ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “pose questions and make predictions based on experiences”
Builds on the everyday wondering young children already do when they play. Here a wondering turns into a question you can try out, and a guess turns into a prediction that has a reason. Both come from things you have already seen, touched and felt.
From wondering to a question you can try
You wonder about lots of things. Will the ice cube melt faster on the sunny windowsill or in the shady cupboard? To turn a wondering into a question you can try, you pick one thing to change. You change the sunny or shady spot, and keep everything else the same. Then you can watch and find out.
Make a question you can try out
You have two ice cubes the same. You want to ask which melts faster. Choose the one thing you will change.
You wonder if an ice cube melts faster in the sun. You put one ice cube on the sunny windowsill and one in the shady cupboard.
Variable being tested: Sunny spot or shady spot (this one we change)
The one thing you change on purpose
Not a fair test yet: more than one thing is changing, so you could not tell which change caused the result. Hold every other variable the same.
Make a guess with a reason
A prediction is your best guess about what will happen, and it has a reason. You have felt that the sun is warm. So you can predict: the ice in the sun will melt faster, because the sun is warm. A guess with a reason from what you already know is a real prediction, not just a random word.
Which findings back up the guess?
Your guess: the ice in the sun melts faster. Tap the everyday things that help show this is true.
Claim: The ice cube in the sun melts faster than the one in the shady cupboard.
The sunny windowsill feels warm when you touch it.
After lunch, the sunny ice was a small puddle but the shady ice was still hard.
The bowl on the windowsill was your favourite colour.
When the sun came out, the snowman outside got smaller.
You wore your red socks on the day of the test.
Decide whether each statement is evidence for the claim, or not.
Look at what you found
When you try things and write down what you see, you look for a pattern. A class checked the shady cupboard each hour to see how much ice was left. Most readings went down little by little. As you read them, look for the one that does not fit. A reading that jumps out is a good one to check again.
Find the reading to check again
A class measured how tall the shady ice cube was, in millimetres, each hour. One number does not fit the slow melt.
Click the point that does not fit the pattern of the others.
Why this matters
Every scientist begins by wondering, then asking a question they can try, then guessing what will happen and why. Learning to pick one thing to change and to guess with a reason from what you have seen is the very first step in finding things out. You already do it every time you play and wonder.
Quick self-check
1. Which one is a good question to test with a try-it?
2. You wonder if an ice cube melts faster in the sun. To find out, the one thing you change is...
3. A prediction is...
4. Which prediction uses something you already know?
5. After you make a prediction, the next thing to do is...