Skill companion: Communicating Findings Clearly (Year 7)

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Skill companion · Year 7 Science Inquiryseegongsik /au

Communicating Findings Clearly: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: shaping a text for its reader and its purpose, choosing the language and the text features (titles, graphs, tables, labelled diagrams) that make a finding clear, and using digital tools where they help. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you already teach.

AC9S7I08

write and create texts to communicate ideas, findings and arguments for specific purposes and audiences, including selection of appropriate language and text features, using 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 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 a text worth making in each topic, and for whom.
Print the reader planner and the fix-the-draft sheet, one each per student, whenever a class shares its findings.
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 model texts for two readers, the fixed draft, the card key and a quick three-level guide. The step up from Year 6 is choosing on purpose: students name the reader and the purpose first, then decide between informing, persuading and instructing, plain or technical words, and a graph, a table or a labelled diagram, and they can say why each choice suits that reader.

On the board

This pack is the printable half of a free interactive unit. On screen, students switch between the table, the bar chart and the line graph in “Pick the view that tells the story best”, compare the three formats in “Choose how to present the results, and for whom”, and sort design choices with “Fits the purpose” and “Does not fit” in “Which choices make the report clearer?”. Each scaffold turns one of those moves into something students do on paper.

seegongsik.com/au/y7/inquiry/AC9S7I08

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum V9 (AC9S7I08). 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 has findings worth sharing with someone. This map shows a text worth making in each Year 7 topic, its reader and purpose, and the language and features that suit it. You do not run these as extra lessons; you fold them into the science you teach, with the reader planner first and the fix-the-draft checklist last.

When you teach	Text to make	Reader and purpose	Language and features
Classifying Living Things (AC9S7U01)	A field-guide card for the school’s leaf-litter animals	Younger students exploring the garden; to inform	A labelled drawing, a two-step key and one short sentence per animal
Energy Flow in Ecosystems (AC9S7U02)	A letter to the council about a creek bank	Council officers; to persuade	A clear request, the class’s counts as evidence, formal language and a polite close
Earth, Sun and Moon (AC9S7U03)	A short slideshow on why we have seasons	Families at an open night; to explain	A labelled diagram of the tilted Earth, one idea per slide, everyday words with the key terms explained
Balanced and Unbalanced Forces (AC9S7U04)	A road-safety poster about seatbelts	Students and families; to persuade	A bold headline, one graph from the trolley tests, and a single call to action
The Particle Model of Matter (AC9S7U05)	A display of particles in solids, liquids and gases	The class; to explain	Three labelled particle diagrams side by side, with arrows for movement and a caption each
Pure Substances and Mixtures (AC9S7U06)	Instructions for clearing muddy water	A Year 4 class; to instruct	Numbered steps that start with a verb, exact amounts, and a safety note
Any science topic	Any finding the class wants to share	A named reader and purpose, chosen first	Language and features chosen to suit that reader

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.

Choose the representation that tells the story: “Pick the view that tells the story best”.
Weigh what each format gains and loses for a reader: “Choose how to present the results, and for whom”.
Keep only the choices that help the reader: “Which choices make the report clearer?”.

How the scaffolds build the skill

The reader planner names the reader, the purpose and the features, then writes the same finding for two different readers. The fix-the-draft sheet repairs a draft with a vague title, a jargon sentence, an unlabelled graph, missing units and an empty conclusion, and ends with a checklist for any text. The cards sort snippets by what they are written to do: inform, persuade or instruct.

Scaffold 1 · Reader plannerOne per student

Write it for the reader

NameClassDate

The same finding is written differently for different readers. Decide who will read it and what it is for before you choose the words and the features.

The finding: Bean seedlings in a warm, sunny spot by the north windows grew about 1.5 cm a day; seedlings in a cold, shady corner grew about 0.5 cm a day, over the same three weeks.

A. Plan for two readers

	Year 2 students, who are about to look after the class plants	the school garden committee, who are choosing where to put a new vegetable patch
Purpose inform, persuade, instruct or explain?
Kind of text poster, letter, report, slides, steps ...
Language plain or technical, friendly or formal
Text features title, graph, table, labelled diagram, steps
Digital tool if one would help

B. Write the opening

For Year 2 students

Title:

First two sentences:

For the school garden committee

Title:

First two sentences:

Teacher note: reuse the planner for any text; the two columns can be two readers, or a draft and a final version.

Scaffold 2 · Fix the draftOne per student

Make the draft clear

NameClassDate

This draft reports a real result, but a reader would struggle to see it. Fix each problem, then use the checklist on your own work.

The draft

Experiment

The utilisation of differing water temperatures was implemented, and it was observed that dissolution of the sugar cubes transpired at varying rates.

Results: 118, 96, 75, 60, 47

Conclusion: hot water is better.

Fix it

1. Write a title that says what was tested.
2. Rewrite the long sentence in plain words.
3. Label each axis, with its unit.
4. Add the units to the results.
5. Rewrite the conclusion with numbers.

Checklist for any text

□ The title says what was tested or found.

□ The reader and the purpose are clear from the first lines.

□ Plain words, with any key term explained.

□ Every graph and table has a title, labels and units.

□ The conclusion gives numbers, not just a feeling.

□ Nothing is there just to look impressive.

Scaffold 3 · Purpose cards (cut out)Reuse all year

Inform, persuade, or instruct?

Cut out the cards, lay down the three grey heading cards, and sort each snippet by what it is written to do. Then underline the words that give it away.

InformsReports what was found, with facts and numbers.Heading

PersuadesArgues for an action, and backs it with evidence.Heading

InstructsTells the reader what to do, step by step, with commands.Heading

Seedlings in the sunny spot grew about 1.5 cm a day; those in the shade grew about 0.5 cm.Card A

Put the new vegetable patch on the north side, where our seedlings grew three times as fast.Card B

Water each pot with 50 mL every morning before 9 am.Card C

Hold the thermometer in the middle of the water, not touching the glass.Card D

Three of the five metal objects were attracted to the magnet.Card E

Every classroom should have a recycling bin, because half our rubbish could be recycled.Card F

Please keep the creek bank fenced: we found far more water insects where it was not trampled.Card G

Pour the muddy water through the filter paper slowly, and stop when the funnel is half full.Card H

The graph shows the temperature of the water every minute for ten minutes.Card I

Sea water left more salt in the dish than river water did.Card J

Drop the ruler without warning, then read the mark at the top of your thumb.Card K

Choose wool for the class’s cold-day blankets: in our test it kept water warm the longest.Card L

Our finding, written to:

Write your own

Our finding, written to:

Write your own

Our finding, written to:

Write your own

Teacher note: four cards go in each pile. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why.

Mini-lesson · Teacher planAbout 30 minutes

One finding, three readers

Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the skill on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. Groups take one finding and write it for three different readers, then swap texts with another group, which has to guess each reader from the words and features alone.

We are learning to

choose the purpose and the kind of text to suit a reader,
choose plain or technical language, and the text features that make a finding clear,
explain how a text shows who it was written for.

Success criteria

Another group can tell who each of our texts was written for.
I can name two choices I made for each reader, and why.

You need

a finding from the class’s recent science, or the bean-seedling finding on the reader planner,
three strips of paper per group, the reader planner (scaffold 1), and the cards from scaffold 3, one set per table.

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

5 min	Which view? Show the board (see the box). Ask: “Which view would you put on a poster for Year 4? Which in a report for a scientist?”
10 min	Write three times Each group writes the finding three times, on three strips: for a Year 2 class, for the principal, and for a science fair judge, with a title and two sentences each. Ask: “What did you change for the Year 2 class? What did you keep for the judge?”
10 min	Swap and guess Groups swap strips and guess the reader of each, naming the words or features that told them. Ask: “Which word or feature gave the reader away?”
5 min	Sort the cards Tables sort the cards under the three heading cards. Ask: “Which words tell you this card is an instruction?”

Running it shorter? Write for two readers only, and sort the cards in your next science lesson.

On the board

For a worked example, open the unit and switch between the views in “Pick the view that tells the story best”. Then compare “A labelled bar chart” with “A written report with a results table” in “Choose how to present the results, and for whom”.

seegongsik.com/au/y7/inquiry/AC9S7I08

Watch for these ideas

Writing the same text for everyone, only shorter or longer.
Thinking simpler words mean leaving out the numbers: a young reader still needs the main number.
Adding long technical words or decorations to look impressive, which hides the finding.

Make it easier, make it bigger

Easier: give the three titles, and let groups write the sentences.
Bigger: make one of the three as a slide or a short recorded explainer with a digital tool.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the finding written for two readers, the fixed draft, the card key and a quick three-level guide.

Answers · For the teacherModel responses

Answers and look-fors

Reader planner: the finding for two readers

Reader	Title	Opening
Year 2 students	Plants love a sunny spot!	Our bean plants grew taller each day in the warm, sunny spot than in the cold, shady corner, about 3 times as much. So put our class plants where the sun shines, and give them a drink each morning.
the school garden committee	Put the vegetable patch on the sunny north side	Over three weeks, our bean seedlings by the north windows grew about 1.5 cm a day, against 0.5 cm a day in a shady corner: 3 times as fast. We recommend the new patch goes on the north side, where it will get the most sun.

For the Year 2 students: inform and instruct, a friendly tone, short sentences, one main number and a picture of a plant in the sun. For the committee: persuade, a formal tone, the measured numbers, a clear recommendation and a small bar chart of the two growth rates.

Fix the draft

1. Write a title that says what was tested.	Time for a sugar cube to dissolve in water at different temperatures
2. Rewrite the long sentence in plain words.	We dissolved sugar cubes in water at five temperatures and timed how long each one took.
3. Label each axis, with its unit.	Water temperature (°C) along the bottom; time to dissolve (s) up the side.
4. Add the units to the results.	At 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 °C the cubes took 118, 96, 75, 60 and 47 s.
5. Rewrite the conclusion with numbers.	The warmer the water, the faster the cube dissolved: from 118 s at 20 °C down to 47 s at 60 °C.

Purpose cards

Card	Snippet	Pile	Why
A	Seedlings in the sunny spot grew about 1.5 cm a day; those in the shade grew about 0.5 cm.	Informs	Facts with numbers.
B	Put the new vegetable patch on the north side, where our seedlings grew three times as fast.	Persuades	An action, backed by evidence.
C	Water each pot with 50 mL every morning before 9 am.	Instructs	A command with exact amounts.
D	Hold the thermometer in the middle of the water, not touching the glass.	Instructs	A command that says how.
E	Three of the five metal objects were attracted to the magnet.	Informs	Reports a finding.
F	Every classroom should have a recycling bin, because half our rubbish could be recycled.	Persuades	Argues for a change, with a reason.
G	Please keep the creek bank fenced: we found far more water insects where it was not trampled.	Persuades	A request backed by what was found.
H	Pour the muddy water through the filter paper slowly, and stop when the funnel is half full.	Instructs	Steps in order, as commands.
I	The graph shows the temperature of the water every minute for ten minutes.	Informs	Explains what the display shows.
J	Sea water left more salt in the dish than river water did.	Informs	Reports a comparison.
K	Drop the ruler without warning, then read the mark at the top of your thumb.	Instructs	Commands, in order.
L	Choose wool for the class’s cold-day blankets: in our test it kept water warm the longest.	Persuades	A recommendation with evidence.

A quick three-level guide

Move	Working towards	At standard	Beyond
Fit the reader and purpose	writes one text for everyone	names the reader and purpose, and shapes the text to suit them	explains how each choice serves that reader
Choose the language	uses vague or jargon-heavy words	uses plain words, explains key terms, and gives numbers with units	changes the tone between friendly and formal on purpose
Use text features	adds features that do not help, or leaves out titles and labels	chooses a title, graph, table or diagram that makes the finding clear	uses a digital tool where it makes the text clearer

A student at standard shapes a text for a named reader and purpose, with plain, precise language and features that make the finding clear. The skill grows all year, so keep the planner coming back whenever a class shares its findings.