In recent weeks I have become interested in the topic of reading in content areas. After spending quite a bit of time browsing, reading, talking to knowledgeable people, and so on, I have come to the conclusion that our K-12 education system is not doing very well in helping students learn to read in content areas such as math and science.
What appears to be happening is that our educational system works on helping students build vocabulary, both in general and within specific disciplines such as science and math. However, knowing the vocabulary is only a modest part of what it takes to read science and math with understanding.
I am reminded of when I used to teach computer programming in FORTRAN using a book with a title "Ten Statement FORTRAN." Learning to program in FORTRAN certainly involves learning some vocabulary. However, learning the vocabulary is a tiny fraction of what it means ot learn to be a good programmer in a programming language.