ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “describe how people use science in their daily lives, including using patterns to make scientific predictions”
Builds on noticing things that happen again and again. Here we meet ordinary people at work, a nurse, a cook and a gardener, who all use science. They watch for a pattern, then use it to make a good guess about what will happen next.
People use science at work and at home
Science is not only for people in laboratories. A nurse, a cook and a gardener all use it every day. The trick is to notice a pattern. A pattern is when the same thing keeps happening the same way. When you spot a pattern, you can make a good guess about what comes next. That good guess is called a prediction.
A nurse spots a pattern in the temperature
Press the button to add each reading the nurse takes. Watch how a steady pattern, and then a change in it, lets the nurse make a better guess about how a patient is doing.
New evidence (1 of 4)
Morning 1: The nurse gently checks the temperature and writes it down. It is a normal, steady number.
Accepted model: One reading on its own does not tell you much yet. The nurse keeps watching.
Add the next piece of evidence and watch whether the accepted model holds or has to change.
A cook reads the timer
A cook makes the same soup often. The cook has learned that the soup is ready after the same amount of time, again and again. So the cook sets a kitchen timer. The timer uses that pattern to predict the moment the soup is done. Without the pattern, the soup might burn or stay raw. There is more than one way to know when food is cooked, and each way has a good side and a tricky side.
Pick a way to know when the cake is cooked
There are different ways a cook can tell if a cake is ready. Choose one to see the good thing about it and the tricky thing about it.
A cook wants to take the cake out of the oven at just the right time, not too early and not too late. There are different ways to predict when it is cooked. Pick one and see what is good and what is tricky about it.
Choose a response to see what is gained and what is given up.
A gardener reads the seasons
A gardener watches the year go round. Cold months, then warm months, then cold again, in the same order every year. The gardener has seen that beans planted after the cold ends grow best. So when the warm days return, the gardener predicts a good time to plant. The pattern of the seasons helps the gardener choose the right day.
Which ones use science?
Not everything we do is using science. Using science means noticing a pattern and using it to guess what will happen. Picking a favourite or making a wish is fine, but it is not a pattern you can test. Sort the examples below into the ones that use a pattern to predict and the ones that do not.
Spot the everyday science
Some of these show a person using a pattern to predict. Decide which ones really use science and which ones do not.
Claim: People use science when they notice a pattern and use it to predict what will happen.
A gardener waits for the warm days to return before planting beans, the way that has worked every year.
A cook sets a timer because the bread is always ready after the same amount of time.
A nurse checks the temperature the same way each morning to notice any change from the steady reading.
Someone chooses red as their lucky colour for the day.
A child wishes for a longer weekend.
Decide whether each statement is evidence for the claim, or not.
Why this matters
You do not have to work in a laboratory to use science. When a nurse watches the numbers, a cook sets a timer or a gardener reads the seasons, they are all noticing patterns and using them to predict. Spotting patterns helps people get ready for what comes next, every single day.
Quick self-check
1. A nurse takes the same gentle temperature reading each morning. Doing it the same way every time helps because...
2. A gardener has seen for years that beans planted after the cold ends grow best. This year the gardener waits for the warm days, then plants. This is...
3. A cook sets a kitchen timer for the soup. Why is the timer helpful?
4. A pattern is something that...
5. Which of these shows a person using science in everyday life?