Step 1: Identify Terms and Symbols

The above picture is a typical scorecard from a single game of bowling. There are a set of 10 boxes numbered respectively 1 through 10. These numbers represent the individual opportunities to knock down 10 pins. These are called frames. In each frame, you get to throw two balls. Unless, you knock down all 10 on the first ball, then you only get one throw. This is called a strike. If you knock down the remaining 10 pins on the second ball, then you will receive a spare. Basically, when you have no pins remaining after the second ball then you receive a spare. If you have pins remaining after the second thrown, then you say that the frame is open. In order to get an open, that means that you would have thrown a ball and not hit any pins. This is called a miss. The last basic term is the split. A split occurs when two conditions are met. One: The pin closest to the bowler, the head pin, has been knocked down. Two: Two or more pins are left standing with gaps between them where a pin would have been had it not been knocked down. I will now identify how each are marked on a scorecard.

Term
Symbol
Extra Info
Strike
The Strike is designated with a capital "X". It can be seen in frames 3,4,7, and 10.
 3 strikes in a row is called a turkey. If you bowl a strike on the first throw in the 10th frame, then you get two more throws. This only occurs in the 10th frame.
Spare
The Spare is designated with a "/". It can be seen in frames 2 and 8.
 You can bowl a 190 with only spares. If you bowl a spare in the 10th frame, then you get one more throw.
Miss
The Miss is designated with a "-". It can be seen in the 1st frame.
 The miss is worth 0 pins. If you throw a miss on the first ball of a frame, it is called a gutter ball because you will have thrown your ball into the grooved portions on each side of the lane. These are called gutters.
Split
The Split is designated with a red circle drawn around the number of pins knocked down on the first throw. It can be seen in the 5th frame.
 Splits are some of the toughest shots to convert. The toughest split is called the 7-10 split. It contains the two outside pins of the row farthest away from the bowler.