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 tested which material makes the best raincoat and written down how much water passed through each one. Now you learn to share that finding so other people understand. Good communicating means choosing the right way to share for who will read it, writing clearly with scientific vocabulary and units, 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 labelled poster suits the whole class, who need to see the chart and the numbers. A quick spoken word suits a fast update to a partner at the next desk. The same raincoat 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 material makes the best raincoat by measuring how much water passed through plastic, cotton, wool and paper. You want the whole class to learn the result.
The class wants to know which material let the least water through. 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 scientific vocabulary and units
A finding is a sentence that says what you found out. It should use scientific vocabulary like waterproof, volume and measure, and it should give the unit, here millilitres written as mL. Saying plastic let through only 2 mL of water, the least of the four, reports the result. Saying wool felt nicest is only an opinion and does not help the audience understand which material kept the rain out best.
Which sentences report findings clearly?
Your report should tell the reader what you found about the raincoat materials, using scientific vocabulary and units. Decide which sentences do that well and which do not.
Claim: A clear finding reports what was measured, using scientific vocabulary like volume and the unit mL.
Plastic let through 2 mL of water, the smallest volume of the four materials.
The same amount of water was poured onto each material, and the volume that passed through was measured in mL.
The raincoat test was the most fun science we have done all term.
Paper let through 40 mL, a larger volume of water than wool.
My wool sample is a really nice shade of grey.
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, so a reader can see which material let the least water through in one glance. Adding the 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 of mL readings.
A chart communicates the result
Here is how much water passed through each material in your raincoat 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 best raincoat clear: plastic has the shortest bar, so a reader sees it let the least water through, while paper let through the most, 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 scientific vocabulary and units like mL, 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 the whole class to learn which material made the best raincoat. What is the best way to share it?
2. Which sentence reports the raincoat finding clearly with a science word and a unit?
3. A chart of the water that passed through each material is useful because it...
4. When you write your raincoat report, naming the unit (mL) matters because...
5. Drawing your bar chart on a tablet is a digital tool that helps you communicate because it...