Life in Between the Tides - Part 4: Changes in Ecosystems This video segment has three stories of how ecosystems are changing and how organisms are affected by these changes. Each story is followed by a series of questions that can be used for a class discussion or as writing prompts.
Physics
Physics Writing Prompts from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System with sample student work
Writing the “Discussion” Section of a Lab Report This comes from Vanderbilt University. It discusses what should be included in the discussion section of a lab and tips to writing a good discussion section.
Interpreting and Analyzing Real-World Data: This GoogleTrek™ is designed for high school biology students. Its purpose is to provide practice in understanding, analyzing, and interpreting real-world data in the form of graphs, charts, and tables.
A Mathematical Model of Motion: Position Versus Time Graphs: This GoogleTrek™ introduces high school physics students to the concepts of speed, velocity, acceleration, position versus time graphs, and the meaning of acceleration due to gravity.
Writing prompts to get students to think about what to include in a lab report. Slide 22 specifically deals with the discussion section of a lab report.
MIT technical writing tutorial. This document describes how to properly put equations and figures into lab reports. It is written as a college level guide and other parts may need modification for use with middle and high school students.
Science Buddies has printable worksheets that can be used for planning out an experiment in order to help with writing a lab report.
See the Table of Contents of this teachers' guide to Writing Across the Curriculum in Science for descriptions, implementation ideas, and examples of some of these strategies for writing to learn in Science class:
Cause and Effect Graphic Organizer: Have students complete a graphic organizer that explains the cause and effect relationship.
Column Notes: Use a T chart to define terms or explain processes.
Compare and Contrast: Use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast.
Cornell Notes: A format for taking notes that uses boxes. It requires students to process material as they are learning it by formulating questions, summarizing, and analyzing. Students can draw lines or simply fold notebook paper to form the blocks.
Vocabulary Trees: Use vocabulary organizers to study the parts of scientific words and their positions in sentences.
GIST: GIST (Cunningham 1982) is a strategy designed to help students learn to write organized and concise summaries. Summaries restate only the author’s main ideas, omitting all examples and evidence used in supporting and illustrating points. For students who are at a loss as how to put a reading into their own words, GIST can be used as a step by step method.
Journaling (Science Notebooks) or Learning Logs: Learning logs are different from traditional journals. Learning logs document the learning that occurs during a class, a project, or a unit of study. Learning logs are excellent tools for individual accountability during collaborative work.
Metaphorical Thinking:
• Direct Analogy
• Personal Analogy
• Simile Review
Quick Write/ Exit Slips: Quick Writing is a motivating pre-reading activity that prepares students for reading new material or reviewing material in preparation for understanding new information to be read.
Word Bank Writing: Writing from a word bank is a strategy used from the earliest grades. Students write a paragraph utilizing words that the teacher has pre-selected.
Interactive Notebooks
8. Interactive Notebooks
The purpose of the interactive notebook is to enable students to be creative, independent thinkers and writers. Interactive notebooks are used for class notes as well as for other activities where the student will be asked to express his/her own ideas and process the information presented in class.
S: Study the problem. ("S" the problem.) The first step is to highlight the question. O: Organize the facts. ("O" the problem.) You must always "S" the problem first, then you may organize the facts about the problem. L: Line up a plan. Students must "S" and "O" the problem before they "L"the problem. In this steps students need to come up with a way to solve the problem. V: Verify your plan with action. The first step in this plan is to make an estimate of the answer. Next the students actually do the experiment. E: Examine the results. In this step, students will ask the questions: "Did you answer what you were asked to find in S?" "Is my answer accurate?" "Is my answer reasonable?" The last step in "E" is to write the answer as a complete sentence.
Writing Across the Curriculum in Science (Michigan Department of Education) - Descriptions, implementation ideas, and examples of strategies for writing to learn and writing to demonstrate knowledge in Science class.
