Good science fiction is story, science, and speculation
all wrapped up in a package custom-made for improving literacy and critical-thinking skills—it does not get
more convenient. Literacy concerns the communicating of ideas from one mind to another, including component skills such as vocabulary, language structure,
reading, and writing to elicit comprehension. Critical
thinking blends with literacy in the interpretation and
extrapolation of ideas. There should be an understanding of source as well as context, which is particularly
important to students sifting their way through myriad
print and visual resources on science.