Working scientifically

• This resource is a set of support materials for teachers undertaking scientific investigations, suitable for years 3-10. It includes diagrams explaining the investigation process, photographs and examples of different types of investigations.
• This resource also provides ideas for actively engaging students in the investigation, scaffolding tools to promote this engagement and suggestions for assessing students. It includes a range of additional materials such as teacher and self-evaluation sheets, assessment frameworks and planning and evaluation sheets to be completed by the students.
• Planning and evaluation sheets for years 7-10 and an investigation framework sheet for years 5-6 are also included as separate documents in this resource. These sheets will enable students to work independently or in small groups as they proceed through the investigation.
• This resource provides support for teaching that, when conducting a scientific investigation, students must be able to identify and explain their hypotheses, predictions, observations and findings. It is important that they can explain relationships and patterns between variables, identify possible errors and improvements and present a conclusion that evaluates the hypothesis. They should be able to demonstrate their understanding of what makes a test fair.

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