How to Read Science Textbooks

Studying the sciences requires an understanding of two things: terminology and concepts. By reading this article, you will learn the basic techniques used to effectively read college science textbooks by better studying these two components. Whether studying biology, chemistry or physics, using strategies to learn terminology and effectively conceptualize scientific processes will help you understand the subject. Labs are also discussed since, although they are not part of most college textbooks, they are nonetheless an important part of any science class.

Things You'll Need

• Science textbook Notebook Writing utensil

Instructions

Learning the Terminology

1. Turn your attention to terminology. Even before the first day of class, it is a good idea to skim the first few chapters of your textbook. In learning scientific terminology, it is good to know how you best learn. Visual learners may do best by seeing the word and writing it down along with its definition. Auditory listeners may find it easier to hear the word spoken and defined by the professor in class. Either way, always write down the terms in your notes. Writing something down employs more of your brain and body in the learning process, making it easier to recall what you are learning later. Also, writing words down provides you with easy reference when studying for exams and writing research papers.

2. Learn the root words on which the terminology is based to aid your studying. Many textbooks will provide this information next to the term as it is introduced. For example, next to the term "biosphere" may be a parenthetical etymology breaking up the term into "bio," which is Greek for "life," and "sphere," which is Latin for "globe." Scientific terms may be difficult for many native-born Americans to pronounce because they are often based on ancient Greek and Latin words. For example, an ichthyologist is a scientist who studies fish. "Ichthy" comes from the ancient Greek word for "fish," and "logist" is derived from the ancient Greek word "logos," which means "the study of." When you know a few of the root words, its much easier to understand other new terms.

3. Pronounce each word to yourself and write its definition to associate it with this meaning, just as if you were learning a new language. If you are majoring in a scientific field and already have grasp of a good deal of terminology, you still want to learn all new terms quickly so that taking exams and writing papers becomes that much easier.

Studying the Concepts

1. Realize that good scientific understanding requires a good imagination, regardless of the field. For instance, by imagining the way a red blood cell moves through the body, you can more easily comprehend the complications that arise from an illness like sickle-cell anemia. Due to the exposure that many Americans have to medical and biological concepts via the media, it may be relatively easy to imagine a medical phenomena like a heart attack or stroke. Commercials and even popular television crime shows often graphically depict health and environmental problems.

2. Use this idea of graphically understanding a phenomenon to learn a new concept. For example, when you are studying the heart, examine the textbook illustrations on what a human heart looks like and imagine it working to pump blood through the body, as specifically described in the text. To better understand the function of the arteries, ventricles and other parts of the heart, write down each term and its definition. If you are a good artist, try drawing a heart yourself. If not, simply visualize its basic structures and note the names of each part.

3. Apply effective visualization techniques to scientific fields like environmental science. To understand a concept like air pollution, you may want to sketch the many ways pollutants get into the air and how they affect people, plants and animals. To use your time most efficiently, it may be best to write the name of a concept, then draw an arrow next to the concept relating to it. For instance, when reading about the water cycle, you can write the word "ocean," then draw an up arrow and write the word "clouds" above it. Then draw another downward arrow and write the word "land." Below that word, write the term "ground water." This very basic illustration allows you to see that words can help you visualize a broad scientific principle or theory.

4. Understand that chemistry concepts may be more difficult to learn, depending on your intellectual strengths. Popular media generally does not depict things like carbon atoms or water molecules on TV shows or commercials. Although you may find it easy to understand that water is composed of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms, it may be harder to understand the reason why these atoms pair up so well together and the principles behind water's three distinct states as a solid, gas and liquid.

5. Utilize modeling tools to comprehend the structure of more complex molecules like acetic acid. The most basic type of modeling tool are stick and ball chemistry sets. Your college bookstore may have these sets. They can also be obtained online at the Indigo website. These sets contain color-coded balls that signify a certain atom. For instance, a black ball may represent nitrogen, and a yellow ball may represent carbon. Little wooden sticks represent the bonds between the atoms. Such modeling allows something that may be difficult for you to imagine become more understandable. This is even more important if you take advanced chemistry classes. Organic and physical chemistry can be very difficult without being able to accurately visualize the molecules, their properties and how the molecules interact with one another.

6. Use the same techniques to study physics just like with chemistry and biology, with one major difference. Physics, more so than the previous two sciences, is very math-based. Depending on your strengths, you may want to focus on one area of learning physics more than the other. In other words, if math is your strength, then you will still need to study the formulas. But the bulk of your time may best be spent studying the concepts and terms. If terms and concepts are your strong suit, then you may want to spend most of your time working on physics formulas. In either case, it is very important to check your work. There is no point in doing math problems if you consistently get the wrong answer and never change your strategy.

7. Take an additional class, if your major warrants it. You may have heard that in order to do well in physics you have to take calculus. Certainly similar concepts like instantaneous velocity and acceleration are explored in both subjects. Generally, it will be helpful to have some acquaintance with calculus. But if you are only required to take a basic physics course for your major, then the text should give you all you need.

A Brief Word About Labs

1. Do your lab work. Laboratory work, also called practicums, is another important part of college science courses. Lab activities are often not included in college-level science books, as there usually is a separate text and course for them.

2. Approach lab work as you would textbook work. At this point, however, the terms have generally been learned and you are gaining a deeper understanding of the concepts. Focus on what you are being asked to do and how it relates to the concept being discussed in the text. Lab work consists of experiments that seek to answer questions. If you are creating acetylsalicylic acid in chemistry lab, you should ask yourself why mixing certain compounds will give you acetylsalicylic acid and not something else like salicylic acid, which is topically used to treat acne. You should learn either via the textbook or lab book that acetylsalicylic acid is the scientific name for aspirin. Ask yourself what properties of this substance make it good for treating the things aspirin is used for, like inflammation and blood-clot prevention.

3. Approach biology and physics labs with the same mindset. What questions are you trying to answer and how do these answers relate to what you are currently reading in the text? Ask yourself, why DNA looks the way it does when extracted? What physical and chemical properties of DNA allow it to be extracted using certain compounds and not others? When doing a physics lab studying velocity, as an illustration, ask yourself what determines the velocity a certain object will have compared to a different object. What physical properties of a material adversely affects velocity? Often your lab book will have the questions being answered in the same section as the experiment. Try to always answer them by the end of the experiment.

Resources

• Indigo Instruments website