Modes of Science Writing Mode of Writing Key Features Example Descriptive on observations and factual information Student Descriptive Example: Creates a vivid impression of an noticed it is big and yellow. I see little dots and on the bottom it looks “I like a crakd (sic) stem. The leaves are green . I wonder if the flowers will object, event, or phenomenon get bigger.” Written in present tense language Recount Students retell investigation events sequentially Student Recount Example: Most commonly used form of we put the paper in the vial. Then we dipped the vial in straight up “First and down. Finally take the vial out of the water. And the paper wasn’t writing for beginning scientists wet.” Written in past tense Persuasive Reasonable claim or inference supported by evidence or Student Persuasive Example: observations want to prove that air takes up space. In our first experiment we “We discovered that a crumpled paper towel in the bottom of a vial didn’t get Factual evidence used to convince wet when we put the vial in a tub of water upside down. That’s because reader to think in a certain way no water could get inside the vial because the space inside the vial was Written in timeless present tense full of air. We did another experiment with parachutes. Air was trapped under the parachute and it slowed the parachute down. We blew up a balloon with our pump. The balloon expanded because it was now full of air. All of these experiments convinced us that air takes up space. We hope that we have persuaded you that air takes up space. After each experiment we were more and more convinced ourselves. Through all of our experiments, we believe that we have proved that air takes up space.” By: Ms. Abbs’ Second Grade Class Explanatory How and why something works or happens Student Explanatory Example: my group, our question was the river go through the mountain?” “In “Will Well, the river didn’t go through, but it did leave its mark. There were
Modes of Science Writing Mode of Writing Key Features Example Descriptive on observations and factual information Creates a vivid impression of an object, event, or phenomenon Written in present tense language Student Descriptive Example: “I noticed it is big and yellow. I see little dots and on the bottom it looks like a crakd (sic) stem. The leaves are green . I wonder if the flowers will get bigger.” Recount Students retell investigation events sequentially Most commonly used form of writing for beginning scientists Written in past tense Student Recount Example: “First we put the paper in the vial. Then we dipped the vial in straight up and down. Finally take the vial out of the water. And the paper wasn’t wet.” Persuasive Reasonable claim or inference supported by evidence or observations Factual evidence used to convince reader to think in a certain way Written in timeless present tense Student Persuasive Example: “We want to prove that air takes up space. In our first experiment we discovered that a crumpled paper towel in the bottom of a vial didn’t get wet when we put the vial in a tub of water upside down. That’s because no water could get inside the vial because the space inside the vial was full of air. We did another experiment with parachutes. Air was trapped under the parachute and it slowed the parachute down. We blew up a balloon with our pump. The balloon expanded because it was now full of air. All of these experiments convinced us that air takes up space. We hope that we have persuaded you that air takes up space. After each experiment we were more and more convinced ourselves. Through all of our experiments, we believe that we have proved that air takes up space.” By: Ms. Abbs’ Second Grade Class Explanatory How and why something works or happens Student Explanatory Example: “In my group, our question was “Will the river go through the mountain?” Well, the river didn’t go through, but it did leave its mark. There were
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