Connecting and Analysing Data: a skill companion
A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill at Year 10 depth: connecting two or more data sets to find a relationship neither shows alone, separating a trend from a regular cycle, checking an anomaly before deciding whether it is an error or a real exception, and explaining each pattern with a model. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the lessons you already teach.
What a skill companion is
Inquiry skills are not a topic of their own. They grow inside the units a class teaches all year. 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 gives two data sets to connect, the pattern and the anomaly for each Year 10 topic.
- Print the connect sheet when a class has two kinds of data on the same things, and the trend sheet when it has a long record.
- Cut out the cards once. They are reused all year.
- 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.
The step up from Year 9
The descriptor is the same in Years 9 and 10; the depth is not. In Year 9 students connected two data sets about one system. In Year 10 they connect three, extrapolate a trend and test the prediction, take a regular cycle out of a long record to see the trend beneath it, and treat an anomaly as a question: a fault to correct, or a real exception that the model must explain.
Slot the skill into your science lessons
A pattern in one data set describes; two data sets together explain. This map gives, for each Year 10 topic, two kinds of data to connect, the pattern they show together, and an anomaly worth checking.
| When you teach | Connect | The pattern together | An anomaly to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heredity: Cell Division and Inheritance (AC9S10U01) | Counts of offspring, and a Punnett square | Counts near the ratio the square predicts | A count far from it: a mislabelled parent, or too few offspring |
| Evolution by Natural Selection (AC9S10U02) | Fossil ages, and differences in DNA between living species | Species that split longer ago differ more | A species that fits one record but not the other |
| The Big Bang and the Universe (AC9S10U03) | Galaxy distances, and their red shifts | More distant galaxies move away faster | A nearby galaxy moving towards us, pulled by its neighbour |
| Energy Flow and Climate Change (AC9S10U04) | Carbon dioxide in the air, and global temperature, over decades | Both rise, with year-to-year ups and downs | A cool year after a large volcanic eruption |
| Newton’s Laws of Motion (AC9S10U05) | Acceleration at each force, and at each mass | a rises with force and falls with mass, as a = F ÷ m says | One run far off the line: a knocked gate or a push |
| Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table (AC9S10U06) | Atomic radius, and ionisation energy | Bigger atoms lose their outer electron more easily | Aluminium and sulfur in Period 3; francium in Group 1 |
| Reaction Types and Rates (AC9S10U07) | Rate at each temperature, and at each concentration | Both speed the reaction, by more collisions or more energetic ones | A run with old, tarnished ribbon |
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.
- Connect two data sets about the same things: “Atomic radius across Period 3” beside “First ionisation energy across Period 3”.
- Find the point that breaks the pattern, then check it: “Find the element that breaks the connected pattern”.
- Keep only the explanations the data supports: “Which explanations does the connected data support?”.
Three data sets, one explanation
Each column on its own shows a trend down Group 1. Connected, they point to one explanation. Read them together, explain the pattern with a model of the atom, then use the trends to predict the next element down, francium, and see whether the prediction holds.
| Element | Atomic radius (pm) | First ionisation energy (kJ/mol) | Melting point (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Li (lithium) | 152 | 520 | 181 |
| Na (sodium) | 186 | 496 | 98 |
| K (potassium) | 227 | 419 | 63 |
| Rb (rubidium) | 248 | 403 | 39 |
| Cs (caesium) | 265 | 376 | 28 |
| Fr (francium) | predict: | predict: | predict: |
A. Read them together
B. Explain
C. Predict and test
A long record: what is a trend, what is a cycle, what is a fault?
Practice data: a school weather station’s mean temperature (°C) for each month of three years. A season’s cycle repeats every year; a trend is a change from year to year underneath it; an anomaly is a value that fits neither. Compare the same month across the years to see the trend.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Mean | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 21.8 | 22.1 | 20.2 | 17.1 | 14.2 | 11.9 | 11.0 | 12.1 | 13.9 | 16.0 | 18.4 | 20.3 | |
| Year 2 | 22.0 | 22.4 | 20.5 | 17.3 | 14.5 | 12.1 | 11.3 | 12.4 | 14.1 | 16.3 | 18.6 | 20.6 | |
| Year 3 | 22.3 | 22.6 | 20.7 | 17.6 | 14.6 | 12.4 | 11.5 | 2.6 | 14.4 | 16.5 | 18.9 | 20.8 |
A. The cycle
B. The anomaly
C. The trend
Which explanation does each pattern need?
Cut out the twelve cards. Six describe a pattern in Year 10 data; six give an explanation. Pair each pattern with the explanation it needs. Then, for each pair, name a second kind of data that would test the explanation.
Teacher note: the answer sheet lists the pairs, and a second data set that would test each explanation.
Two cups, two data sets
Two identical cups of warm water cool side by side, one with a lid and one without. A thermometer record shows the open cup cooling faster, but not why. A second data set does: the open cup also loses more mass, because water evaporates from it and carries energy away. Connecting the two records explains the pattern, and a reading taken with the thermometer touching the cup’s side gives the class an anomaly to check.
We are learning to
- connect two kinds of data about the same things to explain a pattern,
- describe a trend and a difference between two records,
- check an anomaly before deciding whether to keep it.
Success criteria
- I can explain why the open cup cooled faster, using both the temperatures and the masses.
- I can say whether an odd reading is a fault or real, and what I did about it.
You need
- for each pair: two identical cups, a lid for one, two thermometers or a probe, a balance reading to 0.1 g, a heatproof mat, and warm water (about 60 °C) poured by the teacher,
- the connect and trend sheets (scaffolds 1 and 2), and the cards from scaffold 3, one set per table. Hot water: cups on mats, away from edges.
Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)
| 5 min | Set up Pairs weigh both cups with the same volume of warm water, put the lid on one, and read both temperatures. Ask: “We already know the open cup will cool faster. What second measurement could tell us why?” |
| 15 min | Record two data sets Pairs read both temperatures every 2 minutes for 14 minutes, keeping the thermometer in the middle of the water, then weigh both cups again. Show the board (see the box) while they wait. Ask: “One reading jumped by 4 °C and came back. What could cause that, and what should we do with it?” |
| 7 min | Connect Pairs work out the temperature drop and the mass lost for each cup and write one sentence that uses both. While the class compares, tables match the cards. Ask: “Which data set describes the pattern, and which one explains it?” |
| 3 min | Next question Pairs write one question the connected data raises, such as whether a fan would widen the gap. |
Running it shorter? Stop after the readings, and connect the two data sets in your next science lesson.
Watch for these ideas
- Explaining with one data set what only the second can show.
- Deleting an odd reading without checking it, or keeping a reading known to be faulty.
- Reading a short record’s ups and downs as a trend.
Make it easier, make it bigger
- Easier: give pairs a results table with columns for time, both temperatures, and the start and end masses.
- Bigger: add a third cup with a lid and a hole in it. Predict both of its records before measuring them.
Answers and look-fors
The next sheet has the connected Group 1 data and francium, the trend with the fault corrected, the card pairs, and a quick three-level guide.
Answers and look-fors
Connect the data
Down Group 1 the radius grows (152, 186, 227, 248, 265 pm) while the ionisation energy falls (520, 496, 419, 403, 376 kJ/mol) and so does the melting point (181, 98, 63, 39, 28 °C). One more shell puts the outer electron further from the nucleus and behind more inner electrons, so it is held less tightly: it is easier to remove (the metals react faster with water down the group) and the metal’s bonding is weaker (it melts at a lower temperature). The trends predict francium below 376 kJ/mol, perhaps about 360. The measured value is about 393 kJ/mol: higher than caesium’s, a real exception. In very heavy atoms the electrons near the large nucleus move so fast that relativity matters, and the outer electron is held closer than the simple model says: the model needs refining. Deciding fault or real needs independent measurements that agree, which francium’s do.
Trend, cycle and anomaly
The cycle: warmest in Feb, coolest in Jul, the southern summer and winter. The anomaly: Year 3, Aug, 2.6 °C, about 10 degrees below the same month in other years and below its own neighbours: almost certainly a logger fault (a flat battery, a sensor moved into the shade, a dropped digit). Check the logger and its log; a fair estimate is the mean of its neighbours, 13 °C. Yearly means with the fault: 16.6, 16.8, 16.2 °C, as if the third year cooled. With the estimate: 16.6, 16.8, 17.1 °C: a small rise each year. Three years is far too short to call a climate trend; decades are needed.
Pattern and explanation cards (pairs)
| Cards | Pattern | A second data set to test the explanation |
|---|---|---|
| G and A | Atomic radius increases down Group 1. | the number of occupied shells in each atom’s electron arrangement |
| D and J | First ionisation energy falls down Group 1. | how fast each metal reacts with water (on video) |
| E and L | A reaction speeds up faster and faster as the temperature rises. | the rate at one temperature with more and with fewer particles |
| B and H | Carbon dioxide in the air rises and falls within each year while climbing from year to year. | the same record from a station in the southern hemisphere, where the yearly swing is smaller |
| K and F | Crossing two Tt plants gives about three tall offspring to every short one. | a test cross of the tall plants with short ones |
| I and C | The further away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away. | the cosmic microwave background: the cooled glow left from when the universe was hot and dense |
A quick three-level guide
| Move | Working towards | At standard | Beyond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pattern and trend | describes single values | describes the trend in each data set and the relationship between them | separates a trend from a regular cycle in a long record |
| Explanation | restates the pattern as its own reason | explains the connected pattern with a model | uses the model to predict, then tests the prediction |
| Anomaly | ignores it, or deletes it without a reason | checks it and decides whether it is a fault | tells a fault from a real exception that the model must explain |
In the mini-lesson, the open cup cools faster and loses more mass: evaporation carries energy away, and the lid stops most of it. A brief jump of a few degrees is usually the thermometer touching the cup or lifted into the air; note it and repeat the reading.