Tag Archives: science literacy

Kinetic (adj)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective kinetic. While I’ve only just developed it, I can think of a myriad of uses for it in the classroom. If you have students bound for a physics class, this is a good word for them to know as they near that destination.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Word Root Exercise: Gen/o, Gene, and Genesis

Here’s a worksheet on the Greek word roots gen/o, gene, and genesis. They mean–get ready for a list–production, formation, generation, origin, cause, birth, kind, and race. These are very productive roots in English, and you’ll find them at the basis of a vast number of words–e.g. genetics–in the life sciences.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Word Root Exercise: Dys

Given the current state of human civilization, this worksheet on the Greek root dys ought to be useful. It means baddifficultabnormal, and impaired. This is another of those roots that shows up all over the English language. For instance, if you work in a public school, there is, I will hazard a guess, a very good chance that the adjective dysfunctional has crossed your lips on more than one occasion.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Word Root Exercise: Dyn, Dyna, Dynam/o

Here, on a rainy Thursday morning, is a worksheet on the Greek word roots dyn, dyna, and dynam/o. They mean power, energy, and strength. These are, as the worksheet shows, some very productive roots in English. A number of STEM-related words start with this root, among others.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Edward Abbey

“(1927-1989) American novelist and essayist. Abbey is best known for his celebration of southwest Utah’s slickrock country. One of the more overtly political modern American nature writers, he advocated for the preservation of the wilderness and was a tireless critic of the forces which, in his view, desecrated it. In Desert Solitaire (1968), a nonfiction account of summers spent as a ranger in Arches National Monument, Abbey portrays a starkly beautiful desert landscape that is threatened by so-called “industrial tourism.” The Monkey-Wrench Gang (1975), a novel about a merry band of eco-terrorists, was taken up by the environmental group Earth First!. Novels like The Brave Cowboy (1956) and Fire on the Mountain (1962), further explore the fate of strong-willed individuals confronting the technocratic forces of industry and government.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996

Zero

“The mathematical sages of India conceived of this concept, and started on the path of the creation of zero back in the ninth century BC. The root of the word is in the Sanskrit Shoonya, meaning ‘it is a void’, which got passed on to the Arabs, who knew the symbol as ‘Safira.’

The Western world came to the concept extraordinarily late, when Venetian merchants stumbled across it and brought it back to their homeland, where it was known as ‘zefiro‘–later corrupted to ‘zero.’ The concept gradually spread through Europe, reading such far-flung outposts as the British Isles in the late sixteenth century.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

Acne

Here is a reading on acne, the bane of every teenager’s social existence, and its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I’ve tagged this as an item of social and emotional learning–acne can be tough on kids, and understanding its chemistry and physiology can help kids feel less alone.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Sanitize (vt)

I have recently posted, and will continue to post until they are gone, a series of readings and comprehension worksheets on health-related topics.

So this morning seems as good a time as any to publish this context clues worksheet on the verb sanitize. It is apparently only used transitively.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Steroids

Here’s a reading on steroids and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet if you want them. I hope that there isn’t a real need for these documents–because that could mean kids are using steroids, a scary thought.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Lacquer

“A resinous varnish that, when applied in several layers, attains a high polish. True lacquer comes from the Japanese lac tree. Characteristically oriental, lacquer work spread to Europe in the early 18th century. Usually decorated.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.