Science / Year 5 / Science Inquiry Skills / Questioning and predicting

Curriculum content descriptions

With guidance, pose clarifying questions and make predictions about scientific investigations (ACSIS231)

Elaborations
  • exploring the range of questions that can be asked about a problem or phenomena and with guidance, identifying those questions that could be investigated
  • applying experience from similar situations in the past to predict what might happen in a new situation
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Predictions (Science),  Research questions

Video

Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Pepper scatter experiment

Watch what happens in this pepper scatter experiment by Surfing Scientist, Ruben Meerman. Ruben demonstrates an important property of water, surface tension, by dipping a toothpick into water sprinkled with pepper. Find out what happens when detergent is added.

Video

Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Salt water density experiment

Discover what density is and how you can test the density of liquids. You will also find out about salt water and how its density is responsible for the circulation of water around the world's oceans.

Video

Robot biomimicry

This 9 minute video segment from Catalyst shows how inspiration from the world of animals has helped in the mechanical design of robots and adhesive materials.

Online

Every drop counts, being water wise!

This activity aims to explore water usage and water saving ideas. Every drop counts! OUTCOMES are for children to: understand the importance of water; look at ways to help save water; and undertake a water audit.

Downloadable

Unit for Year 5 to 6 Butterflies: Engaging with nature

This unit of work engages students in preparing butterfly gardens in their schoolgrounds. It explores scientific entomology, features of insects (including butterflies), the contributions that butterflies make to a healthy environments, and the characteristics of butterfly gardens. The unit includes worksheets, assessment ...

Text

Shadows

This activity invites students to explore the phenomena of shadows and investigate the question, 'How can you change shadows?' Students work with shadow phenomena outdoors, indoors, or both to figure out how to change the size, shape, and position of a shadow. The activity is designed for use at home or in a classroom and ...

Interactive

Cassowary ecology quiz

Explore facts about the life of cassowaries: physical characteristics; diet; habitat; life cycles; and locations. Interact with graphs to see how much people can help cassowaries. Work through ecology notes and resources. Answer questions as you go; express your answers as fractions. This learning object is one in a series ...

Online

Primary science: authentic contexts

These seven learning activities, which focus on 'authentic contexts' using a variety of tools (software) and devices (hardware), illustrate the ways in which content, pedagogy and technology can be successfully and effectively integrated in order to promote learning. In the activities, teachers engage their students' interests, ...

Image

Common bottlenose dolphins, 'Tursiops truncatus'

This is a colour photograph of a small pod of common bottlenose dolphins ('Tursiops truncatus') swimming in the ocean. This photograph was taken in Fiordland, New Zealand, where a specialised group of common bottlenose dolphins live within the fiords. (Classification - Phylum: Chordata; Class: Mammalia; Order: Cetartiodactyla; ...

Image

Blue cod, 'Parapercis colias'

This is a colour underwater photograph of a blue cod ('Parapercis colias'), showing its bright blue colouration. The image mostly displays the front part of the cod, especially the head with its large eyes and lips. (Classification - Phylum: Chordata; Class: Actinopterygii; Order: Perciformes; Family: Pinguipedidae.)

Interactive

Earth rotation: night and day

Watch an animation of the Earth rotating in space showing day and night, the equinox where locations on Earth experience close to equal hours of daytime and night-time (12 hours) and views of the Earth from above the North and South Poles. Turn an animated model of the Earth to explore how rotation is related to night and ...

Video

To save a sad creek called Merri

Find out about some of the issues and solutions for managing waste and pollution in a local creek. View this clip called 'Is Merri Creek truly merry?', created by young reporters from North Fitzroy Primary School, Victoria. The clip was developed as part of the ABC Splash Live 'Making the news!' project, which featured ...

Video

Growing an organic edible garden

Find out about the roles that earthworms and other animals play in a sustainable organic garden. View this clip called 'Great pizzas', created by young reporters from Willunga Primary School, South Australia. The clip was developed as part of the ABC Splash Live 'Making the news!' project, which featured local sustainability ...

Video

Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Using a lens to bend light

How can a water-filled plastic straw be used to decode a secret message? Watch as the Surfing Scientist demonstrates how lenses with a curved surface do curious things to light.

Text

Energy: renewable and non-renewable resources

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of using renewable and non-renewable energy resources. This PowerPoint presentation, with accompanying teacher notes, outlines the characteristics of a range of renewable and non-renewable sources of energy. It describes the positives and negatives of using renewable energy sources ...

Interactive

Copper processing

This interactive activity allows students to explore the processes involved in the mining and processing of copper ore and the production of copper. Students initially put the processes in the correct sequence and then select each stage to animate it and access relevant information. The smelting stage includes an activity ...

Video

Electronically tagging sea stars

This is a colour video clip of marine scientist Dr Miles Lamare describing the process used to electronically tag sea stars. The clip shows Dr Lamare, from a New Zealand university, being interviewed. It also shows footage of Dr Lamare in the laboratory attaching a tag to a sea star; as well as sea stars moving in water ...

Video

Why tag a starfish?

This is a colour video clip in which biologist Dr Miles Lamare of the University of Otago talks about the advantages of using electronic tags to study sea stars. He explains how the tags operate, the data they provide and how unusual it is for them to be used on invertebrates. Sequences showing tags on sea stars and other ...

Text

Fruitcake mining

This is an activity sheet providing instructions for a simulated mining experiment using pieces of fruitcake. Students use various tools to remove different fruits, each representing different minerals, from a piece of fruitcake which represents the mine site. They are then required to rehabilitate the 'mine site'. The ...

Text

Gas-fired power

Find out how gas-fired power stations work. This fact sheet describes the generation of electricity in gas-fired power stations, which typically produce 50 per cent less carbon dioxide than conventional coal-fired power plants. Information is provided about the Daandine Power Station located west of Brisbane, which uses ...