The activities contained in this new series, carefully and smartly graded according to difficulty levels are based on a grounded approach, which starts from the classroom experience.  They provide tools and strategies that are really useful to lower secondary school teachers because they merge the teacher’s practical knowledge, with the expert knowledge of those who do research in the educational-didactic field and the experiential-relational knowledge of the pupils.

The series Easy Science for Lower Secondary school is a useful tool for the whole class, and it is ideal for students with learning difficulties.  
In each chapter, multiple facilitation tools are offered (simplified and summarized texts, introductory and summery maps, key concepts, texts, glossaries, ideas for research and workshop activities), referred to different levels of competences, in order to provide each pupil, even those with special educational needs or disabilities, many opportunities to learn in a meaningful way while finding a point of contact with the activity carried out by the class.

Year one

Simplified didactic methods: from the scientific method to vertebrate animals
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The volume counts 14 chapters divided into three modules:

• Chemistry and Physics (The scientific method, Matter, Heat and temperature, Mixtures and solutions);
• , Earth Sciences (The hydrosphere, The atmosphere, The soil);
• Biology (The hydrosphere, The atmosphere, The soil)

Year two

Simplified didactic units from chemical to human body
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This volume counts 12 chapters divided into three modules:

• Ethology (Animal behaviour);
• Chemistry and Physics (Chemical substances, Chemical transformations and carbon compounds, Forces and balance, Forces and movement, Sound, Light);
• Human Body (Respiration, Blood circulation, Nutrition and the digestive system, The excretory system and the skin, The musculoskeletal system).

Year three

Simplified didactic units from magnetism to genetics
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This volume presents the science topics for the third year of lower secondary school, divided into three modules:

• Energy, electricity and magnetism;
• The Earth and the Solar System;
• Evolution and the history of life.

It also proposes activities and experiments for cooperative groups.

In each chapter, multiple facilitation tools are offered (simplified and summarized texts, introductory and summery maps, key concepts, texts, glossaries, ideas for research and workshop activities), referred to different levels of competences, in order to provide each pupil, even those with special educational needs or disabilities, many opportunities to learn in a meaningful way while finding a point of contact with the activity carried out by the class:

Illustrated key concepts
The fundamental concepts to understand

Main Idea
A brief contents summary, with a few introductory questions

Introductory Maps
Facilitate the logical connections between the most important information in the chapter

Simplified and Essential Text
The complete information is given as a starting point (simplified text), and then summarized in a few lines with accessible language (essential text)

Glossary
After being highlighted in bold in the texts, the fundamental terms are explained in a simpler and clearer language

Information Maps
They present the key concepts of each chapter and the relationships between them, providing a concise and easy to read visual picture

10 things to know
The ten most important pieces of information are ordered in sequence, with blank spaces for the student to complete the missing information

Basic and advanced level tests
Placed at the end of each chapter, they are divided into two levels so that the degree of difficulty is adequate for all students

MY RESEARCH – Each chapter ends with the proposal to further investigate, individually or in a group, a topic chosen by the pupils among those suggested, and then present it to the rest of the class.

QUIZ – At the end of each module, a multiple choice quiz is presented with 8 questions regarding the main topics of the chapters.

WORKSHOPS – at the end of the volume, for each of the three modules, there is a whole class experiment and five different experiments to be carried out.

THE AUTHOR

Carlo Scataglini is a specialised teacher and trainer in remediation and support. With Erickson he has published a number of books and CD-ROMs for remediation and support, amongst which the series Easy reading and the books Easy History, Easy geography, Easy Science and Easy Information Technology. He is also the author of various children’s stories.