writing in science

• Science


  A systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe
• Scientific writing


  A technical form of writing that communicates scientific information to other scientists in a document, book, or presentation in written form
• Scientific writing


  • Requires a lot of research and exact wording
  • Can include grant requests, peer reviews, and summarized findings
• Purpose of writing in science

  To communicate scientific ideas, research findings, and theories effectively to a wider audience
• Features of a good science text

  • Objectivity
  • Jargon
  • Hypothesis
  • Research
• Objectivity


  • Focuses on facts and is not influenced by personal views or opinions
  • Uses the third-person point of view to maintain an objective tone
• Jargon


  • The technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group
  • Commonly used since readers are field experts
• Hypothesis


  • An idea or a theory that is not yet proven
  • Supported by concrete evidence or experiments to test its viability
  • What a scientific text aims to prove or disprove
• Research


  • The process of collecting quantitative information
  • Essential in writing scientific papers
• Common types of science text

  • Case study
  • Laboratory report
  • Field report
• Case study


  • A careful and intensive study of a specific subject or variable in which scientists or researchers identify what leads to its success or failure
  • May have an epidemic, phenomenon, a group of persons, or any event that changes over time as its subject
  • Documents all observations and conclusions about the subject
• Laboratory report


  • A formal documentation of an experiment, which includes the objectives, methods, and results
  • A staple in the applied and natural sciences
  • Conducted to prove or disprove hypotheses
  • Follows a chronological pattern
• Field report


  • Commonly done in the social sciences
  • Aims to analyze behavior patterns manifested by the subject based on specific theories
  • Descriptive in nature as it provides a detailed account of what the researcher has observed among the subjects
• Elements to consider in a well-written text

  • Organization
  • Physical format
  • Signal words
  • Structure
  • Cohesive
  • Cohesion
• Organization


  • Arrangement of ideas
  • Achieved when ideas are logically and accurately arranged
  • Ideas are well-developed when there is a clear statement of purpose, position, facts, examples, specific details, definitions, explanation, justifications, or opposing viewpoints
• Physical format


  How the text physically appears
• Signal words


  The cue in ordering of events and concepts
• Structure


  Complete framework of the text
• Cohesive


  • Relationship of ideas between sentences
  • The overall sense of unity in the passage including both the main point of the sentences and the main point of each paragraph
• Cohesion


  Grammatical and lexical relationship between different elements of a text when hold it together
• How to arrange details

  • Chronological order
  • Spatial order
  • Emphatic order
• Signal devices


  • Time
  • Sequence
  • Space
  • Illustration
  • Comparison
  • Contrast
  • Cause and effect
  • Conclusion
• Repetitions


  Could be a word, phrase, or a full sentence or poetical line repeated to emphasize its significance
• Synonyms


  Words similar in meaning that prevents tedious repetitions, prevents redundancy
• Pronouns


  Words that connect readers to the original words that the pronouns replace
• Language


  • Informal
  • Formal
• Language mechanics


  Correct and proper use of spelling, punctuation works, and capitalization
• Narration


  • Tells a story
  • Gives an account of an incident or reports a series of events leading to a conclusion or ending
  • States what happened, and where and when it happened
• Guidelines in narrative writing

  • Use verbs and verb phrases to move the story in an interesting manner
  • Use transition words to signal time or sequence order
  • Use descriptive language
  • Write an introduction that grabs attention
  • Plan your narrative using an outline or graphic organizer
• Description


  Provides information on when a person, an object, a place or a situation is like
• Guidelines in descriptive writing

  • Include vivid sensory details
  • Use figurative language
  • Use precise language
  • Organize the description
  • Write an introduction that grabs attention
  • Plan your descriptions using an outline or graphic organizer
• Definition


  • Explains a concept, a team, or a subject
  • Main purpose is to tell what something is
  • Clarifies the meaning of a word or an idea in a simple and understandable language
• Exemplification


  • A common and effective way to show or explain an idea or point
  • In this pattern of development, the writer explains the main idea by giving an extended example or a series of detailed examples
• Classification


  The sorting or arrangement of subjects (e.g., persons, places, things, ideas) into groups or categories according to their common or shared characteristics
• Guidelines in exemplification and classification writing


  • State first the topic sentence
  • Support the topic sentence with examples
  • Put a conclusion
  • Use transition words
  • Use an outline or graphic organizer
• Cause


  States why something happens
• Effect


  States the result of something
• Cause-and-effect pattern


  Helps the writer explain how an event or action leads to another
• Signal words for cause and effect

  • As a result
  • Accordingly
  • Because of (this)
  • Due to (this)
  • Consequently
  • Hence/therefore/thus
• Ways to utilize the cause-and-effect writing pattern

  • Cause to effect
  • Effect to cause
  • Consecutive cause and effect