3.1.2

Scientific Texts

Study on Seneca

Complete the interactive activities in the Seneca app to work towards your CPD certificate.

Readability of Scientific Texts

The readability of science texts is generally high. This is due to the frequency of polysyllabic words and complex sentence structure.

Flesch Kincaid

Flesch Kincaid

  • An example of a readability test is the Flesch Kincaid reading ease test.
  • It uses a formula to calculate the readability of a text.
  • The lower the number, the harder the text.
Checking for readability stats

Checking for readability stats

  • You can check the readability of any text using the readability statistics option on Microsoft Word.
  • Copy text from a source into a word document:
    • → go to review → press spelling and grammar → select options → select show readability statistics → complete the spell check as normal → a pop-up window will show the Flesch Kincaid reading ease.
Examples

Examples

  • A typical page from a biology topic in a KS3 textbook will have:
    • Around 900 words and 3000 characters.
    • FK readability of 71.1, i.e easily understood by 13- to 15-year-old students.
  • A glossary of keywords for a Y7 biology topic on reproduction will have:
    • Around 500 words, 4000 characters, 6 paragraphs and 56 sentences.
    • FK readability of 63, i.e. understood by 15- to 17-year-old students, bu fairly difficult to read.
Strategies for shared reading

Strategies for shared reading

  • Shared reading can be used to model how to successfully read scientific texts.
    • Text is on a slide/visualiser and students and teacher look at it together.
    • Teacher gives an overview of the text and techniques used.
    • Specialist vocabulary is taught before reading and is highlighted in the text.
    • Teacher reads the text aloud, encouraging students to follow.
    • Features of the text are highlighted and annotated by teachers and students (e.g. type, purpose, audience, voice, language).
Jump to other topics
1

Why Literacy Matters in Science Education?

1.1

Why Literacy Matters in Science Education?

1.1.1Why Literacy Matters in Science Education?
2

The Language of Science

2.1

The Language of Science

2.1.1Scientific Vocabulary2.1.2Word Tiers
3

Reading in Science

3.1

Reading in Science

3.1.1Reading in Science3.1.2Scientific Texts
4

Writing in Science

4.1

Writing in Science

4.1.1Writing in Science

Practice questions on Scientific Texts

Can you answer these? Complete these activities in the Seneca app to progress towards your certificate.

  1. 1
    A typical page from a biology topic in a KS3 textbook will have: Multiple choice
  2. 2
    Five texts are analysed with the Flesch Kincaid reading ease test. Which of the following scores represents the hardest to read text?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Five texts are analysed with the Flesch Kincaid reading ease test. Which of the following scores represents the easiest to read text?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    Strategies for shared reading:Fill in the list
Answer all questions on Scientific Texts

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Reading in Science

Writing in Science