Asking Questions Science Can Test: a skill companion
A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: turning something noticed into an investigable question, writing a hypothesis that gives a testable reason from a science idea, and predicting results from a pattern, inside and outside the range that was tested. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you already teach.
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 Classifying Living Things, Energy Flow in Ecosystems, Earth, Sun and Moon, Balanced and Unbalanced Forces, The Particle Model of Matter, and Pure Substances and Mixtures. 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 question and hypothesis maker and the hypothesis sheet, one each per student, whenever a lesson starts from a pattern.
- Cut out the cards once. They are reused all year, and the blank cards fit any topic.
- 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
Each scaffold explains itself in plain words, and the answer sheet gives the card key, the worked predictions, a model question and hypothesis for every Year 7 topic, and a quick three-level guide. The step up from Year 6 is the hypothesis: students name the independent, dependent and controlled variables, and they write “If ..., then ..., because ...”, where the “because” comes from a science idea such as the particle model, and the “then” is a result a test could prove wrong.
Slot the skill into your science lessons
The same skill of asking a testable question and writing a hypothesis fits into every science unit. This map shows a pattern students can notice in each Year 7 topic, an investigable question about the relationship behind it, 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 | Pattern students can notice | Investigable question | Scaffold to slot in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classifying Living Things (AC9S7U01) | Students using the class key disagree over words like “large” and “smooth” | How does the kind of question in a dichotomous key (a measured feature or a describing word) affect how many leaves are named correctly? | Question and hypothesis maker, then the cards |
| Energy Flow in Ecosystems (AC9S7U02) | More slaters turn up under the logs in the shade | How does the amount of light reaching a log affect the number of slaters under it? | Question and hypothesis maker |
| Earth, Sun and Moon (AC9S7U03) | Some high tides reach further up the beach than others | How does the phase of the moon affect the height of high tide, read from a month of tide tables? | Hypothesis sheet, then the cards |
| Balanced and Unbalanced Forces (AC9S7U04) | A loaded trolley is harder to get moving | How does the mass on a trolley affect how much it speeds up when it is pulled with the same force? | The mini-lesson, then the hypothesis sheet |
| The Particle Model of Matter (AC9S7U05) | Sugar disappears faster in hot tea than in cold | How does the temperature of water affect how long a sugar cube takes to dissolve? | Question and hypothesis maker, then the hypothesis sheet |
| Pure Substances and Mixtures (AC9S7U06) | Salt water in a wide dish dries out first | How does the surface area of a dish affect how long salt water takes to evaporate and leave its salt? | Hypothesis sheet, then the cards |
| Any science topic | A pattern a student spots for themselves | The student names the variable to change, the variable to measure and the ones to keep the same, then writes a hypothesis | Question and hypothesis maker 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.
- Turn a wondering into a question with one variable to change, one to measure and the rest kept the same: “Frame the question: change only the salt” and “Now name what you will measure”.
- Read the relationship in the results, and recheck a reading that breaks it: “Test the relationship: find the reading to recheck”.
- Decide which findings really test the hypothesis: “Weigh the evidence for the prediction”.
How the scaffolds build the skill
The question and hypothesis maker turns something a student noticed into an investigable question, names the three kinds of variable, and frames a hypothesis with a reason. The hypothesis sheet starts from a hypothesis, reads measured results, predicts one result inside the tested range and one just outside it, and asks what result would prove the hypothesis wrong. The cards sharpen the difference between a testable hypothesis, a prediction with no reason, and a statement no test can check.
From a pattern to a hypothesis
Science often starts with a pattern: when one thing changes, another seems to change too. An investigable question asks how the first affects the second. A hypothesis answers it in advance, with a reason a test can check.
What I noticed
My investigable question
The variables
| Independent variable the one I change | |
| Dependent variable the one I measure, and its unit | |
| Controlled variables the ones I keep the same |
My hypothesis
Teacher note: if a student ticks “Not yet”, the “then” usually has nothing to measure, or the “because” is not a science idea. Help them name a result they could measure and a reason from a model.
From a hypothesis to predictions
A hypothesis says what should happen and why. The results either support it or show it to be wrong, and the pattern in them lets you predict new results: well inside the range you tested, and with less certainty outside it.
A. The hypothesis and the results
Class 7C’s hypothesis: if a tennis ball is dropped from higher, then it will bounce higher, because it is moving faster when it hits the floor. They dropped the same ball onto the same hard floor, three times from each height, and recorded the middle bounce.
| Drop (cm) | Bounce (cm) |
|---|---|
| 20 | 12 |
| 40 | 23 |
| 60 | 34 |
| 80 | 44 |
| 100 | 54 |
| 70 | ? |
| 120 | ? |
B. Test and predict
Mark your two predicted points on the dashed lines of the graph.
C. My own hypothesis
Hypothesis, prediction, or not testable?
Cut out the cards. Lay down the three grey heading cards, then sort the statement cards under them. For each card that is not a testable hypothesis, try rewriting it on a blank card so that it is.
Teacher note: four cards go in each pile. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why. The blank cards let students write their own statements and swap them with another table to sort.
From a question to a hypothesis you can test
Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the skill on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. Paper helicopters give the class a relationship of its own in a few minutes: change the length of the wings and time the fall. The scaffolds then turn it into a question, a hypothesis and a sort.
We are learning to
- turn a pattern into an investigable question and name its independent, dependent and controlled variables,
- write a hypothesis with a result a test can check and a reason from a science idea,
- tell a hypothesis from a bare prediction and from a statement no test can check.
Success criteria
- I can write “If ..., then ..., because ...” for our helicopters.
- I can say what result would show my hypothesis was wrong.
You need
- for each group: paper strips about 3 cm wide and 18 cm long, scissors, paper clips, a ruler and a stopwatch (a helicopter is a strip cut down the middle from one end to make two wings, folded opposite ways, with a clip on the other end),
- the question and hypothesis maker (scaffold 1), one per student, and the cards from scaffold 3, one set per table.
Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)
| 5 min | Notice a pattern Drop two helicopters together from the same height, one with 4 cm wings and one with 8 cm wings. Ask: “Which landed first? What do you think made the difference?” |
| 10 min | Question and hypothesis Each student fills the question and hypothesis maker. Show the board (see the box). Ask: “What else must stay the same so that only the wing length changes?” |
| 10 min | Test it Standing on the floor, arm raised, groups drop helicopters with 4, 6 and 8 cm wings three times each and record the middle time. Ask: “Do the results support your hypothesis? What result would have shown it was wrong?” |
| 5 min | Sort the cards Tables sort the cards under the three heading cards. Ask: “This card makes a prediction. What reason would turn it into a hypothesis?” |
Running it shorter? Stop after the hypothesis, and pick up the test and the cards in your next science lesson.
Watch for these ideas
- A hypothesis with no reason, which is only a prediction.
- A reason no test can check, such as “because helicopters like to spin”.
- Changing the wing length and the number of clips at once, so nobody can tell which change mattered.
Make it easier, make it bigger
- Easier: give the frame “If the wings are longer, then the helicopter will fall ..., because ...”.
- Bigger: predict and then test 10 cm wings, and decide whether the pattern holds or the long wings start to flop.
Answers and look-fors
The next sheet has the card key, the worked ball-bounce predictions, a model question and hypothesis for each Year 7 topic, and a quick three-level guide.
Answers and look-fors
Hypothesis cards
| Card | Statement | Pile | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | If the water is warmer, then a sugar cube will dissolve faster, because faster-moving water particles pull the sugar particles away sooner. | Testable hypothesis | A result to time, and a reason from the particle model. |
| B | The heavier trolley will be slower. | Prediction only | Says what will happen, with no reason. |
| C | Lizards are more interesting than snakes. | Not testable | ‘Interesting’ is an opinion. |
| D | The moon pulls on the sea because it is lonely. | Not testable | Loneliness is not something a test can measure. |
| E | If a trolley carries more mass, then the same pull will speed it up less, because the same force has more mass to move. | Testable hypothesis | A result to measure, and a reason from forces and mass. |
| F | The plants near the window will grow taller. | Prediction only | A result to measure, but no reason. |
| G | The salt will dissolve in the warm water first. | Prediction only | A result to watch for, with no reason given. |
| H | Clear water is more beautiful than muddy water. | Not testable | ‘Beautiful’ is an opinion. |
| I | If a puddle is spread wider, then it will dry faster, because more water particles are at the surface where they can escape. | Testable hypothesis | A drying time to measure, and a reason from the particle model. |
| J | If there are fewer foxes, then the number of rabbits will rise, because fewer rabbits are eaten. | Testable hypothesis | A count to make over time, and a reason from the food web. |
| K | Mixtures are better than pure substances. | Not testable | ‘Better’ is an opinion. |
| L | The ball will bounce higher when it is dropped from higher. | Prediction only | A result to measure, with no reason. |
A rewrite at standard turns ‘The plants near the window will grow taller’ into ‘If a plant gets more light, then it will grow taller, because plants use light to make their food.’
From a hypothesis to predictions: the ball bounce
Each 20 cm higher, the bounce rose by 11, 11, 10, 10 cm (12, 23, 34, 44, 54): it climbs steadily, slightly less at the top, so the results support the hypothesis. A bounce that stayed the same or fell as the drop rose would have shown it was wrong. At 70 cm, inside the range between the readings at 60 and 80 cm, about 39 cm is a confident prediction. At 120 cm, just outside, the next gain should be about 10 cm, so about 64 cm, said with less certainty. From 3 m nothing was tested anywhere near, and the air slows a falling ball more the faster it goes, so the pattern cannot say; only a test can.
Question and hypothesis maker: what a good response sounds like
| Topic | A question at standard | A hypothesis at standard |
|---|---|---|
| Classifying Living Things | How does the kind of question in a key affect how many leaves are named correctly? | If the key asks about measured features, such as a leaf longer than 10 cm, then more leaves will be named correctly, because a measurement means the same to everyone and a word like “large” does not. |
| Energy Flow in Ecosystems | How does the amount of light reaching a log affect the number of slaters under it? | If a log is in deep shade, then more slaters will be under it, because slaters lose water quickly and shelter where it is dark and damp. |
| Earth, Sun and Moon | How does the phase of the moon affect the height of high tide? | If the moon is new or full, then the high tides will be higher, because the pulls of the sun and the moon line up. |
| Balanced and Unbalanced Forces | How does the mass on a trolley affect how much it speeds up with the same pull? | If the trolley carries more mass, then it will speed up less, because the same unbalanced force has more mass to move. |
| The Particle Model of Matter | How does the temperature of water affect how long a sugar cube takes to dissolve? | If the water is warmer, then the cube will dissolve faster, because its particles move faster and pull the sugar particles away sooner. |
| Pure Substances and Mixtures | How does the surface area of a dish affect how long salt water takes to evaporate? | If the dish is wider, then the water will evaporate faster, because more water particles are at the surface where they can escape. |
A quick three-level guide
| Move | Working towards | At standard | Beyond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pose an investigable question | asks about one thing, or asks for an opinion | asks how one variable affects another, naming the controlled variables | chooses a question the class could test with the equipment it has |
| Write a hypothesis | predicts with no reason | writes if, then and because, with a result to measure and a science reason | says what result would show the hypothesis was wrong |
| Predict from the pattern | trusts a prediction far outside the range as much as one inside it | predicts inside the tested range from the pattern, and is less sure outside it | uses the size of the steps to predict a number, and says how sure it is |
A student at standard asks how one variable affects another and writes a hypothesis with a result to measure and a reason from a science idea. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back in every science topic.