Want to improve your students' science literacy? Included are 10 freshwater writing prompts on the following topics:

1. Scientific Method- Evaporation

2. Salinity

3. Ocean floor exploration

4. Ocean floor geography

5. Ocean productivity

6. Tides

7. Hydrothermal vents

8. Sediment cores

9. Surface currents

10. Ocean acidification

Why use writing prompts?

All students need to improve their writing skills, especially english language learners. I created these writing prompts specifically for my ELL students. Writing is typically one of the lowest scoring categories on the state language proficiency exam. To help them improve, I assigned a writing prompt for homework BEFORE the lesson was taught. The goal is for students to think and write about scientific phenomena. Having them answer the prompt before the lesson was taught allowed me to assess prior knowledge, address misconceptions, and guide my teaching.

What's included?

- PDF of 10 writing prompts with teacher answer key (13 pages)

- Google slide student version (10 slides)