AC9S2I01 · YEAR 2 · INQUIRY

Asking Pattern Questions

ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “pose questions to explore observed simple patterns and relationships and make predictions based on experiences”
Builds on watching the world and saying what you notice. Here a child takes one thing they have seen, like which balls bounce high, and turns it into a question they can try out, then makes a good guess from what they already know.

Notice a pattern, then ask about it

When you play, you see patterns. Some balls bounce high and some barely bounce at all. A hard ball jumps back up, a soft sock ball stays low. Asking a question turns what you noticed into something you can test. A good question is about something you can try and watch, like which ball bounces the highest.

Which ball bounces highest? Change just one thing
You want to find out which ball bounces the highest. To be fair, only change one thing at a time.
You bounce a rubber ball and it jumps high. You bounce a sock ball and it stays low. You want to ask: does bouncing depend on the kind of ball? To find out fairly, keep everything the same and change only the ball.
Variable being tested: The kind of ball you drop (rubber, tennis, sock ball) (this one we change)
How high up you let go of the ball
What the floor under the ball is made of
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 good guess from what you know

A prediction is a good guess. It says what you think will happen and gives a reason from things you have seen before. You have seen a hard rubber ball bounce high, so you can guess that a new hard ball will bounce high too. Then you test it and find out if your guess was right.

Does a harder ball bounce higher?
You notice the hard ball bounces higher than the soft one. To test it fairly, keep everything the same and change only how hard the ball is.
The hard ball jumps up high, the squishy ball flops down low. You wonder if being hard is the reason. To find out fairly, you drop them from the same spot onto the same floor and change only how hard the ball is.
Variable being tested: How hard or soft the ball is (this one we change)
How high you drop the ball from
Which floor you bounce the ball on
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.

Look for the pattern, and the odd one out

You drop the same ball from higher and higher each time and write down how high it bounces. Most times it bounces a little higher. That steady climb is the pattern. Watch for a drop that does not fit, because that is the one to check again before you trust the pattern.

Find the drop that does not fit
You dropped the ball from higher and higher and measured how high it bounced. Most times it bounced a little higher. One drop does not fit the steady climb.
Click the point that does not fit the pattern of the others.

Which findings back up your guess?

Your guess was that the harder ball bounces higher. Some things you notice back up that guess, and some are just along for the ride. Sorting the real clues from the rest is a big part of asking good questions.

Sort the clues for your guess
Your guess: the harder ball bounces higher. Which findings back it up?
Claim: The harder ball bounces higher than the soft ball.
Dropped from the same spot, the hard rubber ball bounced higher than the soft sock ball.
A squishy foam ball hardly bounced at all when you let it go.
The rubber ball was a bright shade of orange.
A solid bouncy ball bounced higher than a half-flat tennis ball.
You did the test just after morning tea.
Decide whether each statement is evidence for the claim, or not.

Why this matters

Noticing a pattern, asking a question about it, and making a good guess from what you know is how science starts. You do it every time you wonder why something happens and then try it out to find the answer.

Quick self-check
1. You see that a bouncy ball jumps high and a sock ball barely bounces. What is a good question to ask?
2. A prediction is a good guess that uses what you already know. Which one is a prediction?
3. You want to test which ball bounces highest. To be fair, what should you change each time?
4. You dropped the same ball five times. Four times it bounced high, but once it barely moved. What should you do?
5. Why is it useful to ask a question about a pattern you have seen?