The need for scientifically literate citizens is an urgent priority, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Despite the importance of scientific literacy, elementary schools across the nation have not made science instruction a priority in their school day. On average, elementary students spend 40% less instructional time in science compared to English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. After the pandemic, education systems scrambled to address the learning loss that occurred from leaving our traditional school environment for remote and distance learning. One Maryland school district chose to remediate elementary children reading below grade level, as evidenced by their Acadience Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) scores, by removing them from their science class during the school day to receive Response to Intervention (RtI) literacy services. This mixed-methods study examined how an eight week after-school intervention impacted fifth graders' Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science and engineering practices content knowledge and their science attitudes. Elementary science and gifted and talented teachers, along with middle school science teachers and other STEM professionals completed a science experiment and assisted students in completing a science fair project during this intervention. This three-manuscript dissertation discusses the major findings that were identified in the data. Manuscript 1 highlights data collected from a needs assessment completed at a suburban Title 1 elementary school and connects these data to the literature review to understand and explain the problem. Manuscript 2 focuses on the methodology and findings of the after-school intervention. Fifth grade students who participated in the after-school intervention saw an increase in content knowledge by 6.7%. The gains in content knowledge were even more pronounced for special education students, who saw a 13.3% increase, compared with general education students who saw only a 6.7% increase. Students who presented their science fair project at the annual school science fair additionally saw increases in their awareness of a science identity and became more confident in their social skills relevant to group work. Finally, manuscript 3 highlights three recommendations linked to the intervention findings to advance literacy. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]