Why Media Literacy Belongs in Every Science Classroom

By Sarah Clary

I’m one of the few people on the Switch Classroom team who isn’t a teacher. In fact, before I joined Switch Energy Alliance, I worked in news publishing. Every day, I saw how hard it was for even seasoned journalists to separate fact from opinion. Something as small as a headline could shape how thousands of readers perceived a story. A misplaced adjective or an ambiguous phrase could shift the tone from neutral reporting to persuasive messaging. That’s why I believe media literacy is one of the most crucial skills to develop in today’s world.

That experience changed how I see education, especially when it comes to science. Media literacy isn’t about learning what’s right or wrong. It’s about learning how to separate fact from fiction. It’s about helping students look at information critically, question what they see, and understand how language and presentation can influence meaning. And beyond that, I think it’s about giving students hope and empowering them amidst the often depressing news cycle.

The Developing Media Literacy mini-unit from Switch Classroom was designed to give teachers a structured, engaging way to do exactly that.

Helping Students See Through the Language

In today’s world, students encounter energy and climate topics everywhere, from social media debates to viral videos. The problem is that much of that content is emotionally charged or oversimplified.

In the first part of this lesson, Thinking Critically About Energy Language, students unpack words that sound good but lack precision, like clean, green, or sustainable. They learn to replace vague phrases with clear, evidence-based alternatives. It’s a simple but powerful exercise that builds awareness of how language can both clarify and distort understanding.

Reading Like Scientists, Not Spectators

Next, students analyze real news articles about energy using the Project Look Sharp Media Decoding Guide and Ground News. They highlight author claims, assumptions, and reasoning, then evaluate each source for bias and factual accuracy.

What’s fascinating about this activity is how it mirrors what professionals do every day. When I worked in publishing, I had to evaluate sources the same way, checking evidence, questioning motives, and verifying data before a story went live. This unit gives students those same tools, preparing them to think like informed readers in a noisy information landscape.

Building Confidence Through Communication

In the final part of the lesson, students share and defend their conclusions, comparing their findings with published bias ratings. They see that disagreement doesn’t mean dishonesty, it means different perspectives and interpretations. The key is learning to support ideas with evidence.

The mini-unit includes:

• A Teacher Guide with scaffolding, discussion prompts, and evaluation tools
• A Student Handout for article annotation and bias identification
• Video interviews with TIME journalist Justin Worland, (Consuming Media and Creating Media)offering insight into how professionals handle bias and credibility in journalism

Everything aligns with NGSS and AP Environmental Science practices, reinforcing data analysis, critical thinking, and communication skills.

Why It Matters

After years in media, one lesson stuck with me: misinformation spreads faster than facts because it appeals to emotion. Education has the power to slow that down.

When students learn to ask Who wrote this? Why? What evidence supports it?, they become more than consumers of information, they become thinkers, problem solvers, and responsible citizens.

Media literacy belongs in the science classroom because it’s not just about understanding energy, climate, or technology. It’s about understanding how we know what we know. This is how we empower students, and how we turn them from consumers to critical thinkers.