ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “compare observations with predictions and others’ observations, consider if investigations are fair and identify further questions with guidance”
Builds on watching closely and writing down what you see. Now you put two things side by side: what you guessed would happen, and what really happened. You also look at a friend’s results and ask whether the test was fair, so a seven year old starts to check like a scientist.
Did it grow the way you guessed?
You planted bean seeds in little cups. Before you watered them, you made a guess: the cup you keep warm will sprout first. That guess is your prediction. After a week of watching, you ask one simple question: did what I saw match what I guessed? When they match, your guess fit the world well. When they do not match, that is not a mistake, it is a surprise that teaches you something new.
Match what you saw to what you guessed
Before the test you guessed: the warm cup will sprout before the cool cup. Tap each thing you saw to say if it agrees with your guess.
Claim: My guess: the seeds in the warm cup will sprout before the seeds in the cool cup.
The warm cup showed a green shoot on day three; the cool cup had none yet.
By the end of the week the warm cup had four shoots and the cool cup had one.
The cups were a cheerful shade of yellow.
The cool cup did not sprout at all until day six.
We planted the seeds on a Monday morning.
Decide whether each statement is evidence for the claim, or not.
What did your friend grow?
You are not the only one growing seeds. A friend planted the same beans in their own warm cup and counted the shoots each day too. When you put your counts next to theirs, you can check whether you both saw the same thing. If your two sets of numbers look alike, you can trust the answer more. If one is very different, that is a new thing to talk about and wonder why.
My shoots next to a friend’s shoots
You and a friend both counted the shoots in your warm cups over five days. Switch the view to compare the two of you.
Your shoots climb a little each day, from none up to four. A friend’s counts that climb the same way would agree with yours, so you could trust the pattern. If a friend’s counts looked very different, you would ask what was not the same between your two tests.
A day that did not fit
Sometimes one count jumps out. Imagine the shoots grew steadily, but on one day the number you wrote down was far bigger than all the others. A count that does not fit the rest is a surprise. Careful scientists do not rub it out. They find it, count that cup again to check it, and ask a new question: what was different that day? Maybe someone added extra seeds, or you read the wrong cup.
Spot the count that does not fit
Here are the shoots counted in one cup over six days. They should climb gently. Click the one day that is very different from the others.
Click the point that does not fit the pattern of the others.
Was the test fair, and what next?
A test is fair when you keep everything the same except the one thing you are testing. Same seeds, same water, same light, and you change only the warmth. When you compare your results, your guess, and your friend’s results, you can ask whether the test was fair and what you would like to find out next. Maybe you wonder if more light would help too. That new question is where the next investigation begins.
Quick self-check
1. Before you drop the seeds, you say the warm cup will sprout first. That is your...
2. You wrote down what you saw. Now you put it next to your guess. Why?
3. Your friend grew the same seeds and got different numbers. The best thing to do is...
4. A fair test of warm versus cool cups means you keep the same...
5. One cup grew far more shoots than all the others. The smart next step is to...