One of the most important skills for any scientist is the ability to explain concepts clearly. This means not just discussing the 'what', but the 'why' of a particular phenomenon. The difference between describing and explaining may seem obvious, but explaining something is much more difficult to do. A lot of people fall into the trap of thinking that saying more is better than saying less, but this can often lead to verbose descriptions where the core concept becomes lost in a sea of words. A good explanation should be clear and to the point, and is not possible without a full and clear understanding of the concept, and awareness of the person you're addressing.
ACTIVITY
Here is a link to a video showing that if you drop a feather and a bowling ball in a vacuum, they will fall at the same rate. Watch the video then read the article underneath it.
At different times in the video and article the speaker or author are either describing or explaining what is happening:
At different times in the video and article the speaker or author are either describing or explaining what is happening:
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No discovery becomes accepted science until it can be recreated by another team. Therefore, an essential part of being a scientist is being able to communicate your findings to others so that they can replicate your results and generate further evidence of your discovery. Although the reports that we write in high school science are different to those published in journals such as Science or Nature, the structure of those reports helps to guide students through the thinking process of designing a robust and repeatable scientific investigation.
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The templates below are designed to walk you through the process of writing a scientific report. In the templates you will notice little blue question marks. If you click on these you will be redirected to a Google Doc containing more information on how to complete that section of the report. Although the templates appear the same, the information in these Google Docs differs based on the grade level.
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Linked below is a document that will help to guide you further through the process of writing a lab report. It contains specific instructions on what to include in the different sections of the lab report as well as checklists and examples to help you.
- Further Guidance Grade 6
- Further Guidance Grades 7 and 8
- Further Guidance Grades 9 and 10
A big step towards effectively communicating your understanding of a topic when writing an essay is to structure it in a clear way. Below are a set of instructions for organising information in a way that should make sense to the reader. Although these instructions are designed specifically for IB MYP assignments, you should find them useful for use with other programs as well.
Essay Structure
Introduction – Introduce your topic and make a statement about the impact that you think it will have/has had on the world. Good introductions include a hook to get the reader interested, such as an anecdote, famous quote, interesting statistic or fact, a question to be answered, and/or a common misconception. The purpose of the introduction is to let the reader know what the rest of the essay will be about, and to make them interested in reading it.
1st Body Paragraph – Explain the science behind the technology or process that you chose. Einstein once famously said that you don’t really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. In communicating the science behind your topic, make sure you turn the information from your sources into something that most people could understand without much existing knowledge.
Things to consider:
2nd Body Paragraph – Explore the impact that you think the science will have/has had on one of the factors below:
Introduction – Introduce your topic and make a statement about the impact that you think it will have/has had on the world. Good introductions include a hook to get the reader interested, such as an anecdote, famous quote, interesting statistic or fact, a question to be answered, and/or a common misconception. The purpose of the introduction is to let the reader know what the rest of the essay will be about, and to make them interested in reading it.
1st Body Paragraph – Explain the science behind the technology or process that you chose. Einstein once famously said that you don’t really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. In communicating the science behind your topic, make sure you turn the information from your sources into something that most people could understand without much existing knowledge.
Things to consider:
- Which concepts are essential for understanding how the technology or process works?
- How can you simplify the concepts so that your readers can easily understand them?
- Are you using specialised terms? It’s important to incorporate scientific terms, but you may need to define them for the reader.
2nd Body Paragraph – Explore the impact that you think the science will have/has had on one of the factors below:
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The first sentence of a body paragraph should outline the point that you will be making. After that you should write your paragraphs using the PEA structure (point, evidence, analysis). It’s ok to use personal experience or stories to get your reader interested but remember that the plural of anecdotes is not anec-data, so any claim that you make must be backed up with evidence and research from credible sources.
It’s much better to write a lot about one or two ideas than to write a little bit about a lot of ideas. Really take the time to deeply consider the impact of the science.
Things to consider:
3rd Body Paragraph – The third body paragraph is where you can show your critical thinking skills by either write a counter argument to the point you made in the 2nd body paragraph, or explore the possible impact on a second factor. It's important to explore the pros and cons when discussing an issue, and to weigh the long term effects against the short terms effects. For more guidance in this area, you should take a look at the critical thinking section of this site.
Conclusion – Summarise the arguments you made. Refer to the introduction to remind the reader of the point that you were making with the essay. A good conclusion should contain a strong final sentence. This could be a witty comment, a call to action, or something that makes the arguments presented somehow personal to the reader. Anything that keeps them thinking about the essay after it’s finished.
It’s much better to write a lot about one or two ideas than to write a little bit about a lot of ideas. Really take the time to deeply consider the impact of the science.
Things to consider:
- Which questions from the critical thinking cheat sheet could help you analyse this problem or issue?
- Are you making arguments based on your own intuition, or do you have hard evidence to back up your claims?
- Are the sources that you're using making arguments based on intuition, or do they have solid data to back up their claims?
- Did you begin this process with an opinion already formed? Are you only looking for evidence that confirms that opinion?
- How credible are the resources that you are using?
3rd Body Paragraph – The third body paragraph is where you can show your critical thinking skills by either write a counter argument to the point you made in the 2nd body paragraph, or explore the possible impact on a second factor. It's important to explore the pros and cons when discussing an issue, and to weigh the long term effects against the short terms effects. For more guidance in this area, you should take a look at the critical thinking section of this site.
Conclusion – Summarise the arguments you made. Refer to the introduction to remind the reader of the point that you were making with the essay. A good conclusion should contain a strong final sentence. This could be a witty comment, a call to action, or something that makes the arguments presented somehow personal to the reader. Anything that keeps them thinking about the essay after it’s finished.
One of the human species' greatest achievements was the invention of language. Complex communication between members of a group has allowed us to evolve past our cave-dwelling ancestors to become the advanced civilization that we are today. You should never underestimate the power of the written word, whether you are speaking to a friend, chatting on Facebook, or writing a scientific report.
Learning New Words
When researching a topic in science that is new to you, you will likely encounter many words with which you are not familiar. For this reason it is important that you take a systematic approach to learning new words, to ensure that you learn not just the definition, but the true meaning.
When researching a topic in science that is new to you, you will likely encounter many words with which you are not familiar. For this reason it is important that you take a systematic approach to learning new words, to ensure that you learn not just the definition, but the true meaning.
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The following information about a word can really help you remember its meaning:
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Here is a link to a blank Google Doc that you can print and use to keep track of words as you come across them:
Blank Key Terms Sheet
Blank Key Terms Sheet
Using Scientific Words to Communicate
As always, when communicating in science we must consider our reader and their knowledge of scientific terms. Sometimes it is OK to assume that your reader knows certain words, but for more specialised terms you may need to give a definition and/or explanation. A glossary can be a helpful way to give definitions without messing up the flow of your assignment.
Things to consider:
As always, when communicating in science we must consider our reader and their knowledge of scientific terms. Sometimes it is OK to assume that your reader knows certain words, but for more specialised terms you may need to give a definition and/or explanation. A glossary can be a helpful way to give definitions without messing up the flow of your assignment.
Things to consider:
- What words can you reasonably assume that your reader knows?
- What words should be explained in the main body of the assignment?
- What words could be explained in a glossary of terms?
- Would a diagram or analogy help the reader understand the term?