**5. Conclusion**

This chapter concludes with the components of a pedagogical approach in virtual science teaching that aims to provide virtual hands-on content and language practice for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students, such as SLLs, to 'do science' and 'talk science'. The author featured the use of technology applications in which teachers create opportunities for SLL students to interact with online simulations and use the CER explanations framework to construct oral/written scientific explanations. Constructing scientific explanations is a discourse practice in scientific communities used to communicate understanding and findings about inquiry investigations and make contributions to science knowledge construction. Sociocultural and sociolinguistic theories informed the pedagogical approach presented to better understand how language is used as social semiotic tool for sense-making. The sociocultural theoretical constructs of mediation and zone of proximal development informed the instructional process used in the explore and explain phases of the 5E learning cycle to create opportunities for CLD students to make sense of science phenomena. Sociolinguistic theory informs the use of language in the ideational, interpersonal, and textual functions through Systemic Functional Linguistics to propose how students can interact with content and explain science phenomena in coherent and cohesive ways.
