Concept to Concept

What do you need to do when you read scientific information? To follow a science writer's line of thinking, you have to see the relationships between the concepts that are examined. That is, you have to see how the concepts are connected to each other. Think of concepts as the building blocks of scientific information.

What do related concepts look like? See if you can think of two concepts related to each topic in this slideshow. Try to imagine what questions a scientific article might answer about the two concepts. First, think of your own concepts and questions. Then, click the Show Me button on each slide to compare your ideas to the ones given. Click the arrow to move to the next slide.

What concepts are included in this topic? How are the concepts related?

Butterflies

Concepts: flight and insect bodies

How the concepts relate: What is needed for flight to happen, and how are insect bodies built to meet these requirements?

What concepts are included in this topic? How are the concepts related?

Baking

Concepts: heat and chemical reactions

How the concepts relate: How does heat affect the chemicals inside bread ingredients during baking?

What concepts are included in this topic? How are the concepts related?

BMX Bike Stunts

Concepts: gravity and acceleration (speed)

How the concepts relate: How does speed help resist gravity so that a bike can hover in the air?

What concepts are included in this topic? How are the concepts related?

Electric Cars

Concepts: electricity and motion

How the concepts relate: How does electricity make a car move?

What concepts are included in this topic? How are the concepts related?

Dinosaurs

Concepts: fossils and predators vs. prey

How the concepts relate: What can fossils tell us about how dinosaurs lived?