Skill companion: Science Solves Problems (Year 3) — reusable Human Endeavour scaffolds

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Skill companion · Year 3 Human Endeavourseegongsik /au

Science Solves Problems: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets about how people use science to meet a need or solve a problem. Someone who knows how heat, light or water behaves can design a cool box, grow strong carrots or fix a boggy garden. Print the sheets once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

AC9S3H02

consider how people use scientific explanations to meet a need or solve a problem

What a skill companion is

Human Endeavour is about science as something people do. It is not a topic of its own; it grows alongside the science units a class teaches all year, such as Living and Non-living Things, Soils, Rocks and Minerals, Heat and Temperature, and Solids, Liquids and Changing State. So this pack is not a full term of lessons. It is a need-idea-solution planner, a weigh-the-solutions sheet, cut-out science-idea cards, a pairing map showing where each one fits, a short stand-alone mini-lesson and an answer sheet.

Start here: five minutes

Read the pairing map on the next page: it shows a need and the science idea that helps with it in each Year 3 topic.
Print the planner and the weigh-the-solutions sheet, one each per pair, whenever a topic leads to a real problem.
Cut out the science-idea cards once. They are reused all year, and the blank cards fit any topic.
Open the free interactive unit on your board for a worked example, or run the one-page mini-lesson to teach the idea on its own first.
Let children test their solutions where you can: a solution is only known to work once someone has tried it.

No science background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. A science explanation says how something in the world works; people use it to choose or design a solution, and most solutions give something up as well as gain something. The answer sheet gives the card key, a model plan, a worked comparison and a quick three-level guide.

On the board

This pack is the printable half of a free interactive unit. On screen, children press “Next step” and “Start over” in “From a science idea to a useful solution”, press each choice in “Pick a way to keep the picnic drinks cold” to see what it gives and gives up, and sort choices with “Uses the science” and “Does not” in “Does the choice use the science idea that plants need light?”. Each sheet in this pack turns one of those moves into something children do on paper.

seegongsik.com/au/y3/human-endeavour/AC9S3H02

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum V9 (AC9S3H02). 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 idea into your science lessons

The same idea, people using a science explanation to meet a need, fits into every science unit. This map shows a need or problem in each Year 3 topic, the science idea that helps, 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	A need or problem	The science idea that helps	Scaffold to slot in
Living and Non-living Things (AC9S3U01)	Help seedlings grow on a dim classroom bench	Plants need light and water to grow, so move them to a sunny windowsill and water them	Need-idea-solution planner
Soils, Rocks and Minerals (AC9S3U02)	Stop a garden bed staying boggy after rain	Water drains through sandy soil faster than through clay, so build a raised bed of sandy soil, or dig compost into the clay	Weigh the solutions
Heat and Temperature (AC9S3U03)	Keep a packed lunch cool until lunchtime	Heat moves from warmer things to cooler things, and thick walls slow it down	Science-idea cards, then the planner
Solids, Liquids and Changing State (AC9S3U04)	Make ice blocks freeze in time for a class party	Removing heat freezes water, so smaller moulds in a colder freezer freeze sooner	Need-idea-solution planner, then weigh the solutions
Any science topic	A need the class notices: a hot classroom, a muddy path, a wilting plant	The science idea from the topic you are teaching	Need-idea-solution planner first

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.

Turn a science idea into a solution that meets a need: “From a science idea to a useful solution”.
Weigh what each solution gives and gives up: “Pick a way to keep the picnic drinks cold”.
Check that a choice really uses the science idea: “Does the choice use the science idea that plants need light?”.

How the scaffolds build the skill

The need-idea-solution planner walks from a real problem to the science idea that helps, a solution built on it, and a way to test it. The weigh-the-solutions sheet puts two or three solutions side by side, so children see that each one gains something and gives something up. The science-idea cards sharpen the judgement under both: telling a choice that uses the science from one made for looks.

Scaffold 1 · Need, idea, solutionOne per pair

From a need to a solution

NameClassDate

People use what they know about the world to fix problems. Plan one fix, step by step.

1. The need or problem

What is wrong, or what does someone need? Who has the problem?

2. The science idea that helps

What do we know about how the world works that could help?

3. Our solution

Draw and label it. Which part uses the science idea?

4. How we would test it

What would we measure to know it works? How would we keep the test fair?

Teacher note: if a solution does not use the science idea, ask which part of it slows the heat, lets the light in or lets the water through. If no part does, the idea in box 2 is not being used yet.

Scaffold 2 · Weigh the solutionsOne per pair

Weigh the solutions

NameClassDate

Most problems have more than one solution, and each one gives something and gives something up. Write two or three, then choose the one that fits the need best.

The need:

Solution	What it gives	What it gives up	Uses the science idea?
A			Yes □ No □
B			Yes □ No □
C			Yes □ No □

The one we would choose:

Because:

Every solution gives something up. A good choice is the one that fits the need best, not a perfect one.

Scaffold 3 · Science-idea cards (cut out)Reuse all year

Does the choice use the science idea?

Read the need and the science idea. Cut out the choice cards and sort them into two piles: choices that use the science idea to meet the need, and choices that do not.

THE NEED

Keep a packed lunch cool until lunchtime on a hot day.

THE SCIENCE IDEA

Heat moves from warmer things to cooler things, and thick walls slow it down.

Pack a frozen water bottle next to the sandwich.

Choose the lunchbox with your favourite cartoon on it.

Use a lunchbox with thick, padded walls.

Put stickers all over the lid.

Keep the lunchbox in the shade, not on the sunny bag rack.

Leave the lunchbox in the sun so it is easy to find.

Close the lid tightly every time you open it.

Pick the lunchbox that matches your school bag.

Choose the lunchbox your best friend has.

Write your name on the lid in big letters.

Freeze a small drink overnight and pack it as an ice brick.

Pack the food straight from the fridge in the morning.

Write a choice of your own:

Teacher note: the two piles are “uses the science” and “does not”. One card goes against the idea altogether; ask children to find it. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why.

Mini-lesson · Teacher planAbout 30 minutes

From an idea to a solution

Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the idea 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 idea in one go and then reuse the sheets all year.

We are learning to

name a need or a problem, and the science idea that can help,
use the idea to plan a solution,
weigh what different solutions give and give up.

Success criteria

I can explain which part of a solution uses a science idea.
I can choose between two solutions and give a reason.

You need

the science-idea cards (scaffold 3), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
the planner and the weigh-the-solutions sheet (scaffolds 1 and 2), one each per pair,
a lunchbox, and a frozen water bottle to show (optional),
the free interactive unit on your board.

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

5 min	The problem Hold up a lunchbox: on a hot day, the yoghurt inside is warm by lunchtime. Ask what the problem is, and who has it. Ask: “Why does the yoghurt get warm by lunchtime?”
10 min	Idea to solution Show the board (see the box). Pairs fill the planner for the lunchbox: the need, the science idea that heat moves from warmer things to cooler things, a solution, and a way to test it. Ask: “Which part of your solution uses the science idea?”
10 min	Sort the cards Tables sort the lunchbox cards into the two piles, and find the card that goes against the idea. Ask: “A cartoon lunchbox might be fun. Does it keep the lunch cool?”
5 min	Weigh it up Pairs put two of their solutions on the weigh-the-solutions sheet and choose one. Ask: “Your solution works. What does it give up?”

Running it shorter? Do the board example and the cards, and plan and weigh the solutions in your next Heat and Temperature lesson.

On the board

For a worked example, open the unit and show “From a science idea to a useful solution”: press “Next step” one step at a time, from the need to the finished cool box; “Start over” begins again. Then press each choice in “Pick a way to keep the picnic drinks cold” and read what it gives and gives up.

seegongsik.com/au/y3/human-endeavour/AC9S3H02

Watch for these ideas

A solution chosen for looks, such as a favourite colour. Ask which science idea it uses.
Expecting one perfect solution. Each one gives something and gives something up.
Skipping the test. A solution is only known to work once someone has tried it and measured.

Make it easier, make it bigger

Easier: sort only four cards, two that use the idea and two that do not.
Bigger: plan a lunchbox that uses two science ideas, and say how you would test it fairly against an ordinary one.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the science-idea card key, a model plan for the lunchbox, a worked comparison of three solutions and a quick three-level guide.

Answers · For the teacherModel responses

Answers and look-fors

Science-idea cards: does the choice use the idea?

Choice card	Uses it?	Why
Pack a frozen water bottle next to the sandwich.	Yes	Heat moves from the warmer food into the frozen bottle, so the food stays cool for longer.
Choose the lunchbox with your favourite cartoon on it.	No	A cartoon may be fun, but it does nothing to slow the heat down.
Use a lunchbox with thick, padded walls.	Yes	Thick walls slow down the heat moving from the warm air into the food.
Put stickers all over the lid.	No	Stickers are for looks; they do not slow the heat.
Keep the lunchbox in the shade, not on the sunny bag rack.	Yes	Out of the sun, less heat reaches the box, so less heat moves into the food.
Leave the lunchbox in the sun so it is easy to find.	No	It goes against the idea: the sun warms the lunchbox, and the heat moves into the food.
Close the lid tightly every time you open it.	Yes	Warm air comes in through gaps, so a tight lid keeps more of the heat out.
Pick the lunchbox that matches your school bag.	No	Matching colours is about looks, not about keeping the food cool.
Choose the lunchbox your best friend has.	No	A friend having one is not a reason it keeps food cool.
Write your name on the lid in big letters.	No	It helps you find your lunchbox, but it does not keep the lunch cool.
Freeze a small drink overnight and pack it as an ice brick.	Yes	The frozen drink is colder than the food, so heat moves into it instead of warming the lunch.
Pack the food straight from the fridge in the morning.	Yes	Food that starts colder takes longer to warm up as heat moves into it.

The card that goes against the idea: leaving the lunchbox in the sun.

A model plan

The need or problem	Keep a packed lunch cool until lunchtime on a hot day.
The science idea that helps	Heat moves from warmer things to cooler things, and thick walls slow it down.
Our solution	A lunchbox with thick padded walls, a tight lid and a frozen water bottle beside the food.
How we would test it	Put the same yoghurt in our lunchbox and in an ordinary one, leave both on the same bench, and measure each yoghurt with a thermometer at lunchtime.

Three solutions, weighed

Solution	What it gives	What it gives up
A frozen water bottle in the box	Keeps the food cold for hours, and the water is a drink at lunch	Heavy to carry; it can drip as it melts
A thick, padded lunchbox	Slows the heat all day, and is light	Costs more, and on its own it only slows the warming
Keep the box in the shade	Free, and easy to do	It only helps while there is shade to use

All three use the science idea. For a long hot day, the padded box with a frozen bottle inside does the most.

A quick three-level guide

Move	Working towards	At standard	Beyond
Link the idea to the need	names a need without a science idea	names the need and the science idea that helps	explains how the idea makes the solution work
Plan a solution	draws a solution with no link to the idea	plans a solution and shows which part uses the idea	plans how to test the solution fairly
Weigh the solutions	picks a solution for looks	says what two solutions give and give up, and chooses one	chooses the solution that fits a particular need, and says why

A child at standard links a need to the science idea that helps, plans a solution that uses it, and weighs what two solutions give and give up. The idea grows all year, so keep the sheets coming back in every science topic.