Science / Year 4 / Science Inquiry Skills / Planning and conducting

Curriculum content descriptions

With guidance, plan and conduct scientific investigations to find answers to questions, considering the safe use of appropriate materials and equipment (ACSIS065)

Elaborations
  • exploring different ways to conduct investigations and connecting these to the types of questions asked with teacher guidance
  • working in groups, with teacher guidance, to plan ways to investigate questions
  • discussing and recording safety rules for equipment as a whole class
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Experiments,  Data collection

Interactive

Waste and materials – sustainability action process (Years 3–6)

This resource guides students through an extended school-based or local investigation focussed on waste and materials using the five-step sustainability action process. The resource supports the investigation of a real-world issue or problem. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate ...

Interactive

Thermal comfort – sustainability action process (Years 3–6)

This thermal comfort learning resource will guide students through an extended school based investigation. Students will develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and reflect on their success and their learning.

Interactive

Kitchen gardens – sustainability action process (Years 3–6)

This resource guides students through an extended school-based or local investigation focussed on kitchen gardens using the five-step sustainability action process. The resource supports the investigation of a real-world issue or problem. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and ...

Interactive

Biodiversity – sustainability action process (Years 3–6)

This biodiversity learning resource guides students through an extended school based investigation. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and reflect on their success and their learning.

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Water for wildlife

With Australia’s changing climate we need to adapt to our altering conditions. This is challenging but also possible for humans through behaviour change and infrastructure change (too advanced?) but not quite so easy for our precious wildlife. While water is considered renewable as it functions as part of a water cycle, ...

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Our animal neighbours

This lesson invites students to learn about a local animal species, the places it lives and how this has changed over time. The lesson includes a downloadable lesson plan, links to supporting websites, videos, and an assessment rubric.

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Rivers and creeks: caring for living places

This lesson introduces rivers, creeks and other waterways as living places that support plants, animals, and people. The lesson includes a downloadable lesson plan, links to supporting websites, videos, and an assessment rubric.

Downloadable

Construct a catapult - teacher resource kit

This activity kit challenges students to design and build catapults out of recycled and household items. Activities are guided by the design thinking process, and scaffold students to explore simple machines, tools, properties of materials and changing variables in experiments. The guide includes lesson ideas, project instructions, ...

Downloadable

Construct a pull along toy - teacher resource kit

This activity kit is about engaging students in thinking about wheels and axles. Activities are guided by the design thinking process, and scaffolds students to explore different types of pull-along toys, various ways of constructing them from a range of household and readily-available materials and investigate how wheels ...

Downloadable

School water use audit (Year 4)

In this activity, students identify the water use areas in the school and the water use items found in those areas. On the ‘Water walk’, students also identify any leaking water use items. They assess how water savings can be made in each of these areas.

Downloadable

Dripping tap investigation

In this activity, students measure how much water is wasted from a leaking tap.

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Mini robot garden

In this set of learning activities, students explore the role of robotics and automation in developing a mini vegetable garden. The module includes a comprehensive teacher guide, curriculum links, materials lists, design process guides and printable student resource sheets. The resource also provides an editable module ...

Downloadable

Construct a water wheel - teacher resource kit

This activity kit encourages students to design and construct a simple water wheel model that turns by the flow of water. Activities are guided by the design thinking process, and scaffolds students to research the applications of various simple machines, and the combinations of simple machines they might use to build a ...

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Cussen Park: Hear and there soundwalk

This resource provides information and teaching and learning activities about Victorian wetlands environments. The resource is designed to accompany students on a visit to Cussen Park and to provide a guide to interacting with its interpretative Soundwalk and signage. The activities also provide general information on the ...

Interactive

DIY Lava Lamp

This resource contains lessons plans containing instructions and teachers' notes for an activity based on a chemical reaction that occurs when a soluble aspirin tablet dissolves and the fact that oil and water do not mix are used to create a model of a lava lamp. Students have fun while they learn about density of fluids. ...

Interactive

experiMENTALS: Levitating balloon

This resource contains a materials and instruction list and brief explanation for students about the process of levitating a balloon.

Video

Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub: Australian disasters

This is a curated collection of articles, photographs and internet links related to natural, technological and human-caused events including bushfires, cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, shipwrecks, urban fires, chemical and industrial events in Australia. Events included have posed a serious threat to a community or property ...

Interactive

experiMENTALS: Disappearing coin trick

This resource contains a materials, instructions and brief explanation for students about the process of rotating hands to make a coin seem to dislodge.

Interactive

experiMENTALS: Bubble 07 diversion grenades

This resource contains a materials and instruction list and brief explanation for students about the process of carrying out a chemical reaction between bicarbonate of soda and vinegar.

Interactive

experiMENTALS: Magic rocking candle

This resource contains a materials and instruction list and brief explanation for students about the process of burning both ends of a balancing candle. This activity is most likely to be done as a teacher demonstration for safety and classroom management reasons, particularly at primary school level.