Some Key Ideas:
Think about how your content relates to REAL WORLD ISSUES that are HAPPENING NOW and are of HIGH INTEREST to students. See Oil Spill and Turtle Strandings samples below; you can hook students into your content with more appealing topics and almost everything works.
Utilize Lab Activities to connect readers to text.
Use Current Event news articles and webpages to connect students to WHY we study science.
Use supporting texts to help students drive their own process of understanding the science we need to solve problems.
Sample Lessons
Investigation of Oil and Oil Spill Management Inquiry + Close Reading (found below as PDF)
This is a sample of how close reading can be integrated into an inquiry based science investigation, culminating in a writing project.
Grade 8 Argument Writing (Asteroid Mining) (found below as PDF)
This is a sample of how close reading and technology can be used to help students craft strong arguments by pulling out the best evidence from text.