Curated OER
But I'm Not a Writing Teacher!
How teaching writing skills in the science classroom will benefit your students as they transition to Common Core.
Curated OER
"Snapshot" Exercises & Sensory Detail Word Bank
Read a sample of creative descriptive writing to your science class. Discuss how writing can be used to record and communicate observations that scientists make. Reading selections and thought-provoking questions are suggested. Also...
Curated OER
Peer Review Form for Scientific Writing
A peer review form just for science? Specifically tailored for science writing, this resource asks editors to give detailed responses to questions about the relevance of the study, the clarity of the hypotheses, the methods, materials,...
Curated OER
Following Instructions
Get scholars thinking about the scientific process with this fun experiment they can do at home. Learners practice reading directions as they underline each instruction in a procedural paragraph. They create a flow chart and record what...
Curated OER
Biology Project: Gone Fishing
Students write a scientific article using data and prediction skills. In this scientific writing lesson, students access data about fishing off the coast of New Jersey. They look at satellite data, fluorometry and CTD data over a 3 -4...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Desert Elephants
In this video from Nature, observe elephants trek across the desert to an isolated waterhole. [4:13]
Scholastic
Scholastic: Writing With Scientists With the American Museum of Natural History
Follow this six-step method and you'll have a good understanding of what a good scientific research paper involves and how it is organized. There are plenty of samples for you to look at. This explanation is also very helpful for...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: The Zombie Autopsies: Publish or Perish, for Real
An excellent lesson where students are guided in how to write an article for publication in a scientific journal. Includes downloadable lesson and student handout.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Patterns for Making Meaning
Students read the book The Way Life Works: The Science Lover's Illustrated Guide to How Life Grows, Develops, Reproduces, and Gets Along by Mahlon Hoagland to examine the sixteen patterns of life presented in the book. As students study...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: I Wonder: Writing Scientific Explanations With Students
Students choose a question to explore, research it using a variety of resources, organize their information on a TCF chart, and then collaboratively write a class scientific explanation.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Lesson Plan: Text Structures in Science Writing
Lesson for teaching students to identify components of scientific texts and to use similar structures in their own scientific writing.
Colorado State University
Colorado State University: Writing @ Csu Writing Guides
This is a fairly sophisticated series of writing guides. It assumes that users already have a solid grasp of spelling, grammar and mechanics, so it focuses more on organization and types of presentation than on more basic skills....
Colorado State University
Colorado State Writing Center: Writing the Scientific Paper
A guide to the world of writing in the scientific field. Includes information about scientific-format papers, abstracts, hypotheses and results, and provides several examples.
University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina: Writing Center: Handouts: Writing About Science
Information and specific tips on what scientific writing is and how to make it more precise, clear, and objective.
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
Purdue University Owl: Academic Writing: Reverse Paramedic Method
Explanations and examples of the Reverse Paramedic Method used to edit scientific writing.
EL Education
El Education: San Diego Bay: 2008 Tide Calendar
Students complete original research to create a calendar. Each calendar month includes a page with informational text and original photographs featuring different endangered animals of the San Diego Bay including tidal information and a...
EL Education
El Education: San Diego Bay: A Call for Conservation
Students work together with scientists from universities, research centers, zoon and aquariums to research and study ecological aspects of San Diego Bay and the species that indicate the health of the ecology within the bay area.
EL Education
El Education: Sapling Rise a Micro Field Guide
Students create a field guide for a three foot by three foot plot of ground. Students name their plots, graph temperature, create an inventory and table to record observations, make illustrations, and write informational text based on...
EL Education
El Education: Testing the Waters
Students tested water at several sites in a local creek and write a scientific paper showing their testing and results. Scientific papers include an abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion including recommendations...