Asking and Predicting: a skill companion
A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: noticing something, turning it into a question you can try out, and making a good guess from what you have seen. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.
What a skill companion is
Inquiry skills are not a topic of their own. They grow inside the science units a class teaches all year, such as Looking at Living Things, What Things Are Made Of and How Things Move. So this pack is not a full term of lessons. It is three reusable scaffolds, a map of where they fit, and a short stand-alone lesson for teaching the skill on its own first.
Start here: five minutes
- Read the pairing map on the next page: it shows which scaffold fits which science lesson.
- Print the planner and the prediction frame, one each per child, whenever a lesson asks a question you can try out.
- Cut out the question cards once. They are reused all year, in any topic.
- Open the free interactive unit on your board when you want a worked example of the skill.
- Run the one-page mini-lesson first if you want to teach the skill before folding it into a topic.
No science background needed
This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Each scaffold explains itself in plain words, and the answer sheet gives model responses and look-fors for every Foundation topic, so you can walk in and use it.
Slot the skill into your science lessons
The same skill of asking a question and making a guess fits into every science unit. This map shows a pattern children can notice in each Foundation topic, a question to pose, and which scaffold to reach for. You do not run these as extra lessons; you fold them into the science you teach.
| When you teach | Pattern children can see | Question to pose | Scaffold to slot in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Looking at Living Things (AC9SFU01) | Some animals have wings, some do not | Do all birds have wings? | Planner, then the prediction frame |
| What Things Are Made Of (AC9SFU03) | Some materials bend, others are stiff | Does every material bend the same way? | Planner, then the prediction frame |
| How Things Move (AC9SFU02) | Round things roll further than flat things | Does a round thing roll further than a flat thing? | Question cards first, then the planner |
| Any science topic | A pattern a child spots for themselves | The child turns what they noticed into their own question | Question cards first, then the planner |
The three moves, and the picture that backs each one
When you want a worked example on the board, open the interactive unit and use the picture that matches the move children are working on.
- Turn a wondering into a question you can try out: “Make a question you can try out”.
- Choose the one thing to change: press “Let it vary” and “Kept the same”.
- Sort the everyday clues that back up a guess: “Which findings back up the guess?”.
How the scaffolds build the skill
The planner turns something a child noticed into a question that can be tried out. The prediction frame adds a good guess with a reason from experience. The question cards sharpen the hardest part: telling a question you can try out from an opinion no test can settle. Used together across the year, they make asking and predicting a habit.
I noticed something
Be a wondering detective. When you notice something happening, you can turn it into a question and try it out.
A pattern I noticed
My question about the pattern
A good question is one you can try out. These openers can help.
- Does ______ ... ?
- What happens if ______ ?
- Which one ______ more?
How we could try it
Teacher note: if a child ticks “Not yet”, help them reword it into something they can watch or feel, or sort it with the question cards first.
My good guess
A prediction is a good guess. It says what you think will happen and gives a reason from something you have seen before.
Before we test
My guess: what I think will happen.Draw what I think will happen
After we test
What really happened:A guess that turns out wrong is still good science: you found something out.
Can we try this question out?
Cut out the cards. Sort them into two piles: questions we can try out, and questions we cannot. Some cards are opinions or feelings, and no test can settle those.
Teacher note: the two piles are “we can try it out” and “we cannot”. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why. Blank cards let children add their own.
Ask and guess
Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the skill on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. It runs the three scaffolds in this pack in one short block, so children meet the whole skill in one go and then reuse the sheets all year.
We are learning to
- notice something in what we see,
- turn it into a question we can try out,
- make a good guess and give a reason from what we know.
Success criteria
- I can ask a question I can try out.
- I can make a guess and say why I think it.
You need
- the question cards (scaffold 3), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
- the planner and the prediction frame (scaffolds 1 and 2), one each per child,
- a few things that show a pattern: a ball and a wooden block, or a full box and an empty box,
- the free interactive unit on your board, if you have one (optional).
Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)
| 5 min | Have a wonder Roll a round ball, then slide a flat block, a few times each. Let children call out what they notice. Ask: “What do you notice about which things roll far and which things stay put?” |
| 10 min | Try it out, or not? Tables sort the question cards into two piles: questions we can try out, and questions we cannot. Bring the class together on one tricky card. Ask: “Could we try this one out, or is it just what someone likes? Could two people who disagree both be right?” |
| 10 min | Plan and predict Each child fills the planner with something they noticed and a question they can try out, then the prediction frame with a guess and a reason. Move around and help children reword any question they cannot yet try out. |
| 5 min | Share A few children read out their question and their guess. Celebrate a clear reason more than a right answer. Ask: “What have you seen before that makes you think that will happen?” |
Running it shorter? Stop after Try it out, or not, and pick up Plan and predict inside your next science lesson, where children plan a real try-it.
Watch for these ideas
- An opinion dressed up as a question, like “which is nicest?”. If two people who disagree could both be right, it is not a test.
- A guess with no reason. Ask what they have seen before that points that way.
- Wanting to change everything at once. Keep it to one change so the answer is clear.
Make it easier, make it bigger
- Easier: sort just four question cards, two you can try out and two you cannot.
- Bigger: write a brand-new question you can try out on a blank card and swap it with another table to sort.
Answers and look-fors
The next sheet has the card answers, model responses for the planner and prediction frame across the Foundation topics, and a quick three-level guide.
Answers and look-fors
Question cards: which can we try out?
| Question card | Can we try it out? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Does a round thing roll further than a flat thing? | Yes | You can give a ball and a box the same push and watch which one goes further. |
| Which animal is the cutest? | No | Cutest is an opinion. People would answer differently, so no test can settle it. |
| Do all birds have wings? | Yes | You can look at many birds and check whether each one has wings. |
| Is red the best colour? | No | Best is an opinion. Different people like different colours, so there is no fair test. |
| Does a hard push send a ball further than a soft push? | Yes | You can push the same ball softly then hard and mark how far it goes each time. |
| Is the sun happy? | No | The sun does not have feelings, so there is nothing you could watch or measure to find out. |
| Are metal spoons cold when you first touch them? | Yes | You can touch many metal spoons and record how each one feels. |
| Which snack is the yummiest? | No | Yummiest is an opinion. People would pick different snacks, so no test can settle it. |
| Does a heavier box need a bigger push to move? | Yes | You can push a full box and an empty box and feel which needs a bigger push. |
The blank cards children write are marked the same way: can we watch or feel the answer, or is it an opinion two people could disagree on?
Planner and prediction frame: what a good response sounds like
Responses will vary, and that is fine. The point is a question that can be tried out and a guess with a reason. Here is what an at-standard response sounds like in each Foundation topic.
| Topic | A question at standard | A prediction at standard |
|---|---|---|
| Living things | Do all birds have wings? | I think all the birds we see will have wings, because every bird I have watched had wings, even when it was not flying. |
| Materials | Does every material bend the same way? | I think the rubber band will bend and the wooden stick will not, because I have bent rubber bands and wooden sticks stay stiff. |
| Movement | Does a round thing roll further than a flat thing? | I think the ball will roll further than the block, because round things I have pushed before kept rolling and flat things stopped. |
A quick three-level guide
| Move | Working towards | At standard | Beyond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ask a testable question | asks a question with help, sometimes an opinion | asks a question that can be tried out | reworks an opinion into a question that can be tried out |
| Predict with a reason | makes a guess with no reason | says what will happen and gives a reason from experience | links the reason to a clear pattern seen before |
| Keep the test fair | wants to change several things at once | keeps everything the same but the one thing being tested | explains why changing one thing makes the answer clear |
A child at standard asks a question that can be tried out and gives a guess with a reason. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back in every science topic.