Science Fiction Novel Study

Meet our very first high-school-only novel study with one core theme: Science fiction is a playground for authors to explore the big questions of philosophy and theology. This unit is one-of-a-kind and applicable whether your student is interested in sci-fi or not. It will check off boxes for theology, philosophy, and even British Lit—all upper level topics that looks great on a transcript (you're welcome).

Warning: This novel is heady, the topics in this unit go deep, and the teaching itself all points back to God unapologetically. Lewis does use some phrases, terms, or even explores some topics that may make some readers uncomfortable (read the note in the product listing for more details). Our goal with this unit is to go deep, expose truth, and break things down in a way that will help students realize they can do hard things and to think about issues bigger than themselves. We can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Is this a Full Unit or Mini Unit? Science Fiction is a Mini Unit, but it’s a little different than our usual. There is no Teacher’s Guide and only 1 workbook. Because of the nature of the content, we recommend this study for High School students, graduates, or even adults wanting to dive deeper into the world of philosophy!

What is this unit about? With only one book—written to students directly—this study has daily teaching pages, vocabulary, context and reading assignments. Students will need to purchase the novel, Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis—which is the novel they will study to see real examples of how big ideas are explored in this unique genre. After reading, students have a number of worksheets that allow them to focus on understanding complex quotes, reflect on personal meaning and application, and follow the elements of the story such as character development, plot, and more. Our second page has teaching that is done in a never-before-seen style with teaching on the page (no research!) and questions that students highlight as they read. Students end the book with a unit project to either write their own science fiction or a book report on the unit.

What should I buy? You will need one workbook for each student as well as the novel Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis.  

How long is it designed to last? Like many of our other units, this one has 20 lessons. If you kept to a schedule of 4–5 lessons per week, this unit would take about 4–5 weeks to complete. However, with the deeper philosophical topics and the final project that could take up to a week to complete, you have the opportunity to go at your own pace, take your time, and expand this study as needed.

Check out the Resources! Most of our units have a free resource page on our free app, but this time, we included QR codes right on the workbook pages so you can quickly scan and navigate to extra videos or articles to dig even deeper! Click on the button a little farther down to see what other resources we have for this unit and don't miss a sample lesson to see what it's like!