As I was reading Gravity, I was wondering how to use it in the classroom. Being a novel, it will take students a longer time to read it. Various bits and pieces could be taken but students would miss out on the mystery. Have other people used a novel, such as this, in their classroom?
Mary W.

Hi,
I was thinking that I would coordinate with my Language art teacher. Students sometimes read in book groups in which a group of students select a book and read and discuss it together. Maybe one month we can have science book groups. More capable 7th and 8th graders would be capable of reading a Gerritson book.
What about the other Gerriston books? Can anyone recommend ones that would be particularly good for this?
What about easier science fiction (that's what this book is I think) that less capable kids could read?
Sue Kistenmacher

I mentioned a possible activity in my other posting, but I should clarify that I am a high school science teacher and would use this novel with high school students. Probably upper grades 11 &12. I mentioned the possibility of using peer reviewed journal articles along with the novel to get an introduction of the format of journal articles because they are heavy duty reads. Finding an article on archaea and working through the various parts of the journal article would introduce students, particularly those who are college bound science majors, to some technical reading skills. Combining a journal article with a novel might make the technical reading less daunting since some of the information could also be retrieved from the novel.