ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “write and create texts to communicate findings and ideas for identified purposes and audiences, using scientific vocabulary and digital tools as appropriate”
You have already made and recorded findings. Now you learn to share them so that other people understand. Good communicating means choosing the right way to share for who will read it, writing clearly with science words, and showing the result so the pattern is easy to see.
Who is reading, and why?
Before you share a finding, ask two questions: who is the audience, and what is the purpose? A poster on the classroom wall suits the whole class, while a short spoken report suits a quick update to your teacher. The same result can be shared in different ways, so you pick the one that fits the people who will read it.
Pick the best way to share for the audience
Your group tested which paper plane flew farthest. You want the whole class to learn the result. Each way of sharing has something good and something it gives up.
The class wants to know which of three paper planes flew the farthest. Choose how your group will communicate the finding to everyone.
Choose a response to see what is gained and what is given up.
Write the finding clearly with science words
A finding is a sentence that says what you found out. It should use science words like distance, measure and centimetre, and it should report what really happened, not what you hoped. Saying the wide-wing plane flew the longest distance tells the reader the result. Saying mine was the best is only an opinion and does not help the audience understand.
Which sentences report findings clearly?
Your report should tell the reader what you found, using science words. Decide which sentences do that well and which do not.
Claim: A clear finding reports what was measured, using science words like distance and centimetre.
The wide-wing plane flew 60 centimetres, the longest distance of the three.
Each plane was launched from the same line and the distance was measured with a ruler.
Paper planes are the most fun science we have ever done.
The narrow plane flew a shorter distance than the wide-wing plane.
My plane has a really cool drawing on the wings.
Decide whether each statement is evidence for the claim, or not.
Show the result so the pattern is easy to see
Numbers in a list can be hard to compare. A chart turns those numbers into bars or a line, so a reader can see which plane went farthest in one glance. Adding a chart to your poster is a strong way to communicate, because the audience reads the pattern straight away instead of working it out from a table.
A chart communicates the result
Here are the three flight distances from your test. Switch between the table, the bar chart and the line to see how each one shares the same finding.
All three views hold the same numbers, but the bar chart makes the winner pop out: the wide-wing plane has the tallest bar, so a reader sees it flew the farthest without doing any sums.
Why this matters
A finding only helps people if it is shared well. Choosing the right way for your audience, writing clearly with science words and units, and showing the result in a chart all make your science easy to understand. Scientists do exactly this when they write a report or make a poster so that others can learn from what they found.
Quick self-check
1. You want to teach the whole class which paper plane flew the farthest. What is the best way to share it?
2. Which sentence reports a finding clearly using a science word?
3. A chart of your results is useful because it...
4. When you write a report, naming the units (like centimetres) matters because...
5. A digital tool, like drawing your chart on a tablet, helps you communicate because it...