Skill companion: Comparing and Checking Together (Year 2) -- reusable inquiry scaffolds

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Skill companion · Year 2 Science Inquiryseegongsik /au

Comparing and Checking Together: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: comparing what you saw with your prediction and with a friend’s results, judging whether a test was fair, and asking the next question. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

AC9S2I05

compare observations with predictions and others’ observations, consider if investigations are fair and identify further questions with guidance

What a skill companion is

Comparing and checking is not a topic of its own. It grows inside the science units a class teaches all year, such as Changing Materials, Making Sounds and Earth and the Sky. So this pack is not a full term of lessons. It is a guess-and-check compare frame, a fair-test checklist, cut-out fair-or-not-fair cards, 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 compare frame and the fair-test checklist, one each per child, whenever a lesson ends in a result to check.
Cut out the fair-or-not-fair 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 Year 2 topic, so you can walk in and use it.

On the board

This pack is the printable half of a free interactive unit. On screen, children match each thing they saw to their guess in “Match what you saw to what you guessed”, switch between a table, a bar chart and a line graph to lay their shoots beside a friend’s in “My shoots next to a friend’s shoots”, and click the count that does not fit in “Spot the count that does not fit”. Each scaffold in this pack turns one of those moves into something children do on paper.

seegongsik.com/au/y2/inquiry/AC9S2I05

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum V9 (AC9S2I05). This pack is original material from seegongsik, independently produced and not endorsed by ACARA. Curriculum content descriptors are (c) ACARA, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Free to print and use in class.

Where the skill fitsPairing map

Slot the skill into your science lessons

The same skill of comparing and checking fits into every science unit. This map shows what to compare in each Year 2 topic, what to check, 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	What to compare	What to check	Scaffold to slot in
Changing Materials (AC9S2U03)	Did it change back the way you guessed	Compare your guess with what happened	Guess-and-check frame
Making Sounds (AC9S2U02)	Did the shorter string sound higher, like your guess	Compare your result with a friend’s	Compare frame + fair-test checklist
Earth and the Sky (AC9S2U01)	Did the shadow move the way you guessed	Ask if the test was fair, and what next	Fair-test checklist
Any science topic	Any test result	Compare, check fair, ask the next question	Fair-or-not-fair cards first, then the checklist

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.

Compare what you saw with your guess: “Match what you saw to what you guessed”.
Lay your results beside a friend’s: “My shoots next to a friend’s shoots”.
Find the result that does not fit: “Spot the count that does not fit”.

How the scaffolds build the skill

The compare frame puts a guess next to what really happened. The fair-test checklist asks whether the test changed only one thing, so a difference can be trusted. The fair-or-not-fair cards sharpen the hardest part: telling a fair test from one where too much changed at once. Used together across the year, they make comparing and checking a habit.

Scaffold 1 · Guess and checkOne per child

Did it happen the way I guessed?

NameClassDate

Put your guess next to what really happened. When they match, your guess fit the world. When they do not, that is a surprise, and a surprise teaches you something too.

My guess was:

What really happened:

Did they match?Yes □ Nearly □ No □

A match or a surprise both teach us. What did I learn?

A guess that turns out wrong is still good science: you found something out.

Scaffold 2 · Fair-test checklistBefore you trust it

Was it a fair test?

A fair test changes only one thing and keeps the rest the same. Then any difference you see came from that one thing, not from something else. Tick each box you can honestly tick.

□We changed only one thing (the ____)

□We kept everything else the same

□We measured the same way each time

□We tested more than once

□A friend checked our results

Any empty box is the thing to fix next time.

Our next question:

Teacher note: this checklist works after any investigation, in any topic. Come back to it every time so a fair test becomes a habit.

Scaffold 3 · Fair or not fair? cards (cut out)Reuse all year

Fair or not fair?

Cut out the cards. Read each test setup, then sort them into two piles: fair tests, where only one thing changed, and not-fair tests, where more than one thing changed at once.

We gave both plants the same water and light, and changed only the warmth.

We gave the warm plant extra water as well.

Both cars rolled down the same ramp; we changed only the wheels.

We dropped one ball from up high and the other from down low.

We timed both cups from the same start.

We used a big cup for one and a tiny cup for the other.

We measured both the same way, twice each.

We let one team practise first.

Describe your own test:

Teacher note: the two piles are “fair” and “not fair”. A test is fair when only one thing changed. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why. Blank cards let children add their own.

Mini-lesson · Teacher planAbout 30 minutes

Check it together

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

compare our guess with what really happened,
compare our results with a friend’s,
judge whether a test was fair and ask what to find out next.

Success criteria

I can say whether my guess matched what happened.
I can say whether a test was fair, and why.

You need

the fair-or-not-fair cards (scaffold 3), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
the compare frame and the fair-test checklist (scaffolds 1 and 2), one each per child,
a shared result the class can talk about, such as warm cups next to cool cups of sprouting seeds,
the free interactive unit on your board, if you have one (optional).

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

5 min	Guess vs what happened Recall a result the class already has, such as which cup sprouted first, and put the guess the class made next to what really happened. Ask: “Did it match our guess, or surprise us?”
10 min	Fair or not fair? Tables sort the cards into fair tests and not-fair tests. Bring the class together on one tricky card and work out what changed. Ask: “What changed, and did anything else sneak in?”
10 min	Compare and check Each child fills the compare frame with their guess and what happened, then the fair-test checklist. Then they compare their results with a partner and see if they agree.
5 min	Share a next question A few children share whether their guess matched and one thing they would like to find out next. Celebrate a good next question as much as a right answer. Ask: “Now that you have checked, what would you like to find out next?”

Running it shorter? Stop after Fair or not fair, and pick up Compare and check inside your next science lesson, where children check a real result.

On the board

For a worked example, open the unit and switch between a table, a bar chart and a line graph in “My shoots next to a friend’s shoots” to lay two sets of counts side by side. Seeing them together is what makes comparing with others clear.

seegongsik.com/au/y2/inquiry/AC9S2I05

Watch for these ideas

Calling a surprise a mistake. A result that does not match the guess is something to check, not something wrong.
Saying a friend is wrong straight away. If two results differ, ask what was not the same before deciding.
Changing more than one thing. If two things changed, you cannot tell which one mattered.

Make it easier, make it bigger

Easier: sort just four cards, two fair and two not fair.
Bigger: write a brand-new test on a blank card and swap it with another table to sort.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the card answers, model compares for the compare frame across the Year 2 topics, and a quick three-level guide.

Answers · For the teacherModel responses

Answers and look-fors

Fair or not fair? card answers

Test setup	Fair?	Why
We gave both plants the same water and light, and changed only the warmth.	Fair	Only one thing changed, so the warmth caused any difference.
We gave the warm plant extra water as well.	Not fair	Two things changed, so you cannot tell which one mattered.
Both cars rolled down the same ramp; we changed only the wheels.	Fair	One change only, so the wheels caused the difference.
We dropped one ball from up high and the other from down low.	Not fair	The drop height changed too, not just the ball.
We timed both cups from the same start.	Fair	The same start keeps the timing fair.
We used a big cup for one and a tiny cup for the other.	Not fair	The amount of water is different, so it is not a fair compare.
We measured both the same way, twice each.	Fair	Measuring the same way, more than once, makes it trustworthy.
We let one team practise first.	Not fair	Extra practice gives that team a head start.

The blank cards children write are marked the same way: did the test change only one thing, or did more than one thing change at once?

Compare frame: what a good check looks like

Responses will vary, and that is fine. The point is a guess put next to what happened, and a fair test behind it. Here is what an at-standard compare sounds like in each Year 2 topic.

Topic	A good compare
Changing Materials	My guess was it would not change back; it did not, so they matched.
Making Sounds	I guessed shorter sounds higher; my friend found the same, so we trust it.
Earth and the Sky	I guessed the shadow would grow; it did, and a fair test kept the pole in one spot.

A quick three-level guide

Move	Working towards	At standard	Beyond
Compare guess and result	says what happened without looking back at the guess	puts the guess next to what happened and says if they matched	explains what a surprise result tells us to check
Compare with others	looks only at own results	puts own results next to a friend’s and notices if they agree	asks why two results differ before deciding who is right
Judge if fair and ask next	changes more than one thing at once	keeps everything the same but the one thing being tested	names what to make fair next time and a new question to try

A child at standard puts a guess next to what happened and can say whether a test was fair. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back in every science topic.