A semantic web visually represents concepts and their relationships in an organized schema. It is an aid to comprehending printed material in a more concrete way through the illustration of main ideas, supporting details, and their relationships in a reading selection. A semantic web consists of four basic components: (1) a core question asked by the teacher to stimulate and direct student discussion; (2) web strands consisting of the answers gleaned from the students' discussion; (3) strand supports, the facts or information in the selection that support the web strands; and (4) strand ties that indicate supporting details as well as interstrand relationships. Among the steps teachers might follow in developing a semantic web for a selection in science are developing a core question, having students read with the core question in mind, listing the students' responses on the board, and assisting the students in determining relationships among the strand supports. (JL)