Be(a)ware of the "Languages of Science"

I used to tell my students that I spoke 8.2 languages: English, Middle-Schoolish, and the six “Languages of Science” (oh, and just a little Spanish). The *six “languages of science” are filled with literally thousands of new and precise words, including the names for all of the objects, structures, organisms, substances, and processes found in nature – plus scientific instruments, school lab equipment, and new set of (metric) measuring units as well. Mastering all of the new vocabulary is probably the biggest challenge for science students the world over, yet essential for success in the science classroom! Even reading a definition in the glossary of a science textbook can be challenging without fluency in the languages of science.

So what’s a novice science student to do? The first step is to be aware of the challenge, to know what you don’t know – yet. The last step is to pay attention to it, and work at it. And the best way to do that is through general, every day usage; immerse yourself in each new language of science by listening to it, reading it, speaking it, writing it, thinking it, and absorbing it. Stop using pronouns and start using precise language. This immersion method will work much better than brainlessly copying definitions. One of the best resources on the web to help acquire the language of science is Wikipedia with multiple hyper-links imbedded in the science articles. Hard work will pay off and before you know it, sentences like these will eventually be easy to understand! Just take it one word at a time.

When the valence electrons of one atom are transferred permanently to another atom,

an electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions forms the ionic bonds that hold a chemical compound intact.

During fertilization, the haploid cells produced during meiosis will fuse to create a zygote.

Adiabatic cooling occurs in the Earth's atmosphere with orographic lifting and lee

waves, which can form pileus or lenticular clouds.

Subduction takes place at convergent tectonic plate boundaries when an oceanic plate is forced to slowly sink under a continental plate, moving down into the mantle.

Redshift occurs when the electromagnetic radiation emitted from an object, moving

away from an observer undergoes an increase in wavelength (nanometers), equivalent to a decrease in wave frequency (hertz) and photon energy (joules).

*The Six Languages of Science

Biology – Chemistry – Physics – Geology – Meteorology – Astronomy

(Fortunately, students only have to learn one language at a time!)