and make a big difference one step at a time.

Oh my goodness.

Consider me enticed.

This looks wonderful.

I would definitely pick up this book and read it.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now I'd like you to share your blurb with someone nearby and share with each other how enticed you are by what you've read.

Pause here while you do this.

Thanks for sharing your blurbs with each other.

In our lesson, How Scientists Communicate with the Public, we've covered the following: Scientists can communicate with the public through many different media.

Scientists use simple language, photos, tables, drawings, and charts to help the public understand their findings.

Results of scientists tests can be used to help the public lead healthier, safer lives.

Science experts and communicators help the public understand the world around them.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

It was so great to get right into the details of how scientists communicate with the public.

Looking at all the different forms of media that they use.

What are the different devices they use to help them to get their sometimes quite complicated messages across in a way that the everyday person can understand.

It was good to look at what the reasons are for scientists sharing their information with us so we can lead healthier, safer lives.

And I loved you having a go at writing your own blurbs to your books.

So now you are scientists, now you are authors, and hopefully you're also earth heroes as we heard about in that last blurb, out to save and protect this precious planet.

Well, I have really enjoyed teaching you, and I hope you've enjoyed this lesson too.

I look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Until then, stay curious.