Summer Reading for 6th Graders Entering 7th Grade Science
In the first few weeks of all seventh grade science courses, teachers will be
discussing the ideas contained in the article “How Scientists Decide What to
Study”. In order to start developing an understanding of this topic, students
entering seventh grade are required, as part of their summer reading, to read
this article.
Students will be asked to discuss their general understanding of the article in
the first few weeks of the school year.
How Scientists Decide What to Study
by Barry Bickmore
For thousands of years, people have understood that organisms inherit traits from their
parents and have bred animals (like dogs, horses, sheep, and cattle) for specific traits. If we want
dogs that are easy to train as hunting companions, or have black spots, long noses, or whatever
else, we breed dogs that have those traits, knowing their offspring will be more likely to turn out
similarly. After several generations of such breeding practices, we can generally produce animals
that have very consistent traits — that’s why there are so many very distinct kinds of dogs
around (Figure 2). It has always been clear, however, that patterns of inheritance are
complicated. We’ve all seen some children who look very much like one parent, while others
look like a mixture of the two. Still others might look like one of their grandparents or uncles and
aunts.
So how does heredity work? Today, most people are familiar with the ideas of genes and
DNA, and that we inherit genes from our parents that encode all kinds of traits like skin color
and some diseases. But imagine what it was like for 19th century scientists who didn’t know
anything about genes, or chromosomes, or DNA, to try and answer this question. It was just too
big to tackle all at once, so scientists began using their imaginations to break up the problem into
more specific questions. There are many smaller and more specific questions that one could ask
about how heredity works, such as:
o “How do traits (like hair color) sometimes skip generations?”
o “Why do some offspring look very different from their parents?”
o “Does the inheritance of one type of trait affect how others are inherited?”
Scientists also have to imagine how to investigate such questions using different research
methods. Given the research techniques and knowledge that was available in the mid-1800s, one
question that could be addressed was simply: what patterns can we observe in inherited traits? If
inheritance occurs in certain distinct patterns, those patterns might help narrow down the
possibilities for the processes involved in making those patterns, the same way you can use the
size and shape of tracks in the mud to determine who or what was walking through the area.
Developing your own creativity as a scientist starts with getting to know a subject in
many ways – reading the literature, becoming familiar with materials, and, most importantly,
talking to people who are experts. Because they are experts, they know the unanswered questions
that remain, and they have a good sense for the techniques that can address those questions. It
might seem like a paradox that you have to be knowledgeable in order to be creative, but new
knowledge can only be generated if you know what has come before.
Fostering scientific creativity also involves challenging that knowledge, by asking “what
if” questions, proposing alternative solutions, and looking across disciplinary boundaries to
answer your questions. What if cancer were caused by something you ate? How would we test
for that? What other concepts might be important to answering that question? This “art” involves
choosing which “what if” questions can really be addressed, and creatively figuring out ways to
answer them.
Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects 6–12
2. Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from
prior knowledge or opinions.
6. Analyze the author’s purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an
experiment in a text.
10. By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6-8 text
complexity band independently and proficiently