Representing Data: a skill companion
A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: processing repeated readings, choosing a table, a graph or a model that lets the data speak, and describing the pattern, trend and relationship it shows. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.
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 Habitat Conditions and Survival; Earth, Sun and the Day-Night Cycle; Electrical Circuits and Energy; and Reversible and Irreversible Changes. 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 which scaffold fits which science lesson.
- Print the process-graph-describe sheet and the model sheet, one each per child, whenever a lesson has data or a model.
- Cut out the graph and shape cards once. They are reused all year whenever a class describes a trend.
- 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. Each scaffold explains itself in plain words, and the answer sheet gives the processed table and the finished graph, the model answers, the card key, a model description for every Year 6 topic, and a quick three-level guide. The step up from Year 5 is processing and relationships: children turn repeated readings into middle values before they graph, name the shape of a trend, and say the relationship in words, including what a model shows and what it leaves out.
Slot the skill into your science lessons
The same representing skill fits into every science unit. This map shows data or an idea to represent in each Year 6 topic, the representation that suits it, the trend or relationship it shows, 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 | Data or idea | Representation | Trend or relationship | Scaffold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Habitat Conditions and Survival (AC9S6U01) | Seedling heights with 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours of light, three pots each | A table of middle values, then a line graph; a food web as a model | The more light, the taller, up to a point | Process, graph, describe |
| Earth, Sun and the Day-Night Cycle (AC9S6U02) | A stick’s shadow each hour; hours of daylight each month | Line graphs; a globe and a torch as a model | The shadow falls then rises; days shorten towards June | All three |
| Electrical Circuits and Energy (AC9S6U03) | Bulb brightness with 1 to 5 cells | A table, then a column or line graph; a circuit diagram as a model | Each added cell brightens the bulb by more than the last | Graph cards, then the model sheet |
| Reversible and Irreversible Changes (AC9S6U04) | Rust gained by a nail each day; dissolving time at three temperatures | A line graph; particle drawings as a model | Rust grows at a steady rate; the warmer, the faster sugar dissolves | Process, graph, describe |
| Any science topic | The class’s own repeated readings | Children choose the representation, and start every scale at 0 | Children name the shape and say the relationship in words | Process, graph, describe 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.
- Organise the data in a table, then let a graph show its shape: “Put the brightness scores in a table, then draw the graph”.
- Build a model that carries the same relationship: “Build a visual model of the circuit, step by step”.
- Read the trend honestly: “Which statements describe the brightness trend correctly?”.
How the scaffolds build the skill
The process-graph-describe sheet turns three groups’ shadow readings into middle values, a line graph and a sentence about the trend and the relationship. The model sheet names what each part of a model stands for, what the model shows well and what it leaves out. The graph cards match six graphs from the Year 6 topics with the shape each one shows, from rises-then-levels-off to no clear pattern.
Process it, graph it, describe it
Repeated readings are processed first: the middle value of each set goes in the table. Then a graph lets the trend show itself, and a sentence names the trend and the relationship behind it.
A. Process the readings
Three groups measured the shadow of a 1 m stick to the centimetre each hour, on an autumn day when the Sun was highest at about noon.
| Time | Group 1 (cm) | Group 2 (cm) | Group 3 (cm) | Middle value (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 am | 136 | 138 | 141 | |
| 10 am | 97 | 95 | 99 | |
| 11 am | 75 | 76 | 73 | |
| noon | 67 | 68 | 66 | |
| 1 pm | 76 | 74 | 75 | |
| 2 pm | 97 | 98 | 96 | |
| 3 pm | 140 | 137 | 138 |
B. Graph the middle values
C. Describe it
Model it: what it shows, what it leaves out
A model stands in for something too big, too small, too fast or too slow to study directly. Each part of the model stands for a part of the real thing. Every model shows some things well and leaves other things out, and a good scientist says both.
A. The globe-and-torch model of day and night
| Part of the model | What it stands for |
|---|---|
| The globe | |
| The torch | |
| Turning the globe slowly | |
| The lit half of the globe |
B. Our model
| Part of our model | What it stands for |
|---|---|
Which shape, which relationship?
Cut out the cards. Match each lettered graph with the numbered card that names its shape. Then say the relationship in words, such as “the more light, the taller the seedlings, up to a point”.
Teacher note: each graph matches exactly one shape card. Every scale starts at 0, so each shape is honest. The key is on the answer sheet.
Let the data show its shape
Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the skill on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. A ball dropped from four heights gives the class repeated readings in minutes: children process them into middle values, draw a line graph with a scale from 0, and name the shape and the relationship it shows.
We are learning to
- process repeated readings into middle values before graphing,
- draw a line graph with labelled axes and a scale that starts at 0,
- describe the shape of a trend and say the relationship in words.
Success criteria
- I can turn three readings into one middle value for each height.
- I can say the relationship my graph shows, such as “the higher the drop, the higher the bounce”.
You need
- a tennis ball, a metre ruler taped upright to a wall, and grid paper,
- the process-graph-describe sheet (scaffold 1), one per child, and the graph cards from scaffold 3, one set per table,
- the free interactive unit on your board, if you have one (optional).
Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)
| 5 min | Drop and bounce Drop the ball beside the ruler from 25 cm while the class watches where the bottom of the ball rises to. Ask: “If we drop it from higher, what will the bounce do? How sure are you?” |
| 10 min | Collect and process Drop from 25, 50, 75 and 100 cm, three times each, and record every bounce. Children find each middle value. Ask: “Why do we graph the middle of three bounces, not all of them?” |
| 10 min | Graph and describe Children draw a line graph of the middle values, with the scale from 0. Show the board (see the box). Ask: “Which shape card names our shape? Now say the relationship in words.” |
| 5 min | Match the shapes Tables match the graph cards with the shape cards. Ask: “Graph C has no clear pattern. Is that a failure, or a finding?” |
Running it shorter? Stop after the graph, and match the cards in your next science lesson.
Watch for these ideas
- Graphing every raw reading instead of the middle values, so the trend hides in the scatter.
- Starting the scale above 0, which stretches the shape and exaggerates the change.
- Describing the look of the graph (“it goes up”) without saying the relationship between the two things.
Make it easier, make it bigger
- Easier: give the axes and the scale; children plot the middle values and choose a shape card.
- Bigger: predict the bounce from 125 cm from the graph, then test it.
Answers and look-fors
The next sheet has the processed shadow table and the finished graph, the model answers, the graph-card key, a model description for each Year 6 topic, and a quick three-level guide.
Answers and look-fors
Process, graph, describe: the shadow
Middle values: 9 am 138 cm, 10 am 97 cm, 11 am 75 cm, noon 67 cm, 1 pm 75 cm, 2 pm 97 cm, 3 pm 138 cm. The shadow was shortest at noon (67 cm) and longest at 9 am and 3 pm (138 cm). From 9 am to noon it fell by less each hour, then rose again to 3 pm. The relationship: the higher the Sun, the shorter the shadow.
Model it: the globe and the torch
The globe stands for Earth; the torch stands for the Sun; turning the globe slowly stands for Earth spinning on its axis, once a day; the lit half of the globe stands for the half of Earth having day. It shows that half of Earth is always lit, and a place moves from day into night as Earth turns. It leaves out the real sizes and distances: the Sun is about 109 times as wide as Earth and about 150 million km away, so its light reaches Earth in parallel rays, not a spreading beam.
Graph cards
| Graph | Card | Shape | The relationship in words |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | Rises, then levels off | the more light, the taller the seedlings, up to a point |
| B | 5 | Falls, by less each step | the higher the Sun climbs, the shorter the shadow |
| C | 4 | No clear pattern | no link between the day and the number of birds |
| D | 1 | Rises faster and faster | each added cell brightens the bulb by more than the last |
| E | 6 | Falls, then rises again | days shorten towards June and lengthen towards December |
| F | 3 | Rises steadily | the longer in salt water, the more rust, at a steady rate |
What a good description sounds like
| Topic | A description at standard |
|---|---|
| Habitat Conditions and Survival | The middle heights rose by less each time: the more light, the taller the seedlings, up to a point. |
| Earth, Sun and the Day-Night Cycle | Hours of daylight fell from January to June, then rose again: the days shorten towards winter and lengthen towards summer. |
| Electrical Circuits and Energy | The brightness rose faster and faster: each added cell brightened the bulb by more than the one before. |
| Reversible and Irreversible Changes | The rust rose by about the same amount each day: the longer the nail sat in salt water, the more rust formed, at a steady rate. |
A quick three-level guide
| Move | Working towards | At standard | Beyond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Process and organise | graphs every raw reading, or loses some | finds the middle value of each set and tables them in order | explains how processing hides the scatter but keeps the trend |
| Construct a representation | draws a graph with no labels, or a scale that does not start at 0 | chooses a table, graph or model that suits the data, with labelled axes from 0 | says what a model shows and what it leaves out |
| Describe the pattern | says only that the graph goes up or down | names the shape of the trend and says the relationship in words | explains a shape, such as a level-off caused by the measuring scale |
A child at standard processes repeated readings, chooses a representation that suits them with a scale from 0, and names the trend and the relationship. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back in every science topic.