Skill companion: Communicating Findings (Year 3)

← Back to the unitTip: in the print dialog choose “Save as PDF”.

Skill companion · Year 3 Science Inquiryseegongsik /au

Communicating Findings: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: sharing what a test found in a way that fits who will read it and why, with clear sentences, science words, units and a table or chart. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

AC9S3I06

write and create texts to communicate findings and ideas for identified purposes and audiences, using scientific vocabulary and digital tools as appropriate

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 finding, an audience and a way to share in each Year 3 topic.
Print the report planner and the report frame, one each per pair, whenever a test is finished.
Cut out the clear-or-not cards once. They are reused all year, and the blank cards fit 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. A clear finding says what was measured, with a number, a unit and a science word, and leaves out opinions and feelings. A digital tool, such as a slideshow, a drawing app or a graph on a tablet, is one way of sharing, not a must. The answer sheet gives the card key, one finding written for two audiences, a model report and a quick three-level guide.

On the board

This pack is the printable half of a free interactive unit. On screen, children press “Labelled poster”, “Tell one friend” and “A pile of plane drawings” in “Pick the best way to share for the audience”, sort sentences with “Clear” and “Not clear” in “Which sentences report findings clearly?”, and switch between “Table” and “Bar chart” in “A chart communicates the result”. Each scaffold in this pack turns one of those moves into something children do on paper.

seegongsik.com/au/y3/inquiry/AC9S3I06

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum V9 (AC9S3I06). 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 sharing a finding fits at the end of every science unit. This map shows a finding children can share in each Year 3 topic, an audience and a way of sharing that fits it, 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	The finding to share	Audience and a good way to share it	Scaffold to slot in
Living and Non-living Things (AC9S3U01)	How a bean plant changed from seed to plant over four weeks	A labelled life-cycle poster for a Year 1 class: pictures in order, arrows and short labels	Report planner, then the poster
Soils, Rocks and Minerals (AC9S3U02)	Which soil let water drain through fastest	A short report with a column graph for the school garden club, to help them choose soil	Report frame
Heat and Temperature (AC9S3U03)	Which cup kept warm water warm the longest	A one-minute talk with a chart for the class, or a slideshow made on a tablet	Report planner, then the clear-or-not cards
Solids, Liquids and Changing State (AC9S3U04)	How adding heat melts ice, and removing heat freezes water	A note home for families: a labelled drawing and two clear sentences	Report planner
Any science topic	Any finding from a fair test	Name the audience and the purpose first, then choose the form	Report planner first, then the report frame

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.

Choose a way of sharing that fits the audience: “Pick the best way to share for the audience”.
Write the finding clearly, with science words and units: “Which sentences report findings clearly?”.
Show the result so the pattern is easy to see: “A chart communicates the result”.

How the scaffolds build the skill

The report planner starts with the two questions every writer asks: who is this for, and what do we want them to know? Only then does it choose the form, the finding, the evidence and the science words. The report frame carries the whole investigation from question to finding, with a place for a table or a chart. The clear-or-not cards sharpen the sentence at the heart of both: a finding anyone can picture, not a feeling or a vague claim.

Scaffold 1 · Report plannerOne per pair

Plan how we will share it

NameClassDate

Before you write, answer two questions: who will read or hear it, and what do you want them to know? Then choose the way of sharing that fits.

Our audience

Who will read it or hear it?

Our purpose

What do we want them to know, or to do?

How we will share it

□ Poster□ Short written report□ Talk with a chart□ Labelled diagram□ Slideshow on a tablet□ Note home

Why this way fits our audience:

Our finding in one sentence

The evidence

The numbers, with their units:

The table or chart we will show:

Science words we will use

Circle the words you will use, and add your own.

observemeasurepredictfair testresultevidencecomparepatternconclusioncmmL°Cminutesg

Teacher note: the same finding can be shared in more than one way. A Year 1 class needs a picture and a few short words; the garden club needs the numbers and a chart. Let the audience decide the form.

Scaffold 2 · Report frameOne per pair

Our science report

NameClassDate

Title:

Written for:

Our question

What we predicted

What we did

What we found

Draw a table or a column graph of your results

Our finding

Does our finding have a number, a unit and a science word?Yes □ Not yet □

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

Is this finding clear?

A class timed how long 200 mL of water took to drain through the same amount of three soils. Read their results, then cut out the cards and sort them into two piles: sentences that report the finding clearly, and sentences that do not.

Soil	sand	potting mix	clay
Minutes to drain	2	5	9

200 mL of water drained through the sand in 2 minutes, the fastest of the three soils.

The sand was way better.

The water took 9 minutes to drain through the clay, the slowest of the three.

It took ages.

We poured the same amount of water through the same amount of each soil.

We had so much fun getting messy!

The clay one was slow-ish.

Water went through quick.

The potting mix drained in 5 minutes, slower than the sand but faster than the clay.

Our column graph shows the drainage time for each soil, in minutes.

From fastest to slowest, the order was sand, potting mix, clay.

Clay is bad soil.

Write a clear finding of your own:

Teacher note: the two piles are “clear” and “not clear”. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why. Ask children to turn one unclear card into a clear one on a blank card.

Mini-lesson · Teacher planAbout 30 minutes

Share it so others understand

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

choose a way to share a finding that fits who will read it, and why,
write a finding clearly, with a number, a unit and a science word,
use a table or a chart to show the result.

Success criteria

I can name my audience and my purpose.
I can write a finding that someone who was not there could understand.

You need

the clear-or-not cards (scaffold 3), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
the report planner and the report frame (scaffolds 1 and 2), one each per pair,
the results of a test the class has run, or the soil results printed on the cards sheet,
a tablet with a drawing or slideshow app, if you have one (optional), and the free interactive unit on your board.

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

5 min	Who is it for? Show the results. Ask who might want to know them, and why: the class, the school garden club, families at home. Ask: “Would you tell the garden club the same way you would tell a friend at lunch?”
10 min	Clear or not? Tables sort the clear-or-not cards into the two piles, then turn one unclear card into a clear one. Ask: “This card says the sand was better. Better at what? By how much?”
10 min	Plan and write Pairs fill the report planner for one audience, then write their finding and its evidence on the report frame. Show the board (see the box). Ask: “Which science word or unit would make your finding clearer?”
5 min	Share A few pairs read their finding aloud, and the class guesses the audience it was written for. Ask: “Could someone who was not here understand what we found?”

Running it shorter? Do the cards on their own, and plan and write the report in your next science lesson that finishes a test.

On the board

For a worked example, open the unit and press each choice in “Pick the best way to share for the audience”, starting with “Tell one friend”, to read what each gives and gives up. Then show “A chart communicates the result”: press “Table”, then “Bar chart”, and ask which one shows the winner at a glance.

seegongsik.com/au/y3/inquiry/AC9S3I06

Watch for these ideas

A finding with no number or unit, like “it took ages”. Ask: how long, and in what unit?
Feelings and opinions in a report. “We had fun” may be true, but it is not a finding.
One way of sharing for every audience. A poster for a Year 1 class and a report for the garden club need different words.

Make it easier, make it bigger

Easier: write one finding with a starter: “We found that ___ took ___ minutes.”
Bigger: write the same finding for two audiences, such as a Year 1 class and the garden club, and explain what changed.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the clear-or-not key, one finding written for two audiences, a model report and a quick three-level guide.

Answers · For the teacherModel responses

Answers and look-fors

Clear-or-not cards

Card	Clear?	Why
200 mL of water drained through the sand in 2 minutes, the fastest of the three soils.	Yes	It names the soil, gives the time with its unit, and says how it compares.
The sand was way better.	No	Better at what, and by how much? There is no measurement, so the reader cannot tell.
The water took 9 minutes to drain through the clay, the slowest of the three.	Yes	It gives the soil, the time and the unit, so anyone can picture the result.
It took ages.	No	It does not say which soil, and ages is not a measurement.
We poured the same amount of water through the same amount of each soil.	Yes	It tells the reader how the test was kept fair, so they can trust the result.
We had so much fun getting messy!	No	It may be true, but it is a feeling, not a finding about the soils.
The clay one was slow-ish.	No	Slow-ish is a guess at a feeling. The time in minutes would make it clear.
Water went through quick.	No	It does not say which soil or how quick: there is no number and no unit.
The potting mix drained in 5 minutes, slower than the sand but faster than the clay.	Yes	It gives the measurement and places it between the other two.
Our column graph shows the drainage time for each soil, in minutes.	Yes	It tells the reader what the graph shows and what unit it uses.
From fastest to slowest, the order was sand, potting mix, clay.	Yes	It states the pattern in the results using the names of the soils.
Clay is bad soil.	No	Bad is an opinion. Clay drained slowest, which can even help some plants that need to stay damp.

One finding, two audiences

A poster for a Year 1 class	Water runs through sand fast. It runs through clay slowly. (With a drawing of each soil in a pot and an arrow for the water.)
A report for the garden club	In our fair test, 200 mL of water drained through the sand in 2 minutes and through the clay in 9 minutes, with a column graph of all three soils.

A model report

Reports will vary, and that is fine. Here is the soil test written up at standard.

Written for	The school garden club
Our question	Which soil lets water drain through fastest?
What we did	We poured 200 mL of water through the same amount of sand, potting mix and clay, and timed how long each took to drain.
What we found	A table and a column graph of the minutes: sand 2, potting mix 5, clay 9.
Our finding	Water drained fastest through the sand (2 minutes) and slowest through the clay (9 minutes). A plant that needs to stay damp may grow better in a soil that drains slowly.

A quick three-level guide

Move	Working towards	At standard	Beyond
Fit the audience and purpose	shares the same way for everyone	names the audience and purpose, and picks a form that fits	changes the words and the form for a second audience
Write the finding clearly	writes a feeling or a vague claim	writes a finding with a number, a unit and a science word	adds how the test was kept fair, so the reader can trust it
Show the evidence	gives the result with no table or chart	shows the result in a table or a labelled chart	chooses the chart that makes the pattern easiest to see

A child at standard names an audience and a purpose, writes a clear finding with a number, a unit and a science word, and shows it in a table or chart. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back at the end of every test.