Notice, Identify, and Interpret

Scientists must interpret and produce visuals in their work. Scientists also use visual information to communicate their findings to the general public. Visual representations are used in science because of the abstract nature of scientific information as many concepts are unable to be seen with the naked eye. The current educational climate places a heavy emphasis upon reading across the disciplines, providing opportunities for teachers to engage children in reading and language arts specific to the science discipline. Children must be taught how to navigate the complex text layouts and visual information that communicates new content as well as how to create visuals that support scientific argumentation. This article describes how teachers can support the use of visual information to understand science and the construction of visuals in support of scientific explanations and argumentation. The authors first describe visuals important to doing and learning science. Then, using discussions around the pages from science information books, they demonstrate how teachers can use the framework of Notice, Identify, and Interpret to support students' growing understanding and use of science visuals. This three-step visual literacy strategy can be modeled and explicitly demonstrated by teachers to help elementary school children unpack the visual elements of a text.