What do the Thinktales Story Cards do?
Stories can live in many forms. But Story Cards offered something special.
They slow the story down, allowing ideas to unfold step by step
They invite pause, reflection, and peer discussion
This allows the reader to step into the shoes of the characters
They make space for uncertainty, debate, and revision of ideas
They work equally well as digital or printable resources
Each card presents a small yet significant moment in the journey of discovery, often accompanied by questions that nudge students to think like scientists.
But how would this pan out as an experience in the classroom?
What happens when a teacher uses ready-made story cards in their class?
Can she also tweak them to suit their own context?
A fifth-grade teacher of Adyar Theosophical Academy adapted the VITAMINS Story Cards to suit her ten-year-olds. These children traversed the exact same route that scientists of the 17th–18th century did when vitamins were first discovered.
They formed premises, tested them out, revisited their initial stances and emerged not only fully convinced of the importance of healthy eating, but of the power of this pedagogy.
It was a classroom alive with reasoning, debate, and confidence in thinking. The teacher as well as students loosened their grip on ‘the right answer’ and immersed themselves in a very engaging process of thinking the problem through.
Transaction of Vitamins Edition in Adyar Theosophical Academy, Chennai
Hear it from our classrooms!
Audio Testimonials of children
"It was fun because we were in the scientist's shoes!"
"It was like watching a TV show!"
Dr Aditya Bhatnagar, Science Mentor
It was wonderful. We began by checking their beliefs on what caused disease. We received a spectrum of answers: lack of exercise, diet, deficiency, and germs. We kind of brainwashed them by revisiting COVID and strengthened the belief that germs/viruses cause disease. Then we took them back to the 1860s and talked about diseases in India - smallpox, typhoid, cholera, and TB.
And then we started with the cards, getting students to role-play the conversation between women. I then acted as Eijkman, having practised a Dutch accent! The students were immersed, and the teachers took them through the journey thereafter.
St Kabir Public School, Chandigarh
Teachers who completed the course titled Teaching Science as a Way of Thinking
“Starting hesitantly, one of them quickly became so absorbed that he went through the entire set of six cards. This field test convinced me, as a teacher, that this pedagogy works even in the IX and X grades. Students almost pleaded for a chance to think, which they declared that this pedagogy amply allowed.”
“I was struck by how students admitted that they had access to rich resources, but these cards made them connect to Linus Pauling’s life. I saw them discussing the story even after the cards had been transacted.”
Vidyashilp Academy, Bangalore
How to use the story cards
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Set the Story in Motion
Introduce the topic through the Story Cards, one card at a time.
Read, pause, wonder. Let students meet (or better still, become) the scientist, confront the problem, and engage with the questions - before the answers appear.
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Think Like a Scientist
Use the built-in prompts to invite discussion.
Allow students to predict, argue, revise their ideas, identify and test assumptions — just as scientists once did. Let ‘absurd’ claims surface. Demand evidence for every claim. Gently point out inconsistencies in logic, if any.
The facilitator’s role is to guide, not explain too soon or tell the ‘right answer’.
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Connect Back to the Classroom
Link the story to the textbook concept, experiment, or activity.
What students already felt and figured out through the story now finds its scientific language and structure. They now own their learning.
That’s it. No extra periods. No dramatic overhaul.
Just a deeper, more thoughtful way of doing science.
