Science Fiction Worksheets

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

As the name of this genre of literature indicates science fiction are works that describe imaginary events of various characters with a heavy emphasis on scientific facts, technology, time travel, or outer space. You will often here this genre referred to as "sci-fi". In fact, there is a television channel that is named just that. These types of works are often we researched or written by authors with a heavy background in science. The stories are intended to be imaginary, but scientifically plausible. Science fiction is trying to open the eyes of ithers to possibilities of the future and suggest areas where we should take more interest to push science and technology further. These worksheets will help students explore this form literature and better understand the nature of the genre.

Science Fiction Worksheets To Print:

Lift Off - A good way to help students get comfortable with common vocabulary related to this concept.

Types - In what specific way does each type connect with readers?

Soft Form - How does this appeal to readers?

Hard Form - How does this go in a different direction for readers?

Wall-E - Describe what futuristic life is like for humans in the movie. In your opinion, is this situation plausible? Why or why not?

Elements - Describe how these four elements are found in something that you recently read.

Why? - What puts something in this classification?

The Setting - Explore how this can really drive the story, particularly in this genre.

Analysis - This organizer is used to help you breakdown a story that is set in the future.

Assigned Reading - Use a work where you can pick apart the elements rather easily.

Fantasy - Where do they crossover and where are they miles apart?

What It Tells Us - If all literature is a reflection of the cultures and societies that produce it, what does science fiction tell us about ourselves?

Subgenres - Breakdown the subgenres that exist and define their qualities.

Class Project - This is something that students can do independently over a few weeks.

The Science - Identify three real scientific facts, ideas, or theories that appear in the reading.

What is Science Fiction?

Science fiction is widely regarded as one of the most creative genres in literature. Sci-fi novels take readers on adventures in faraway galaxies, underwater worlds, and other marvels of scienfic fiction. This journey introduces them to outlandish technologies and characters - explained with fictional theories much like science.


Science fiction is a genre with several imagined elements. It's also called speculative fiction because most of the objects you're going to read about in science fiction books won't exist. The science-fiction world stretches far and wide, often exposing people to space travel, time travel, planets set in the future or fictional galaxies, and several other elements. This makes people deal with extreme situations that may not be possible in the real world.


This genre dates way back to the second century. According to several experts, the first-ever sci-fi story ever written was A True Story, written by Lucian, a Syrian satirist. This story explored extraterrestrial lifeforms and other universes that people had not thought of at that time. Since modern science developed and technology made long strides, the world of sci-fi has changed drastically, too.


As a result, writers started reacting to technological and scientific changes. These advancements introduced a new wave of sci-fi stories like Somnium and New Atlantis.


The sci-fi genre of literature is divided into two sub-categories.


Hard Form


The novels are based on scientific facts. They're inspired by the hard sciences like astronomy, chemistry, and physics.


Soft Form


These novels can be two things. They may not be scientifically accurate or inspired by the soft social sciences like sociology, anthropology, and psychology.


Even though these terms are somewhat flexible, they let readers know what they should expect from a sci-fi book.


Characteristics of this Genre


In many instances, sci-fi has been labeled the "literature of ideas." These novels have a wide range of otherworldly concepts most people find fascinating. Since these novels are so imaginative and fictional, there's no telling what's possible and what isn't. A sci-fi novel can be about aliens, space, time travel, or aliens time-traveling in space!


Regardless of the characters or setting these books to have, every sci-fi story may seem complex at the start. They contain nuanced detail that explores more considerable commentary and themes, and you may also notice some undertones of satire in them (about society as we know it).


Some of the classic elements of a sci-fi novel are:


- Super intelligent robots and computers
- Time travel
- Speculative technology
- Teleportation
- Telekinesis, telepathy, and mind control
- Alternative history
- Mutants, extraterrestrial lifeforms, and aliens
- Fictional world
- Exploration and space travel
- Parallel universe


It's essential to remember that you need to seek inspiration from the real world when you start writing your sci-fi story. Pick an idea from the society you're a part of, and then take it several years down the line. Even if you're a short-term thinker (like most of us), you should be able to extrapolate several versions of your basic story in the future.