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Adam Ruben's tongue-in-cheek column about the common difficulties and frustrations of reading a scientific paper broadly resonated among Science Careers readers. Many of you have come to us asking for more (and more serious) advice on how to make sense of the scientific literature, so we've asked a dozen scientists at different career stages and in a broad range of fields to tell us how they do it. Although it is clear that reading scientific papers becomes easier with experience, the stumbling blocks are real, and it is up to each scientist to identify and apply the techniques that work best for them. The responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Annenberg Learner on content literacy; 10 step interactive website. 1) what is disciplinary literacy 2) Big Ideas 3) Reading 4) Writing 5) Content Specific Big Ideas in Literacy 6) Reading in Content Area (Science) 7) Writing in Sciene 8) Bringing it all together 

As you read the chapters in Stiff, attach a post-it note to pages where you highlight something interesting. You should have 4-10 Post-It's per chapter, use the following symbol guide to create your notes. Stiff has 12 chapters, you are only required to map (Post-It) 8 of those chapters. You are welcome to read them all, of course, but you can also choose to focus on chapters that interest you the most or skip those you do not find interesting. You may wish to skim the chapters or browse the table of contents. Each Post-It will contain three items 1. Symbol (see chart) 2. Page and paragraph number 3. Content

Subject Guides. Longview - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Common Reading Project. Lesson Plans/Study Guides.

Subject Guides. Longview - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Common Reading Project. Lesson Plans/Study Guides.

Ability to read and comprehend complex text, while taking concise notes that reflect this comprehension

Common Core Standards for Science and Technical Subjects focus mainly literacy.   Teachers of science are expected to promote skills in students that allow them to read technical nonfiction texts.  Reading standards can be summarized as follows:

Collection of reading comprehension strategies that can readily transfer across content areas.

Newsela is an innovative way to build reading comprehension with nonfiction that's always relevant: daily news. It's easy and amazing. See the impact Newsela can have on your classroom.

"Reading and understanding scientific literature can be a daunting task for students in introductory science courses. This decision/dilemma case study helps ease them into the process by using a short scientific article with a simple experimental design that compares two types of ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) surgery, autograft and allograft. The case tells the story of Todd, a martial artist who recently tore his ACL in competition. With the help of the article, Todd discusses the potential surgical options provided by his doctor with his friend, Sam, a medical student. The case has the added value of demonstrating how one can use scientific literature to make informed healthcare decisions based on clinical evidence. Please note that the required article (Kane et al., Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy 24(11): 3627-33) is not provided with this case; prior to assigning this material, instructors should confirm that students can access the article, since access may vary by institution."

We went to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to get the lowdown on the CRISPR gene-editing patent dispute. Read C&EN's coverage here:

This directed case study follows two college roommates, Darrell and Anthony, who have just returned to school after winter vacation. They share that their ageing fathers are concerned about their declining faculties and are amused by their fathers' efforts to reverse the process.  Darrell's dad plays "brain games" on the computer while Anthony's father believes running will slow his memory decline. Intrigued, the roommates search through their biopsychology class notes to find out whether their fathers are correct. They review the topics of synaptic formation and plasticity, including axonal and dendritic development, and chemical factors in the brain that promote the survival and growth of neurons or stop the genetically programmed death of neurons. Based on research findings, students reading this case will decide whether Darrell and Anthony's fathers are correct in their assertions. The case is appropriate for a wide variety of courses including introductory anatomy or physiology, or for upper-division biopsychology, biology, or neuroscience courses.

This case study takes place at a fictional biotechnology company developing herbicides against invasive plant species. The case study focuses on five herbicides with different effects on photosynthesis. Students play the role of lab interns and explore photosynthesis and the herbicide effects by engaging in concept mapping, experimental design, data manipulation, and data analysis. The goal is to use the experimental data to predict the steps in photosynthesis that are inhibited by each herbicide. Students should come away from the case study with a process-based understanding of photosynthesis. This case study is designed for the "flipped" classroom with suggested preparatory videos and associated assessment questions included. Videos can be supplemented with textbook readings or mini-lectures. This activity was developed for a non-majors introductory biology course but it could also be used in any general biology course, including majors' courses. It might also be used to establish foundational knowledge for more advanced discussions of photosynthesis in plant biology (botany) courses.

This case study was developed to teach students the importance of understanding the behavior of wildlife, explore the difficulty in making management decisions when the public is invested in a species, and to help students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills. Students learn about the conservation status and behavior of the black rhinoceros by reading a primary literature article and answering a series of questions. They then listen to a Radiolab podcast that explores the moral dilemma of whether it is ethically appropriate to shoot an endangered rhinoceros if the purpose is to raise conservation funds. Students are assigned one of five positions and write essays to prepare for a town hall style debate in which they examine the pros and cons of such a decision. The Radiolab podcast is based on real events, and is also representative of many ethical dilemmas that wildlife managers regularly face. This case study is appropriate for several upper division biology courses.

Almost every cell in your body has the same DNA sequence. So how come a heart cell is different from a brain cell? Cells use their DNA code in different ways, depending on their jobs. Just like orchestras can perform one piece of music in many different ways. A cell's combined set of changes in gene expression is called its epigenome. This week Nature publishes a slew of new data on the epigenomic landscape in lots of different cells. Learn how epigenomics works in this video. Read the latest research on epigenetics at http://www.nature.com/epigenomeroadmap

Neonatologist Gurvir Khurana had only read about it in textbooks. Seeing it in real life has been a shock: baby after baby born severely anemic, lungs filled with fluid, bodies covered with rashes. Some only lived minutes; others died within days or weeks. The cause: congenital syphilis.

Readings of milestone biological discoveries and the scientist behind them

The online textbook provides a background to understand and discuss the natural functioning of the different Earth systems; it introduces humans as part of the overall ecosystem and explores what is needed to sustain human life; and it looks at the effects that human actions have on different natural systems. The online textbook also includes full-color images of related figures, glossary terms, and a bibliography for further reading.

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was one of the great feats of exploration in history - an inward voyage of discovery rather than an outward exploration of the planet or the cosmos; an international research effort to sequence and map all of the genes - together known as the genome - of members of our species, Homo sapiens. Completed in April 2003, the HGP gave us the ability, for the first time, to read nature's complete genetic blueprint for building a human being.

At about 3 billion letters long, reading and finding anything meaningful in the human genome is a daunting task. But that's just what genome researchers do. This interactive feature provides a microscopic view of some of what they've found on our 24 chromosomes, including the locations of about 200 different genes, especially those that have been associated with disease.

The Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC), developed the following fact sheets in respect of stem cell science and related topics. Please note that whilst the Fact Sheets were updated shortly before the ASCC closed in 2011, users should note that they are no longer being updated and be aware that the content in them may be out of date. Although the content of the fact sheets is unlikely to have been superseded please do not rely on them for any decision-making purposes and they should be used as part of a wider reading program on the subjects.