The language of science is characterized by a wide presence of figurative language, mainly used to facilitate the comprehension of concepts often difficult to understand if expressed literally. As a consequence, English non-native science students must not only understand discipline-specific texts in English, but also be able to interpret metaphorical language. The paper presents a teaching project conducted in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses for science students at the National University of Rio Cuarto, Argentina, and aimed at developing and improving metaphorical competence in ESP classes. The theoretical assumptions the project relies on as well as the teaching ideas, activities and sample exercises presented to the students, as part of the project, are described and discussed.