Grade Level: 10-12

Reading formal scientific papers can be difficult, especially for young scientists. Scientific writing is an entirely different category of communication, which makes it even more critical for everyone to be able to decipher them. This lesson will guide students through interpreting scientific papers, with the end goal of being able to use the experimental findings to create a societally relevant argument. Students will be introduced to the idea of scientific communication, and how scientists share their results with each other and the general public. Students will interpret a scientific paper with the class for practice, before breaking into smaller groups to read a paper surrounding some aspect of plastic pollution, and hosting a mock-United Nations meeting to argue for why their issue deserves funding. This lesson was designed to build on previous knowledge of the scientific method.