Writing-to-learn (WTL) is an instructional strategy that supports student learning. Ideally, WTL activities allow learners to organize their thoughts and reflect on their own conceptual understanding. Studies in undergraduate biology courses have demonstrated that WTL strategies resulted in increased student learning outcomes, increased use of abstract concepts over the duration of a semester, synthesis of new knowledge across course lectures and readings, and the use of varying types of evidence to support claims in persuasive writing tasks. Helping students explore how to make meaning of abstract biological concepts is important if we expect our students to develop writing-to-communicate skills, an essential aspect of scientific literacy.