ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “write and create texts to communicate ideas and findings for specific purposes and audiences, including selection of language features, using digital tools as appropriate”
You have tested which conditions make an iron nail rust fastest, leaving nails in dry air, fresh water and salt water and weighing the rust each gained. Rusting is an irreversible change: the rust does not turn back into clean iron. Now you learn to communicate that finding to different people. The same result is written one way for the junior class and another way for the school maintenance team, and each version selects the language features that suit its purpose and audience.
One finding, two audiences
Before you write, ask who will read this and why. A poster for the junior class needs simple words and a clear labelled picture, because young children read images faster than paragraphs and the purpose is to teach one idea: rust is a change that cannot be undone. A short report for the maintenance team needs precise science vocabulary and exact figures, because expert readers want detail they can act on. The finding does not change, but the words, the layout and the level of detail are chosen to fit each reader.
Pick the format that fits the audience
You found that the nail in salt water rusted fastest and that rusting is irreversible. You want to share this with the junior class first.
Your audience is the younger students in the junior class, and your purpose is to teach them that rusting is an irreversible change that salt water speeds up. Choose how to communicate it to them.
Choose a response to see what is gained and what is given up.
Select the language features for the purpose
Language features are the choices you make about words and detail. For the junior poster you choose short sentences, everyday words like rust and stays rusty, and a labelled picture. For the maintenance report you choose precise vocabulary like irreversible change and corrosion, exact masses in grams, and a clear chart. A sentence that reports a measured result communicates the finding. A vague comment or an opinion does not.
Which sentences communicate the finding well?
The maintenance report should tell an expert reader exactly what you found, using precise vocabulary and units. Decide which sentences do that and which are too vague or are only opinion.
Claim: A clear finding reports what was measured, using precise vocabulary like rust and the unit g, and names the change as irreversible.
The nail in salt water gained 0.9 g of rust in five days, the most of any condition.
The rust did not turn back into clean iron, so the change was irreversible.
Watching the nails go rusty was the best part of science this whole term.
The nail kept in dry air gained only 0.1 g, the least rust of the three.
The jar we used for the salt water was a really nice shade of green.
Decide whether each statement is evidence for the claim, or not.
Show the result so the audience sees it
A list of mass readings is hard to read at a glance. A chart turns those readings into bars that stand tallest for the salt-water nail, so any reader sees which condition rusted the fastest without reading each figure. The same chart serves both audiences: simplified with big labels on the poster, and full with exact masses in the maintenance report.
A chart communicates the result
Here is the rust each nail gained over five days. Switch between the table, the bar chart and the line to see how each view shares the same finding.
All three views hold the same numbers, but the bar chart makes the result clear: the salt-water nails gained far more rust than the one in dry air, and warmth on top of salt gained the most, so a reader sees which conditions speed up this irreversible change without doing any sums.
Why this matters
A finding only helps people if it reaches them clearly. Choosing a text type for your audience, selecting language features that suit the purpose, and showing the result in a chart all make your science easy to understand. Scientists do exactly this when they write a plain summary for the public and a precise report for experts about the very same result.
Quick self-check
1. Your purpose is to teach the junior class that rusting is an irreversible change. Which text best fits that young audience and purpose?
2. For a report to the school maintenance team, you choose precise vocabulary and exact figures rather than plain everyday words. Why does that suit the audience?
3. Which sentence communicates the rust finding clearly, with precise science vocabulary and a unit?
4. A chart of the rust gained in each condition helps your audience because it...
5. You build the poster and the report on a tablet, then make a slide for assembly. How do these digital tools help you communicate?