Skill companion: Communicating Findings (Year 4)

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Skill companion · Year 4 Science Inquiryseegongsik /au

Communicating Findings: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: choosing who a science text is for and what it is for, then writing it clearly, with scientific vocabulary, numbers and units, on paper or with a digital tool. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

AC9S4I06

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 Food Chains and Habitats, The Water Cycle, Forces, Friction and Magnets, and Properties of Materials. 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 purpose in each Year 4 topic.
Print the audience planner, one per group, before any poster, report, talk or slideshow.
Print the report frame, one per group, to draft the text on paper before making it for real.
Cut out the clear-or-not cards once. They are reused all year, and the blank cards fit any topic.
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. Each scaffold explains itself in plain words, and the answer sheet gives the card key, a model report and a quick three-level guide. A text works when it fits its audience and its purpose: a poster for visitors needs a big title and a labelled picture; a report for the uniform shop needs the results and a recommendation.

On the board

This pack is the printable half of a free interactive unit. On screen, children compare the three choices 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”.

seegongsik.com/au/y4/inquiry/AC9S4I06

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum V9 (AC9S4I06). 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

Every science unit ends with something worth sharing. This map gives one finding for each Year 4 topic, with an audience, a purpose and a text that fits, 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 finding to share	Audience, purpose and text	Scaffold to slot in
Food Chains and Habitats (AC9S4U01)	Where slaters choose to live	Year 2 buddies, to explain: a labelled picture and three short sentences	Audience planner, then the slater cards
The Water Cycle (AC9S4U02)	How water moves around the water cycle	Visitors to the school foyer, to inform: a poster with a labelled diagram	Audience planner, then the report frame
Forces, Friction and Magnets (AC9S4U03)	Which surface lets a toy car roll furthest	Families at a science evening, to show: a slideshow with a chart	Report frame, made in a slideshow
Properties of Materials (AC9S4U04)	Which material makes the best raincoat	The school uniform shop, to recommend: a short report with the results	Report frame, then the raincoat cards
Any science topic	Any finding the class wants to share	Children name the audience and the purpose first	Audience 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.

Choose a way to share that fits the audience: “Pick the best way to share for the audience”.
Write findings 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 audience planner settles who the text is for, what it is for and the best form for it, including a digital one. The report frame drafts the text: the question, what we did, what we found with numbers and units, what it means, and the science words used. The clear-or-not cards sharpen the sentences themselves: a clear finding says what was measured, with the number and its unit.

Scaffold 1 · Audience plannerOne per group

Who is it for, and what is it for?

NameClassDate

The finding we want to share:

The audience

Who will read, see or hear it?

What do they already know about it?

The purpose

We want to: explain · inform · show · recommend · persuade

After reading it, they should know:

The text

We will make a: poster · report · labelled diagram · talk · slideshow

Made with: paper and pens · a document · a slideshow · a spreadsheet chart

We chose it because:

It must include

□	A title that says what we tested
□	Our result, with numbers and units
□	A chart, table or labelled picture
□	At least two science words
□	What the result means for the audience

Teacher note: the same finding needs a different text for a different audience. Year 2 buddies need pictures and short sentences; the uniform shop needs the numbers and a recommendation.

Scaffold 2 · Report frameOne per group

Our science report

NameClassDate

Title: the question we tested

What we did

What we found (with numbers and units)

A table, a chart or a labelled picture

What it means

Science words we used

Tick the ones you used: material · waterproof · volume · measure · millilitres (mL) · fair test · result · conclusion

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

Is this finding clear?

Cut out the cards. Lay down one test card, then sort its sentence cards into two piles: clear findings, with what was measured, the number and its unit, and sentences that are not clear.

THE TESTWhich material lets the least water through? We poured the same amount of water onto plastic, cotton, wool and paper.Raincoat

Plastic let through only 2 mL of water, the least of the four materials.Raincoat

Wool was the best.Raincoat

Paper let through 40 mL, so it would make a poor raincoat.Raincoat

Some water went through some of them.Raincoat

Cotton let through 18, more than wool.Raincoat

Write a clear sentence:

Raincoat

THE TESTDo slaters choose the damp end or the dry end of a tray? We put 10 slaters in the middle and counted after 15 minutes.Slaters

The slaters were cute.Slaters

After 15 minutes, 8 of the 10 slaters were at the damp end.Slaters

Most slaters moved to the damp end, so damp places seem to suit them.Slaters

Slaters went places.Slaters

Only 2 of the 10 slaters stayed at the dry end.Slaters

Write a clear sentence:

Slaters

Teacher note: the two piles are “clear” and “not clear”. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why.

Mini-lesson · Teacher planAbout 30 minutes

One finding, two audiences

Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the skill on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. Half the groups share the raincoat result (plastic let 2 mL of water through, cotton 18 mL, wool 9 mL and paper 40 mL) with Year 2 buddies, and half with the school uniform shop, so children see the same finding written two ways.

We are learning to

choose a text that fits its audience and purpose,
write findings clearly, with scientific vocabulary, numbers and units,
use a digital tool when it helps the audience.

Success criteria

I can say who our text is for and what it is for, and choose a form that fits.
I can write a finding that gives what was measured, the number and its unit.

You need

the audience planner and the report frame (scaffolds 1 and 2), one each per group,
the clear-or-not cards from scaffold 3, one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
a device with a slideshow or document program, if you have one (optional).

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

5 min	Who is it for? Show the board (see the box). Read out the raincoat results and give each group its audience. Ask: “What would a Year 2 buddy need to see? What would the uniform shop want to know?”
5 min	Clear or not? Tables sort the raincoat cards into the two piles. Ask: “Which sentence could the uniform shop use? Which tells them nothing?”
15 min	Plan and draft Groups fill the audience planner, then draft their text on the report frame. Ask: “Which two science words will you use? Where do the numbers and units go?”
5 min	Two texts, one finding A buddy group and a shop group read their drafts aloud, one after the other. Ask: “What is the same in both texts? What changed for the audience?”

Running it shorter? Stop after Clear or not?, and plan and draft the text after the class’s next test.

On the board

For a worked example, open the unit and compare the three choices in “Pick the best way to share for the audience”: each one has an upside and a downside for the whole class. Then switch from “Table” to “Bar chart” in “A chart communicates the result”.

seegongsik.com/au/y4/inquiry/AC9S4I06

Watch for these ideas

Writing for nobody in particular, so the text suits no one.
Giving opinions, such as “wool was the nicest”, instead of findings.
Leaving out the unit, or the numbers, from the finding.

Make it easier, make it bigger

Easier: give groups one clear sentence to start from, and draft the title together.
Bigger: turn the draft into a slideshow or a document with a chart, using a digital tool.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the clear-or-not key, a model report for each audience and a quick three-level guide.

Answers · For the teacherModel responses

Answers and look-fors

Clear or not? cards

Raincoat (Properties of Materials): Which material lets the least water through? We poured the same amount of water onto plastic, cotton, wool and paper.

Sentence card	Clear?	Why
Plastic let through only 2 mL of water, the least of the four materials.	Yes	It gives the result, the number and its unit.
Wool was the best.	No	Best at what? It gives no measurement.
Paper let through 40 mL, so it would make a poor raincoat.	Yes	A measured result, and what it means for the purpose.
Some water went through some of them.	No	Which ones, and how much? It is too vague to help.
Cotton let through 18, more than wool.	No	There is no unit: 18 what?

Slaters (Food Chains and Habitats): Do slaters choose the damp end or the dry end of a tray? We put 10 slaters in the middle and counted after 15 minutes.

Sentence card	Clear?	Why
The slaters were cute.	No	An opinion, not a finding.
After 15 minutes, 8 of the 10 slaters were at the damp end.	Yes	It says what was counted, when, and how many.
Most slaters moved to the damp end, so damp places seem to suit them.	Yes	A finding and a careful conclusion from it.
Slaters went places.	No	Where? It does not report the result.
Only 2 of the 10 slaters stayed at the dry end.	Yes	It reports the count clearly.

One finding, two audiences: texts at standard

Audience and purpose	A text at standard
Year 2 buddies, to explain	A labelled picture of four raincoats with water drops, and: “We poured the same amount of water on four materials. Plastic kept the water out best. Paper let the most water through. A plastic raincoat keeps you dry.”
The uniform shop, to recommend	Title: Which material makes the best raincoat? A column graph of the results, and: “In a fair test, plastic let through 2 mL, wool 9 mL, cotton 18 mL and paper 40 mL. Plastic let through the smallest volume of water, so we recommend plastic for school raincoats.”

A quick three-level guide

Move	Working towards	At standard	Beyond
Audience and purpose	writes the same way for everyone	chooses a form and words that fit the audience and purpose	explains how the text would change for a different audience
Clear findings, with science words	gives opinions or numbers without units	writes findings with what was measured, the number, its unit and science words	adds what the finding means for the reader
Digital tools	copies text into a tool without a plan	uses a tool, such as a slideshow or a chart, when it helps the audience	chooses between paper and a digital tool and says why

A child at standard chooses a text that fits its audience and purpose, and writes findings with numbers, units and science words.