Science word parts list

Rank Headword Sublist Related word forms 1 cell 1 celled, cells 2 species 1 sp, specie, spp, subspecies 3 acid 1 acidic, acidity, acidly, acids 4 muscle 1 muscled, muscles, muscling 5 protein 1 proteins 6 molecule 1 molecular, molecules 7 nutrient 1 nutrients 8 dense 1 densely, denseness, denser, densest, densities, density 9 laboratory 1 lab, laboratories, labs 10 ion 1 ionisation, ionise, ionised, ioniser, ionisers, ionises, ionising, ionization, ionize, ionized, ionizer, ionizers, ionizes, ionizing, ions, ionic 11 tissue 1 tissues 12 atom 1 atomic, atomise, atomised, atomiser, atomisers, atomises, atomising, atomism, atomize, atomized, atomizer, atomizers, atomizes, atomizing, atoms, subatomic 13 enzyme 1 enzymes 14 graph 1 graphed, graphing, graphs 15 fluid 1 fluidities, fluidity, fluids 16 nerve 1 nerveless, nerves, nervily 17 organic 1 inorganic, inorganically, organically, organics 18 organism 1 organisms 19 module 1 modular, modularity, modules 20 oxygen 1 oxygens 21 absorb 1 absorbance, absorbed, absorbency, absorbent, absorber, absorbers, absorbing, absorbs, absorption, absorptions, absorptive 22 bacterium 1 bacteria, bacterial 23 axial 1 axially 24 vertical 1 vertically, verticals 25 diagram 1 diagrammatic, diagrammatically, diagrammed, diagramming, diagrams 26 column 1 col, cols, columnar, columned, columns 27 electron 1 electrons 28 horizontal 1 horizontally 29 rotate 1 rotated, rotates, rotating, rotation, rotational, rotations, rotatory 30 membrane 1 membranes, membranous 31 hormone 1 hormonal, hormones 32 zone 1 zonal, zoned, zones, zoning 33 fibre 1 fiber, fibers, fibres, fibrous 34 plot 1 plots, plotted, plotter, plotters, plotting 35 fertile 1 fertilisation, fertilise, fertilised, fertiliser, fertilisers, fertilises, fertilising, fertility, fertilization, fertilize, fertilized, fertilizer, fertilizers, fertilizes, fertilizing, infertile, infertility 36 linear 1 linearities, linearity, linearly, nonlinear 37 physiological 1 physiologically 38 metabolic 1 metabolically 39 hydrogen 1 hydrogenous, hydrogens 40 respiration 1 respires, respired, respiring, respire, respirations 41 deposit 1 deposited, depositing, depositor, depositors, depository, deposits 42 segment 1 segmental, segmentary, segmentation, segmentations, segmented, segmenting, segments 43 nitrogen 1 nitrogenous, nitrogens 44 infect 1 infected, infecting, infection, infections, infectious, infectiously, infectiousness, infective, infects, noninfectious, reinfect, reinfected, reinfecting, reinfection, reinfections, reinfects, uninfected 45 digest 1 digested, digestible, digesting, digestion, digestive, digestives, digests, indigestible, undigested 46 vector 1 vectors 47 circuit 1 circuited, circuiting, circuitous, circuitries, circuitry, circuits 48 carbon 1 carbons 49 magnitude 1 magnitudes 50 magnet 1 magnetic, magnetically, magnetics, magnetise, magnetised, magnetises, magnetising, magnetism, magnetization, magnetize, magnetized, magnetizes, magnetizing, magnets, nonmagnetic 51 radiate 1 radiated, radiates, radiating, radiation, radiations, radiative 52 stimulate 1 stimulated, stimulates, stimulating, stimulation, stimulations, stimulatory 53 height 1 heights 54 sodium 1 sodiums 55 volt 1 voltage, voltages, voltmeter, voltmeters, volts 56 vegetation 1 vegetations 57 versus 1 vs 58 lateral 1 laterality, laterally, laterals 59 atmosphere 1 atmospheres, atmospheric 60 diameter 1 diameters 61 flora 2 floras, floristic 62 dissolve 2 dissolved, dissolves, dissolving 63 contaminate 2 contaminated, contaminates, contaminating, contamination, contaminations, uncontaminated 64 climate 2 climates, climatic, climatically, climatological 65 oxide 2 oxides 66 vein 2 veined, veins 67 fraction 2 fractional, fractionally, fractions 68 amino 2 69 nucleus 2 nuclei, nucleuses 70 polar 2 bipolar, bipolarities, bipolarity, polarisation, polarise, polarised, polarises, polarising, polarities, polarity, polarization, polarize, polarized, polarizes, polarizing 71 conserve 2 conservation, conservationism, conservationist, conservationists, conservator, conservators, conserved, conserves, conserving 72 filter 2 filtered, filtering, filters, filtrate, filtrated, filtrating, filtration, filtrations, unfiltered 73 diffuse 2 diffused, diffuser, diffusers, diffuses, diffusing, diffusion, diffusions 74 phosphate 2 phosphates 75 secrete 2 secreted, secretes, secreting, secretion, secretions, secretor, secretors, secretory 76 marine 2 77 align 2 aligned, aligner, aligners, aligning, alignment, alignments, aligns 78 gradient 2 gradients 79 tract 2 tracts 80 vitamin 2 vitamins 81 soluble 2 insolubility, insoluble, solubility 82 precipitate 2 precipitated, precipitately, precipitates, precipitating, precipitation 83 strain 2 strained, strainer, strainers, straining, strains 84 urine 2 urinal, urinals, urinary, urinate, urinated, urinates, urinating, urination, urines 85 buffer 2 buffered, buffering, buffers 86 disc 2 discette, discettes, discs, disk, diskette, diskettes, disks 87 optimum 2 88 profile 2 profiled, profiles, profiling 89 toxic 2 nontoxic, toxicities, toxicity 90 fuel 2 fueled, fueling, fuelled, fuelling, fuels 91 plasma 2 plasmas 92 peak 2 peaked, peaking, peaks 93 circulate 2 circulated, circulates, circulating, circulation, circulations, circulatory, uncirculated 94 loop 2 looped, looping, loops 95 carbohydrate 2 carbohydrates 96 coefficient 2 coefficients 97 elevate 2 elevated, elevates, elevating, elevation, elevations, elevator, elevators 98 fungus 2 fungal, fungi, funguses 99 node 2 nodal, nodes 100 saturate 2 saturated, saturates, saturating, saturation, saturations, unsaturated 101 deficiency 2 deficiencies, deficient 102 gravity 2 gravitate, gravitated, gravitates, gravitating, gravitation, gravitational, gravities 103 symmetry 2 symmetric, symmetrical, symmetrically, symmetries, unsymmetrical 104 synthesis 2 synth, syntheses, synthesise, synthesised, synthesiser, synthesisers, synthesises, synthesising, synthesize, synthesized, synthesizer, synthesizers, synthesizes, synthesizing, synths 105 virus 2 viruses 106 equilibrium 2 equilibria, equilibriums 107 intersect 2 intersected, intersecting, intersection, intersections, intersects 108 discharge 2 discharged, discharger, dischargers, discharges, discharging, undischarged 109 microbe 2 microbes, microbial 110 kidney 2 kidneys 111 abundant 2 abundance, abundances, abundantly 112 gland 2 glands, glandular 113 skeletal 2 114 tutorial 2 tutored, tutorial, tutorials, tutoring, tutors, untutored 115 digit 2 digits 116 drain 2 drainage, drainages, drained, drainer, draining, drains 117 solute 2 solutes 118 flux 2 fluxes 119 pollen 2 pollens 120 interface 2 interfaced, interfaces, interfacing 121 osmotic 3 122 embryo 3 embryos 123 liver 3 livers 124 moisture 3 moistures, moisturise, moisturised, moisturiser, moisturisers, moisturising, moisturize, moisturized, moisturizer, moisturizers, moisturizing 125 sketch 3 sketched, sketches, sketching 126 enlarge 3 enlargeable, enlarged, enlargement, enlargements, enlarger, enlargers, enlarges, enlarging 127 cylinder 3 cylinders 128 exert 3 exerted, exerting, exertion, exertions, exerts 129 spine 3 spinal, spinally, spineless, spinelessly, spinelessness, spines, spiny 130 mobile 3 immobile, immobility, mobiles, mobilities, mobility 131 correlate 3 correlated, correlates, correlating, correlation, correlational, correlations, uncorrelated 132 anatomy 3 anatomical, anatomically, anatomies, anatomist, anatomists 133 alcohol 3 alcoholic, alcoholics, alcoholism, alcohols 134 substrate 3 substrates 135 proton 3 protons 136 cavity 3 cavities 137 thermal 3 thermally, thermals 138 calcium 3 139 aquatic 3 aquatically, aquatics 140 hybrid 3 hybridisation, hybridisations, hybridise, hybridised, hybridises, hybridising, hybridization, hybridizations, hybridize, hybridized, hybridizes, hybridizing, hybrids 141 sterile 3 sterilisation, sterilisations, sterilise, sterilised, steriliser, sterilisers, sterilises, sterilising, sterilities, sterility, sterilization, sterilizations, sterilize, sterilized, sterilizer, sterilizers, sterilizes, sterilizing, unsterile 142 solar 3 143 transverse 3 transversely 144 chloride 3 chlorides 145 defense 3 defenceless, defencelessly, defences, defence, defenses, defensible, defensibly, defensive, defensively, defensiveness, indefensible, indefensibly 146 overview 3 overviews 147 switch 3 switchable, switched, switches, switching 148 inject 3 injected, injecting, injection, injections, injector, injectors, injects 149 specimen 3 specimens 150 decompose 3 decomposed, decomposer, decomposers, decomposes, decomposing, decomposition 151 dilute 3 diluted, dilutes, diluting, dilution, dilutions, undiluted 152 pathway 3 153 spatial 3 spatially 154 fragment 3 fragmentary, fragmentation, fragmented, fragmenting, fragments 155 contraction 3 contractions 156 feedback 3 feedbacks 157 vapour 3 vapor, vaporiser, vaporisers, vaporizer, vaporizers, vapors, vapours 158 session 3 sessional, sessions 159 terrestrial 3 terrestrially 160 inherit 3 inheritance, inheritances, inherited, inheriting, inheritor, inheritors, inherits 161 potassium 3 potassiums 162 zinc 3 zincs 163 pore 3 pores 164 simultaneous 3 simultaneity, simultaneously 165 phosphorus 3 phosphoric 166 radius 3 radii, radiuses 167 extinct 3 extinction, extinctions 168 saline 3 salinities, salinity 169 ammonia 3 ammonium 170 distal 3 distally 171 intestine 3 intestinal, intestines 172 diagnose 3 diagnosed, diagnosing, misdiagnose, misdiagnosed, misdiagnosing, undiagnosed 173 shaft 3 shafted, shafting, shafts 174 condense 3 condensate, condensates, condensation, condensations, condensed, condenser, condensers, condenses, condensing 175 web 3 176 apical 3 apically 177 junction 3 junctions 178 lactate 3 lactated, lactates, lactating, lactation 179 static 3 statically 180 infrared 3 181 propagate 4 propagated, propagates, propagating, propagation, propagations, propagator, propagators 182 symptom 4 symptomatic, symptomatically, symptoms 183 wavelength 4 wavelengths 184 barrier 4 barriers 185 cube 4 cu, cubes, cubic 186 evaporate 4 evaporated, evaporates, evaporating, evaporation, evaporator, evaporators 187 grid 4 grids 188 proximal 4 proximally 189 dependence 4 dependences, interdependence, interdependences 190 photosynthesis 4 photosynthesise, photosynthesised, photosynthesises, photosynthesize, photosynthesized, photosynthesizes, photosynthesizing, photosynthetic 191 terminology 4 terminological, terminologies 192 algae 4 algaes, algal 193 microscope 4 microscopes, microscopic, microscopical, microscopically, microscopy 194 orbit 4 orbital, orbitally, orbitals, orbited, orbiting, orbits, orbitted, orbitting 195 capsule 4 capsules 196 breakdown 4 197 morphology 4 morphological, morphologically, morphologies, morphologist, morphologists 198 permeable 4 impermeability, impermeable, impermeably, permeabilities, permeability 199 superior 4 superiority, superiors 200 perpendicular 4 perpendicularly 201 disperse 4 dispersal, dispersals, dispersed, disperses, dispersing, dispersion 202 calibrate 4 calibrated, calibrates, calibrating, calibration, calibrations 203 pulse 4 pulsed, pulses, pulsing 204 differential 4 diff, differentially, differentials, diffs 205 drug 4 drugged, druggie, druggies, drugging, drugs 206 routine 4 routinely, routines, subroutine, subroutines 207 inlet 4 inlets 208 viable 4 nonviable, viabilities, viability 209 cord 4 corded, cording, cordless, cords 210 degrade 4 degradation, degradations, degraded, degrades, degrading 211 emit 4 emission, emissions, emits, emitted, emitter, emitters, emitting 212 cortex 4 cortexes 213 urea 4 ureas 214 configure 4 configurable, configuration, configurations, configured, configures, configuring 215 counter 4 countered, countering, counters 216 disorder 4 disordered, disorderly, disorders 217 drill 4 drilled, driller, drillers, drilling, drills 218 uptake 4 uptakes 219 cluster 4 clustered, clustering, clusters 220 hazard 4 hazarded, hazarding, hazardous, hazardously, hazards, nonhazardous 221 recreation 4 recreational, recreationally, recreations 222 texture 4 textural, textured, textures, texturing, untextured 223 elongate 4 elongated, elongates, elongating, elongation 224 nitrate 4 nitrates 225 parasite 4 parasites, parasitic, parasitically 226 compress 4 compressed, compresses, compressibility, compressible, compressing, compression, compressions, compressor, compressors 227 acute 4 acutely, acuteness 228 converge 4 converged, convergence, convergences, convergent, converges, converging 229 compact 4 compacted, compacting, compaction, compactly, compactness, compacts 230 cone 4 cones 231 recall 4 recalled, recalling, recalls 232 verify 4 verifiable, verification, verifications, verified, verifier, verifiers, verifies, verifying 233 hemisphere 4 hemispheres, hemispheric, hemispherical 234 coil 4 coiled, coiling, coils, uncoil, uncoiled, uncoiling, uncoils 235 susceptible 4 insusceptible, susceptibilities, susceptibility 236 apparatus 4 apparatuses 237 infant 4 infancy, infants 238 penetrate 4 interpenetration, interpenetrations, penetrated, penetrates, penetrating, penetration, penetrations, penetrative 239 periphery 4 peripheral, peripherally, peripherals, peripheries 240 reservoir 4 reservoirs 241 anomaly 5 anomalies, anomalous, anomalously 242 electrode 5 electrodes 243 compartment 5 compartmental, compartmentalisation, compartmentalise, compartmentalised, compartmentalises, compartmentalising, compartmentalization, compartmentalize, compartmentalized, compartmentalizes, compartmentalizing, compartments 244 interior 5 interiors 245 basal 5 basally 246 embed 5 embedded, embedding, embeds 247 altitude 5 altitudes 248 incubate 5 incubated, incubates, incubating, incubation, incubations, incubator, incubators, preincubated, preincubation 249 replicate 5 replicated, replicates, replicating, replication, replications 250 synthetic 5 synthetically, synthetics 251 exponential 5 exponentially 252 tilt 5 tilted, tilting, tilts 253 onset 5 onsets 254 chronic 5 chronically 255 fracture 5 fractured, fractures, fracturing 256 homogeneous 5 homogeneously, homogenous 257 superficial 5 superficialities, superficiality, superficially 258 temperate 5 intemperate, intemperately, temperately, temperateness 259 viscous 5 viscose, viscosities, viscosity 260 insulin 5 insulins 261 propel 5 propellant, propellants, propelled, propeller, propellers, propelling, propellor, propellors, propels 262 median 5 medians 263 diverge 5 diverged, divergence, divergences, divergent, diverges, diverging 264 magnesium 5 magnesiums 265 exotic 5 exotically, exoticism, exotics 266 insulate 5 insulated, insulates, insulating, insulation, insulations, insulator, insulators, uninsulated 267 latitude 5 latitudes 268 subtract 5 subtracted, subtracting, subtraction, subtractions, subtracts 269 latent 5 latencies, latency 270 mortal 5 immortal, immortalise, immortalised, immortalises, immortalising, immortalities, immortality, immortalize, immortalized, immortalizes, immortalizing, immortally, immortals, mortalities, mortality, mortally, mortals 271 vacuum 5 vacuumed, vacuuming, vacuums 272 filament 5 filamentous, filaments 273 ventilate 5 ventilated, ventilates, ventilating, ventilation, ventilations, ventilator, ventilators, ventilatory 274 adverse 5 adversely, adverseness, adversities, adversity 275 arc 5 arced, arcing, arcs 276 array 5 arrayed, arraying, arrays 277 dam 5 dammed, damming, dams 278 impair 5 impaired, impairing, impairment, impairments, impairs, unimpaired 279 span 5 spanned, spanning, spans 280 chamber 5 chambered, chambers 281 genus 5 genuses 282 vital 5 vitally 283 convey 5 conveyance, conveyancer, conveyancers, conveyances, conveyancing, conveyancings, conveyed, conveyer, conveyers, conveying, conveyor, conveyors, conveys 284 invade 5 invaded, invader, invaders, invades, invading 285 resemble 5 resemblance, resemblances, resembled, resembles, resembling 286 ancestor 5 ancestors, ancestral 287 debris 5 288 grasp 5 grasped, grasping, grasps 289 lipid 5 lipids 290 pigment 5 pigmentation, pigmentations, pigmented, pigmenting, pigments 291 recycle 5 recyclable, recycled, recycles, recycling, recyclings, unrecyclable, unrecycled 292 starch 5 starched, starches, starchier, starchiest, starchily, starchiness, starching, starchy 293 anion 5 anionic, anions 294 fuse 5 fused, fuses, fusing, fusion, fusions 295 generic 5 genre, generically, genres, nongeneric 296 humid 5 humidities, humidity 297 rupture 5 ruptured, ruptures, rupturing 298 vibrate 5 vibrated, vibrates, vibrating, vibration, vibrational, vibrations, vibrator, vibrators, vibratory 299 adhere 5 adhered, adherence, adherences, adherent, adherents, adheres, adhering 300 inferior 5 inferiorities, inferiority, inferiors 301 longitudinal 6 longitudinally 302 plunge 6 plunged, plunger, plungers, plunges, plunging 303 sheath 6 sheaths 304 capture 6 captured, captures, capturing, uncaptured 305 engage 6 engaged, engagement, engagements, engages, engaging, engagingly 306 partition 6 partitioned, partitioning, partitions 307 serum 6 antisera, antiserum, antiserums, serums 308 transient 6 intransience, transience, transiently, transients 309 aluminium 6 aluminum 310 defect 6 defective, defectively, defectiveness, defects 311 temporal 6 temporality, temporally 312 indent 6 indentation, indentations, indented, indenting, indents 313 purify 6 purification, purifications, purified, purifies, purifying 314 designate 6 designated, designates, designating, designation, designations 315 entitle 6 entitled, entitlement, entitlements, entitles, entitling, unentitled 316 mesh 6 enmesh, enmeshed, enmeshes, enmeshing, enmeshment, enmeshments, meshed, meshes, meshing 317 cumulative 6 cumulatively, noncumulative 318 radial 6 radially

Science Terms! The following is a list of common Science Terms in English.

Science Terms

Science Vocabulary Word List

Students must learn new specific terminology if they are to develop their understanding of scientific concepts.

Beck, McKeown and Kucan (2013) categorise vocabulary into three tiers:

• Tier 1: everyday words (e.g. word, number)
• Tier 2: words that are useful across multiple subject areas (e.g. analysis, argument)
• Tier 3: subject-specific words or technical terminology (e.g. electromagnetism, photovoltaic).

Within Science, explicitly teaching Tier 2 and 3 words will allow students to access and communicate scientific content knowledge.

Leno and Dougherty (2007) argue that methods of teaching vocabulary that focus on students copying definitions from a textbook are problematic for three reasons:

1. definitions in isolation can be too broad or too narrow, having no direct link to the topic being taught
2. students may copy definitions absentmindedly, rather than reading and understanding the definition
3. identifying definitions within a passage of text may lead to incomplete or incorrect definitions.

Introducing new vocabulary in contextually rich and cognitively demanding ways benefits all students, whether students identify as English-speaking, English as an additional language (EAL), or as having a disability or additional needs.

Four strategies that teachers can use to introduce new vocabulary to students are:

• Teaching base words and words parts (morphemes)
• Joint construction of definitions
• Naming processes (nominalisation)

• Everyday vs scientific words (register)

Teaching base words and word parts (morphemes)

Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning represented in written and spoken language. There are different types of morphemes, including bases and affixes (prefixes and suffixes). Words, for example, can be deconstructed into more than one morpheme as in the word electric consisting of two morphemes: [electr] + [-ic]. New words can also be created by attaching additional morphemes. For example, adding the noun forming suffix [-ity] to the adjective [electric], creates the noun, electricity.

Rather than memorising words, students can learn about morphemes as a way to look ‘inside’ unfamiliar technical terms to find meaningful parts.

Understanding how scientific terminology is structured using common Greek and Latin morphemes, and how morphemes connect words in meaningful ways, offers students portable knowledge about form-function-meaning relationships in words to support vocabulary development with potential flow-on benefits to writing and reading comprehension (Herrington & Macken-Horarik, 2015; Nunes & Bryant, 2006).

Literacy in Practice Video: Biology — Morphemes

In this video, Catherine Walkear introduces students to morphemes. In the video, Catherine uses the parts card strategy in a Year 7 science class learning about taxonomy. She also uses morphological matrices in a Year 8 Biology class learning about diseases and disorders.

Teacher prompts

• What do you think the value is in teaching students about morphemes in Science?
• How might you introduce your students to morphemes in Science

Student prompts

• Do you think knowing more about morphemes would help you better learn new vocabulary in Science?

 

Read the
in-depth notes for this video.

Parts card strategy for introducing vocabulary

Stants’s (2013) parts card strategy is one way for teachers to introduce students to new vocabulary. The parts card strategy requires students to dissect new vocabulary, generate meaning, and then draw a diagram to demonstrate their understanding. Zoski et al. (2018) have modified Stants’s parts card strategy to emphasise the language modes. 

See an example of a
parts card work sample for Year 7 or Year 8 (VCSSU092,
VCSSU095)

Morphological matrix

Bowers and Cooke’s (2012) morphological matrix is another tool teachers and students can use to develop new vocabulary. Morphological matrices list the various prefixes and suffixes that can be combined to base words to generate new words. The two worked examples below show how the matrix can be used from Year 7 to Year 10, depending on the vocabulary and context.

hyper + tonic = hypotonic

iso + tonic = isotonic

hypo + tonic = hypotonic

Curriculum links for the above example:
VCSSU095,
VCSSU117

endo	therm	al
exo
geo
hydro	ic
meso
iso

endo + therm + al = endothermal

endo + therm + ic = endothermic

therm + al = thermal

exo + therm + al = exothermal

exo + therm + ic = exothermic

geo + therm + al = geothermal

geo + therm + ic = geothermic

hydro + therm + al = hydrothermal

hydro + therm + ic = hydrothermic

meso + therm + ic = mesothermic

meso + therm + al = mesothermal

iso + therm + al = isothermal

iso + therm + ic = isothermic

Curriculum links for the above example:
VCSSU091,
VCSSU100,
VCSSU098,
VCSSU117,
VCSSU126,
VCSSU127

Joint construction of definitions

Joint construction is a collaborative process that involves the teacher and students working together to construct understanding. It is a reciprocal process in which the students’ responses and behaviours influence the teacher’s responses and behaviours, and vice versa (van Vondel et al., 2017).

Joint construction can be used to develop students’ understanding of new scientific terminology and definitions as outlined below:

1. The teacher introduces a technical term within context, for example, read a definition from a textbook, watching an informative video
2. Students talk out the term with a partner
3. Individually or in pairs, students write a definition for the term in their own words
4. The teacher asks students to share their definitions, writing one of them on the board
5. Through dialogue, the teacher and students refine the definition on the board
6. Students compare and correct their own definitions in relation to the jointly constructed definition.

For example, students in Year 8 (VCSSU090,
VCSSU094) could:

1. watch an informative video on stenting (e.g. “Coronary angioplasty, balloons and stents”)
2. talk out what stenting means
3. draw and write a definition.

Student definition: «Stenting is when a stent (tube) is placed in an artery to unblock it.»

Naming processes (nominalisation)

Nominalisation is the process of forming nouns from other word groups. Nominalisation is one of the most distinctive linguistic features of scientific writing (Banks, 2008; Halliday, 2004). This is because scientific texts are often highly condensed and frequently contain abstract ideas and concepts.

In Science, verbs are often nominalised to create the names of processes. This can be done by:

• creating a gerund (by adding the [-ing] suffix). For example, weather can be nominalised to weathering (e.g. chemical weathering)
• adding noun forming suffixes such as [-al], [-ce], [-ion] and [-ment]. For example, when [-ion] is added to the end of the verb, stagnate, the nominalised form is produced: stagnation
• Adding a noun forming prefix such as [ante-], [fore-], [macro-], [maxi-], [micro-], [mid-], [mini-], [pre-] and [post-]. For example, when [sur-] meaning ‘extra’ is attached to the front of the verb charge, the noun surcharge is formed.

Similarly, adjectives can be nominalised by adding noun suffixes. For example, noun density is formed by adding the morpheme [-ity] to the adjective, dense.

Educating students about regular noun forming suffixes (morphemes) is one way to introduce students to nominalisation. The tables below show how verbs and adjectives are nominalised in Science using a selection of regular noun suffixes.

Verb	Noun forming suffix	Noun
diffuse	-ion	diffusion
mix	-ure	mixture
measure	-ment	measurement
analyse	-is	analysis
survive	-al	survival
resist	-ance	resistance
insulate	-or	insulator

Adjective	Noun forming suffix	Noun
soluble	-ity	solubility
frequent	-cy	frequency
soft	-ness	softness

An unintended consequence of using nominalisation is the introduction of abstraction (Halliday, 2004). Explicitly teaching the word parts of nominalised terms helps students to identify embedded meaning.

Knowing how to construct and deconstruct nominalised terms also helps students to better interpret and create texts, and to write in a more sophisticated and scientific manner.

One way to teach Year 9 and 10 students to use nominalisation in their writing is outlined below, along with an example of what a student’s work may look like. The example supports the teaching of the following curriculum links:
VCSSU124,
VCSSU125,
VCSIS140

Step	Student example
1. Student writes a conclusion for an experiment	The chemicals reacted and bubbles formed.
2. Student highlights verbs in their writing	The chemicals reacted and bubbles formed.
3. Student converts the verbs to nouns	reacted becomes reaction formed becomes formation
4. Student rewrites the conclusion using the newly created nouns (nominalised verbs)	The chemical reaction resulted in the formation of bubbles.

When reading, reversing the strategy above can help students to unpack the meaning of dense nouns, particularly those relating to scientific or experimental processes. Compound nouns ([noun + noun] or [adjective + noun]) may also be underlined. Again, the example supports the teaching of the following curriculum links:
VCSSU124,
VCSSU125,
VCSIS140

Step	Student example
1. Student reads a passage from a text	A combustion reaction is an example of an exothermic reaction. Combustion occurs when a substance reacts with oxygen gas to produce heat, usually in the form of an explosion or burning. Combustion reactions are also a type of oxidation reaction because oxygen is a reactant.
2. Student highlights nouns in the passage, looking for noun-forming suffixes or compound nouns	A combustion reaction is an example of an exothermic reaction. Combustion occurs when a substance reacts with oxygen gas to produce heat, usually in the form of an explosion or burning. Combustion reactions are also a type of oxidation reaction because oxygen is a reactant
3. Student converts the selected nouns to verbs	“combustion» becomes “to combust” “combustion reaction” becomes “to react and combust” “exothermic reaction” becomes “react and produce heat” “explosion” becomes “to explode” “burning” becomes “to burn” “oxidation reaction” becomes “to react with oxygen.”
4.  Student writes or orates a definition for the noun	Combustion is a chemical reaction with oxygen that results in an explosion or burning.

Everyday vs scientific words (register)

Scientists speak and write differently depending on the audience, the context and the purpose. The different styles or formalities of speaking and writing are known as ‘register’ and can be placed along a continuum. The register continuum below emphasises the links between scientific communication and the
F–10 Victorian Curriculum: English sub-strands.

In Science, students need to be explicitly taught how to write and speak in more formal registers. Teacher modelling (HITS Strategy 3) and ongoing feedback (HITS Strategy will support students to develop their understanding and use of register within the Science classroom. The example below for a Year 7 or 8 lesson has been modified from Polias (2016, pp. 85-88) and addresses
VCSSU095 and
VCSIS113.

1. The students are asked to design an experiment to show how impurities affect the melting and/or boiling points of a substance.
2. The teacher revises the scientific content and knowledge students require, introducing and explaining technical terms, making explicit links between concrete verbs and more abstract nouns (e.g. melting/liquify and liquefaction; boiling/evaporate and evaporation).
3. The teacher writes the words on the board, organised in a table like the one below.
   

   Everyday word	Everyday word and scientific word	Scientific word
   bubbles turns to water	boils melts	vapourise liquifies

4. Students work in small groups to design the experiment.
5. The teacher moves around the groups, questioning and assisting students to use more technical terms in their small group discussions.
• So when you say ___, that means ___.
• Do you remember the technical term we use?
6. Each group presents their experiment to the class.
7. Again, the teacher questions and assists the students to use more formal and technical language. The teacher may also model or scaffold how to do this.
• How would the textbook describe that process?
• That’s an everyday term; can you remember the scientific name for it?

Classroom discussions and questioning

Questioning (HITS Strategy 7) provides students with opportunities to talk about, argue and express opinions and differing points of view (DET, 2017). Effective questioning is fundamental to fostering productive discussion (or classroom talk) (Fisher, Frey and Hattie, 2016). During conversations, teachers can ask a number of questions to promote deeper thinking and to increase the level of rigour of classroom talk.

The following two strategies have been adapted from
Accountable Talk® Sourcebook (Michaels et al., 2010) for the Science classroom. Teachers can find other strategies to promote effective discussions in the online resource.

Fishbowl

1. A research question or hypothesis is shared with the whole class (either teacher- or student-generated).
2. A small, focal group of students (the “fish”) are selected to discuss and determine a methodology for the given investigation. The focal group should:
• select appropriate equipment
• identify controlled and independent variables
• propose an appropriate procedure
• explain how data will be recorded.
3. The focal group is positioned so that the rest of the class (the “researchers”) can observe their conversation. The researchers are critical observers, assessing the talk of the focal group.
4. At different points during the conversation, the teacher interrupts the focal group and asks the researchers to discuss the focal students’ talk, process, or reasoning.
5. The teacher should not intervene or comment on each student’s contribution
6. At strategic moments, the teacher refocuses the observers and guides the group discussion to determine a final methodology for the investigation.
7. The investigation is conducted by the entire class in the following lesson.

Curriculum links for the above example:
VCSIS108,
VCSIS109,
VCSIS135

Pressing for accuracy and evidence

The questions below can support students to develop their understanding of the use and importance of evidence in scientific conversations. Teachers can ask these questions during class discussions, with small groups, or individually with a student.

• Where can we find that in the textbook?
• What did you observe to make you think/say that?
• What evidence do you have to support what you have just said?
• How could we check what you have just said?
• Is there more data to support that inference?
• How could we collect more data to support your claim?

When necessary, teachers can model to students how to use evidence to answer such questions.

References