Skill companion: Planning a Fair Test (Year 3)

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Skill companion · Year 3 Science Inquiryseegongsik /au

Planning a Fair Test: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: planning a test that gives a fair answer, carrying it out safely, and checking afterwards that it stayed fair. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

AC9S3I02

use provided scaffolds to plan and conduct investigations to answer questions or test predictions, including identifying the elements of fair tests, and considering the safe use of materials and equipment

What a skill companion is

Inquiry skills are not a topic of their own. They grow inside 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 three reusable scaffolds, 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 a test to plan in each Year 3 topic.
Print the fair-test planner and the run-and-check sheet, one each per pair, whenever a lesson tests something.
Cut out the plan cards once. They are reused all year, and the blank cards fit any test.
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. A fair test changes just one thing on purpose, measures what happens, and keeps everything else the same. Each scaffold explains itself in plain words, and the answer sheet gives the plan-card key, a model planner and a quick three-level guide, 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 press “Let it vary” until every line reads “Kept the same” in “Plan the ice test: change one thing, keep the rest the same”, press each choice in “Pick the safer way to warm the ice” to see what it gives and gives up, and sort actions with “Belongs in the plan” and “Does not belong” in “Sort the actions for the bean plant test”. Each scaffold in this pack turns one of those moves into something children do on paper.

seegongsik.com/au/y3/inquiry/AC9S3I02

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum V9 (AC9S3I02). 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 planning a fair, safe test fits into every science unit. This map shows a test children can plan in each Year 3 topic, the parts of a fair test for it, and the safety step to plan. Every test uses the same two sheets: the planner before the test, and the run-and-check sheet during it.

When you teach	A test to plan	Change, measure, keep the same	Safety step
Living and Non-living Things (AC9S3U01)	Do bean plants grow taller in the sun or in the shade?	Change: sun or shade. Measure: height in cm with a ruler, once a week. Keep the same: pot, soil, water, kind of seed.	Wash hands after touching soil.
Soils, Rocks and Minerals (AC9S3U02)	Which soil lets water through fastest: sand, clay or potting mix?	Change: the kind of soil. Measure: mL of water through in 5 minutes. Keep the same: amount of soil, amount of water, size of funnel.	Wear gloves with potting mix, and wash hands after.
Heat and Temperature (AC9S3U03)	Which cup keeps warm water warm the longest?	Change: the kind of cup. Measure: temperature in °C after 10 minutes. Keep the same: amount of water, starting temperature, where the cups stand.	An adult pours warm tap water, never boiling water.
Solids, Liquids and Changing State (AC9S3U04)	Which surface melts an ice cube fastest: a metal tray or a wooden board?	Change: the surface. Measure: minutes until no solid ice is left. Keep the same: size of cube, room, start time.	Wipe up melted water so nobody slips.
Any science topic	A question the class has posed	Children name the one thing to change, the thing to measure and the things to keep the same.	Children list the safety steps before they start.

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.

Change one thing and keep the rest the same: “Plan the ice test: change one thing, keep the rest the same”.
Choose the safer way to do a step: “Pick the safer way to warm the ice”.
Sort which actions belong in a fair, safe plan: “Sort the actions for the bean plant test”.

How the scaffolds build the skill

The fair-test planner is the provided scaffold the curriculum asks for: before anyone touches the equipment, children name the one thing to change, what to measure and how, everything to keep the same, and the safety steps. The run-and-check sheet goes on the bench during the test: it records each reading with its unit, then checks that the test stayed fair and safe. The plan cards sharpen the judgement under both sheets: telling a step that keeps a test fair from one that keeps people safe, and both from steps that do not belong.

Scaffold 1 · Fair-test plannerOne per pair

Our fair-test plan

NameClassDate

A fair test changes just one thing on purpose, measures what happens, and keeps everything else the same. Fill in this plan before you touch any equipment.

Our question:

Our prediction:

Change

The one thing we change on purpose, and the ways we will try it

Measure

What we measure or count, the equipment we use, and the unit

Keep the same

Everything else, the same for every try

Equipment we need

Staying safe

What could go wrong?

How we will stay safe:

Before we start: does only one thing change in our plan?Yes □ Not yet □

Teacher note: model one plan on the board the first time. If a pair writes two things in the Change box, the test is not fair yet: ask which one they really want to find out about, and move the other to Keep the same.

Scaffold 2 · Run and checkOn the bench

Run it and check it

NameClassDate

Keep this sheet beside you while you test. Write every reading as soon as you take it, with its unit, such as 12 minutes or 25 °C.

Our results

What we tried	What we measured (with the unit)	What we noticed

Check our test

We changed only the one thing in our plan.Yes □ No □

Everything on our keep-the-same list stayed the same.Yes □ No □

We measured the same way, with the same equipment, every time.Yes □ No □

We followed every safety step.Yes □ No □

If we ticked No

What happened, and what would we change next time?

Our answer to the question

A No is useful: it tells you what to fix before you trust the result.

Scaffold 3 · Plan cards (cut out)Reuse all year

Fair, safe, or does not belong?

Cut out the cards. Lay down the test card and the three pile cards, then sort every plan card into a pile: steps that keep the test fair, steps that keep us safe, and steps that do not belong in the plan.

THE TESTWhich cup keeps warm water warm the longest? We will try a paper cup, a plastic cup and a foam cup.

PILEKeeps the test fair

PILEKeeps us safe

PILEDoes not belong

Pour the same amount of water into every cup.

Read every thermometer after the same number of minutes.

Pour more water into the cup you think will win.

An adult fills the jug with warm tap water, never boiling water.

Write down the winner before you take any readings.

Wipe up any spills straight away.

Use warm water in one cup and cold water in the others.

Fill every cup from the same jug, one straight after the other.

Lay each thermometer down where it cannot roll off the bench.

Never drink the water used in a test.

Pick the cup with the nicest colour.

Stand all the cups on the same bench, away from the sunny window.

Write your own plan step:

Teacher note: each pile has four cards. The answer sheet lists which pile each card belongs in, and why. The blank cards let children write a step for any pile, then swap it with another table to sort.

Mini-lesson · Teacher planAbout 30 minutes

Plan it, run it, check it

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

name the one thing we change, the thing we measure and the things we keep the same,
plan the safety steps before we start,
run the test and check that it stayed fair.

Success criteria

I can fill in a fair-test planner.
I can explain why changing two things at once makes a test unfair.

You need

the plan cards (scaffold 3), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
the fair-test planner and the run-and-check sheet (scaffolds 1 and 2), one each per pair,
two ice cubes of the same size, a metal baking tray, a wooden chopping board, a timer and a cloth,
the free interactive unit on your board, if you have one (optional).

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

5 min	Which melts it faster? Show the tray and the board. Children touch both, then predict which surface will melt an ice cube faster. Ask: “The metal feels colder. Does that change your prediction?”
10 min	Plan it Pairs fill the planner while you model it (see the box): change the surface, measure the minutes until no solid ice is left, keep the cube, the room and the start time the same, and wipe up melted water. Then put both cubes down together and start the timer. Ask: “What would go wrong if one cube were bigger?”
10 min	Sort the plan cards While the ice melts, tables sort the cup-test cards into the three piles. Ask: “This is a good thing to do. Does it keep the test fair, or keep us safe?”
5 min	Run and check Read the timer when the first cube has melted, and note how much of the other is left. Pairs record it and tick the checks. Ask: “Was our test fair? How do you know?”

Running it shorter? Sort the plan cards on their own first, and plan and run the ice test in your next science lesson. The cube on the metal tray usually melts first, because metal carries heat from the room into the ice faster than wood does.

On the board

For a worked example, open the unit and press “Let it vary” on each line of “Plan the ice test: change one thing, keep the rest the same” until all three read “Kept the same”. Then, in “Pick the safer way to warm the ice”, press “Boil water and carry it across the room” and read why it is not a safe plan.

seegongsik.com/au/y3/inquiry/AC9S3I02

Watch for these ideas

Changing two things at once, such as a bigger cube on the tray. Then nobody can tell which change made the difference.
A plan with nothing to measure, like “see which is best”. Ask what they will count or time, and in what unit.
Mixing up a prediction with the result. Predict first, then let the readings decide.

Make it easier, make it bigger

Easier: fill one planner together on the board, and sort only the fair and safe cards.
Bigger: write one plan step for each pile on the blank cards, and swap them with another table to sort.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the plan-card key, a model planner for the ice test, and a quick three-level guide.

Answers · For the teacherModel responses

Answers and look-fors

Plan cards: which pile?

Plan card	Pile	Why
Pour the same amount of water into every cup.	Keeps the test fair	The amount of water stays the same, so only the cup changes.
Read every thermometer after the same number of minutes.	Keeps the test fair	Each cup is measured the same way, so the readings can be compared.
Pour more water into the cup you think will win.	Does not belong	Now the amount of water changes as well as the cup, so the test is no longer fair.
An adult fills the jug with warm tap water, never boiling water.	Keeps us safe	Warm tap water cannot scald; boiling water can.
Write down the winner before you take any readings.	Does not belong	A prediction is fine, but the winner comes from the readings. Deciding it first is not testing.
Wipe up any spills straight away.	Keeps us safe	A wet floor or bench can make someone slip.
Use warm water in one cup and cold water in the others.	Does not belong	Two things change at once, so nobody can tell what made the difference.
Fill every cup from the same jug, one straight after the other.	Keeps the test fair	Every cup starts with water at the same temperature.
Lay each thermometer down where it cannot roll off the bench.	Keeps us safe	A thermometer that falls can break, and the pieces can cut.
Never drink the water used in a test.	Keeps us safe	Test equipment is not kept clean like a kitchen cup, so nothing from a test goes in your mouth.
Pick the cup with the nicest colour.	Does not belong	Which colour is nicest is an opinion, and it does not help find out which cup keeps water warm.
Stand all the cups on the same bench, away from the sunny window.	Keeps the test fair	Every cup sits in the same place, so sunshine on one cup cannot change the result.

Blank cards are marked the same way: does the step keep only one thing changing, keep people safe, or neither?

The fair-test planner: what a good plan sounds like

Plans will vary, and that is fine. The point is one thing changed, one thing measured with a unit, everything else kept the same, and the safety steps written before the test. Here is the ice test from the mini-lesson, planned at standard.

Our question	Which surface melts an ice cube faster: a metal tray or a wooden board?
Our prediction	The wooden board, because the metal tray feels colder. (Any prediction with a reason is fine; this one turns out wrong.)
Change	The surface: one cube on the metal tray, one on the wooden board.
Measure	The minutes until no solid ice is left, read from the same timer.
Keep the same	The size of the cubes, the room, and the start time: both cubes go down together.
Equipment	Two ice cubes, a metal tray, a wooden board, a timer, a cloth.
Staying safe	Melted water can make the floor slippery, so wipe up any drips straight away.

A quick three-level guide

Move	Working towards	At standard	Beyond
Name the parts of a fair test	names the thing to change, with help	names the one thing to change, the thing to measure and the things to keep the same	explains how changing two things would spoil the answer
Plan for safety	adds a safety step when reminded	lists the safety steps for the equipment before starting	picks the safer of two ways to do a step, and says why
Run it and check it	records results without units, or misses a reading	records each reading with its unit and ticks the checks honestly	spots where the test was not fair, and says how to fix it next time

A child at standard plans one change, one measurement and a keep-the-same list, with the safety steps, before the test begins. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back in every science topic.