Skill companion: Science in the Community (Year 5)

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Skill companion · Year 5 Science as a Human Endeavourseegongsik /au

Science in the Community: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets that grow one Human Endeavour idea: people and whole communities use what science knows to spot a problem, to think through the ways they could respond, and to decide together what to do. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

AC9S5H02

investigate how scientific knowledge is used by individuals and communities to identify problems, consider responses and make decisions

What a skill companion is

Human Endeavour ideas are not a topic of their own. They grow inside the science units a class teaches all year, such as Features and Behaviours for Survival; Weathering, Erosion and Deposition; Light, Shadows and Reflection; and Particles in Solids, Liquids and Gases. 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 idea on its own first.

Start here: five minutes

Read the pairing map on the next page: it gives a problem and the science that helps decide in each Year 5 topic.
Print the decision path, one per child, whenever a topic meets a real problem at school or in town.
Print the beach sheet once per child: it turns a set of measurements into a problem with evidence.
Cut out the town meeting cards once, one set per group of six. For another topic, children write cards the same way.
Run the one-page mini-lesson first if you want to teach the idea 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 beach answers and the finished graph, a model decision path, what each person at the meeting is likely to argue, a model answer for every Year 5 topic, and a quick three-level guide. The step up from Year 4 is the community: children use measurements to name a problem, hear people who want different things, and make a decision they can check later.

On the board

This pack is the printable half of a free interactive unit. On screen, children press “Next step” in “From a shrinking beach to a chosen response”, choose each of the four responses in “Pick a response to the washing beach”, and sort actions with “Uses the science” and “Does not” in “Does the action use the erosion science to hold the sand?”. Each scaffold in this pack turns one of those moves into something children do on paper.

seegongsik.com/au/y5/human-endeavour/AC9S5H02

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum V9 (AC9S5H02). 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 idea fitsPairing map

Slot the idea into your science lessons

In every science unit, what science knows can help a school or a town decide what to do about a problem. This map gives one problem for each Year 5 topic, the science and the responses to weigh, 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 problem people notice	The science, and the responses to weigh	Scaffold
Features and Behaviours for Survival (AC9S5U01)	Fewer small birds visit the school garden	Small birds need thick shrubs to hide and nest in. Responses: plant thick native shrubs, ask families to keep pet cats indoors, or wait and count again	Decision path
Weathering, Erosion and Deposition (AC9S5U02)	The beach gets narrower every summer	Moving water carries off loose sand; roots, mats and rocks slow it. Responses: dune grass, a rock wall, new sand, or nothing yet	The beach sheet, then the meeting cards (the worked example)
Light, Shadows and Reflection (AC9S5U03)	The playground has no shade at lunchtime	At midday the Sun is high, so shadows are short and fall close beneath things. Responses: a shade sail right over the play area, trees, a roofed area	Decision path
Particles in Solids, Liquids and Gases (AC9S5U04)	Ice for the sports carnival melts before lunch	Heat moves from the warm air into the ice, and thick walls slow it. Responses: an esky in the shade, wrapping the ice in towels, buying more ice	Decision path
Any science topic	A worry someone at school or in town has noticed	Children ask what science explains it, then weigh the responses	Decision path 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.

Go from a measured problem, through the science, to a decision: “From a shrinking beach to a chosen response”.
Weigh what each response gains and what it gives up: “Pick a response to the washing beach”.
Check that an action really uses the science: “Does the action use the erosion science to hold the sand?”.

How the scaffolds build the idea

The decision path takes any problem from what people noticed, through the science that explains it, to a decision and a plan to check it. The beach sheet turns a lifeguard’s measurements into a problem stated with evidence. The town meeting cards let a group hear six people who want different things, and decide together with the science in front of them.

Scaffold 1 · Decision pathOne per child

From a problem to a decision

NameClassDate

Use this path whenever people at school or in town notice a problem. Go through the five stages in order.

Notice

What did people see or measure? Write the problem in one sentence, with the evidence.

Explain

What does science say is causing it?

Respond

List three things people could do, and weigh each one.

Response	What we gain	What we give up

Decide

Our choice, and the science reason for it:

Who might not like this choice? What could we change to help them?

Check

What will we measure, and when, to find out whether our choice worked?

Teacher note: the unit’s beach story fills the path well as a first go.

Scaffold 2 · Read the beachOne per child

Is the beach really washing away?

NameClassDate

Every summer, the lifeguards measure how wide the beach is at low tide. They measure the main beach, which is bare sand, and a stretch further along where thick dune grass grows. The numbers are made up for practice.

Summer	1	2	3	4	5	6
Main beach (m)	50	47	45	41	38	35
Grassy stretch (m)	44	45	44	44	45	44

Plot both stretches

Use one colour for the main beach and another for the grassy stretch. Join each set of dots with a line.

What do the numbers say?

1. How much narrower was the main beach in summer 6 than in summer 1?

2. About how many metres did it lose each summer?

3. If nothing changes, about how wide will the main beach be in summer 8? Draw it on the graph with a dashed line.

4. What does the grassy stretch tell the town?

5. Write the problem in one sentence, with your evidence.

Scaffold 3 · Town meeting cards (cut out)One set per group of six

The town meeting

Cut out the cards. Each person in the group takes a person card; put the four response cards in the middle. Everyone says which response they would choose and why. Then the group decides together, and gives a reason that uses the science.

Lifeguard captainI measure the beach every summer. I want the sand back where people swim, and back for good.I ask: Which response will still be working in ten years?

Owner of the beach kioskHoliday visitors keep my kiosk going. I need a wide beach before the summer holidays.I ask: What can be done before the holidays?

Council coastal scientistI know how waves move sand along this coast, and what each response does to it.I ask: Does the response hold the sand, or only put more sand in the water’s way?

Dune-care volunteerOur group plants and waters dune grass on weekends. We need people to keep off it while it grows.I ask: Will the town fence the young grass and build paths over the dune?

Family worried about council ratesEvery response is paid for by the town. We do not want money spent on something that will not last.I ask: Which response gives the most for the least money?

Neighbour from the next beach alongThe sand that leaves this beach travels on to ours. A rock wall here could starve our beach.I ask: What will your choice do to the beaches further along the coast?

Plant tough dune grassRoots grip the loose sand, so the water carries less of it off.Cost: LowHow fast: Slow: a few seasons to spreadLasts: Years, if people keep off itWatch out: Young grass dies if it is trampled.

Build a low rock wall (groyne)Rocks reaching into the sea catch the sand that waves carry along the beach.Cost: HighHow fast: Fast, once it is builtLasts: Many yearsWatch out: The next beach along can lose its sand.

Truck in fresh sandPuts back sand, but does nothing to hold it.Cost: High, and again and againHow fast: The same weekLasts: Until the waves take itWatch out: The same erosion carries the new sand off too.

Do nothing for nowDoes not slow the erosion, but the measuring goes on.Cost: None nowHow fast: No changeLasts: The beach keeps shrinkingWatch out: The problem grows harder and dearer to fix.

Teacher note: what each person is likely to argue is on the answer sheet. For a decision in another topic, children write their own cards the same way: who is affected, what they care about, and the responses to weigh.

Mini-lesson · Teacher planAbout 30 minutes

The town meeting

Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the idea on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. The class reads the lifeguards’ measurements to name the problem, watches erosion happen in a sand tray to see why, and then holds a town meeting where six people who want different things have to decide together.

We are learning to

use measurements to name a problem, with evidence,
weigh what different responses gain and give up, and for whom,
make a decision with a science reason, and plan how to check it.

Success criteria

I can state the beach problem with numbers from the table.
I can explain my group’s decision with the erosion science, and say who it might not suit.

You need

the beach sheet (scaffold 2), one per child, and the town meeting cards (scaffold 3), one set per group of six,
for the demonstration: a shallow tray of damp sand heaped at one end, a cup of water, and a strip of hessian or an old tea towel,
the free interactive unit on your board, if you have one (optional).

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

5 min	The problem Children read the table on the beach sheet and answer questions 1 and 2. Ask: “What is happening to the main beach, and how do you know?”
8 min	Why it happens Pour the cup of water slowly down the sand slope: loose sand washes down. Heap the sand again, press the hessian over half of the slope, and pour again. The covered half loses far less. Ask: “What held the sand? What on a real beach works like the cloth?”
12 min	Town meeting Groups of six take a person card each, with the four response cards in the middle. Each person says which response they would choose and one reason. Then the group decides. Ask: “Who would not be happy with your choice? Can you change the plan to help them?”
5 min	Decide and check Each group reports its decision, the science reason, and what it would measure next summer. Ask: “How will the town know next summer whether its choice worked?”

Running it shorter? Do the sand tray and the meeting, and leave the graph on the beach sheet for your next science lesson.

On the board

For a worked example, open the unit and press “Next step” through “From a shrinking beach to a chosen response”. Before the meeting, choose each response in “Pick a response to the washing beach” so every group has heard what each one gains and gives up.

seegongsik.com/au/y5/human-endeavour/AC9S5H02

Watch for these ideas

Thinking science hands the town one right answer. Science explains the problem; people still weigh what they value.
Choosing the fastest or best-looking response without asking whether it holds the sand.
Forgetting people who are not at the meeting, like the families on the next beach along.
Thinking a decision is finished once it is made, rather than checked with new measurements.

Make it easier, make it bigger

Easier: use three people (lifeguard captain, kiosk owner, coastal scientist) and two responses (dune grass and new sand).
Bigger: after the decision, read out a news flash: a storm took 6 m of beach in one night. Does your group change its plan?

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the beach answers and the finished graph, a model decision path, what each person at the meeting is likely to argue, a model answer for each Year 5 topic, and a quick three-level guide.

Answers · For the teacherModel responses

Answers and look-fors

Read the beach

1. 15 m narrower: 50 m in summer 1, 35 m in summer 6.

2. About 3 m a summer: 15 m over 5 summers. The losses were 3, 2, 4, 3 and 3 m.

3. About 29 m in summer 8: 35 m take away 2 lots of 3 m.

4. The grassy stretch stayed at 44 or 45 m. Something there holds the sand: the town can look at what is different there, the dune grass.

5. ‘The main beach lost 15 m in 5 summers, about 3 m a summer, while the grassy stretch stayed about the same, so the main beach is washing away.’

Decision path: the beach

1. Notice	The lifeguards’ measurements show the main beach getting about 3 m narrower every summer.
2. Explain	Erosion: waves, and the water running back down the slope, pick up loose sand and carry it off along the coast.
3. Respond	Dune grass holds the sand and is cheap and natural, but slow. A rock wall works fast and lasts, but costs a lot and the next beach loses sand. New sand makes the beach wide this week, but the waves take it again.
4. Decide	Plant dune grass, fence the young grass and build paths over the dune, because the roots bind the loose sand, the cause of the problem. The kiosk owner may not like waiting: a load of new sand before the first holidays could help while the grass grows.
5. Check	Measure the beach every summer, as before. If it is still shrinking after three summers, meet again.

Town meeting: what each person is likely to argue

Person	Likely choice	Because
Lifeguard captain	Build a low rock wall (groyne)	it catches sand quickly and lasts for many years
Owner of the beach kiosk	Truck in fresh sand	it is the only response that makes the beach wide in time
Council coastal scientist	Plant tough dune grass	it binds the loose sand, which is the cause of the problem, and it is cheap to test
Dune-care volunteer	Plant tough dune grass	the volunteers can plant it, and fences and paths keep feet off it
Family worried about council rates	Do nothing for now	it costs nothing now, though the family may change its mind when it hears what waiting costs later
Neighbour from the next beach along	Plant tough dune grass	it holds sand on this beach without stopping the sand moving along to the next one

This is a guide, not a key: a child may argue for any response. A group decision is at standard when its reason uses the erosion science and the group can say who the choice might not suit. The town in the unit planted dune grass first, because it is affordable, holds the sand with its roots and keeps the beach looking natural.

A model answer in each Year 5 topic

Topic	What a child at standard might write
Features and Behaviours for Survival	Our bird count fell from 14 to 6 this term. Small birds need thick shrubs to hide from bigger birds and cats, and our garden is mostly lawn. We will plant thick native shrubs along the fence, then count the birds every week next term.
Weathering, Erosion and Deposition	The creek bank behind the school is crumbling into the water. Fast water after rain carries off bare soil, and roots hold it. We will plant native reeds and shrubs along the bank, keep people on one path, and photograph the bank from the same spot each term.
Light, Shadows and Reflection	The play equipment has no shade at lunchtime. At midday the Sun is high, so shade falls almost straight down. A shade sail right over the equipment gives shade now, and trees will add more later. We will check where the shade falls at 12:30 on a sunny day.
Particles in Solids, Liquids and Gases	The carnival ice melted before lunch. Heat from the warm air makes the ice particles jiggle faster until they slip out of their places. An esky’s thick walls slow the heat getting in, so we will keep the ice in an esky in the shade and check how much is left at lunch.

A quick three-level guide

Move	Working towards	At standard	Beyond
Name the problem with evidence	names a worry, but gives no evidence	states the problem with the measurements that show it	says how fast the problem is growing and where it is heading
Weigh the responses	gives one response	lists several responses with what each gains and gives up	says who each response affects, including people who are not at the meeting
Decide, and plan a check	picks a response without a reason	chooses a response and gives a reason that uses the science	plans what to measure, and when, to check that the decision worked

A child at standard can name a problem with evidence, weigh the responses and explain a decision with the science. Bring the decision path back whenever a topic meets a real problem at school or in town.