Science / Year 8 / Science Inquiry Skills / Communicating

Curriculum content descriptions

Communicate ideas, findings and evidence based solutions to problems using scientific language, and representations, using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS148)

Elaborations
  • using digital technologies to construct a range of text types to present science ideas
  • selecting and using appropriate language and representations to communcate science ideas within a specified text type and for a specified audience
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Creating texts,  Data representation,  Reasoning,  Explanations (Scientific inquiry)

Video

Eyeballing colours

Fiery red, cool blue and sunny yellow are phrases used to describe feelings associated with colours. But what actually is colour? Why is it there and what helps us to see it? Follow Chloe Sheridan as she unravels the complexity of seeing colour by delving into its physics and biology. She entered this video in the 2013 ...

Video

Catalyst: Heat transfer: is it hot or cold?

If you picked up a paper book and a metal box do you think one would feel colder to the touch or would they feel the same? Watch this clip to see if people's predictions about the temperature of objects match their observations. You may be as surprised as they are!

Interactive

Aim to sustain: Get the message

This resource is a subset of the larger resource, Aim to Sustain. As such it includes the culminating activity in which students study and make artworks that communicate an environmental message about single use and disposable plastics. The resource includes links to video, a slideshow, worksheets and links to further interactive ...

Interactive

Aim to sustain: A world of difference

Students explore what is happening at an individual, community and global level and plan actions they will take. These may range from taking a quiz to sharing knowledge about being 'green' at home, through to planning a conference session to deliver to other students. The resource includes videos, SMART notebooks, worksheets ...

Interactive

Circuit Diagrams

Students use this resource consisting of three slides with diagrams, written explanation and voice-over to understand how to draw simple circuits and the symbols used to represent them. There is a two-question quiz and a summary slide.

Interactive

Laptop Wrap: Particle model

A webpage with a focus on investigating the particle model of matter with supporting activities and links to resources.

Interactive

Thermal comfort – sustainability action process (Years 7–10)

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

Aim to Sustain

Students identify and explore ways in which human activity can threaten biodiversity and the health of our planet. Students are encouraged to take positive action to promote sustainability. The four resources: Get the message, Help a habitat, Alien invaders and A world of difference include videos, SMART notebooks, worksheets ...

Interactive

Biodiversity – sustainability action process (Years 7–10)

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.

Text

TikTok science stories lesson

In this lesson students learn about the diverse roles of science communicators and are challenged to create their own science communication text in a contemporary medium. Students will explore the important function science communicators play in informing the community and how different communication platforms are used ...

Text

Work sample Year 8 Science: Bouncing ball

This work sample demonstrates evidence of student learning in relation to aspects of the achievement standards for Year 8 Science. The primary purpose for the work sample is to demonstrate the standard, so the focus is on what is evident in the sample not how it was created. The sample is an authentic representation of ...

Text

Sandcastle ratios

In this lesson students think like geotechnical engineers, exploring the properties of sand and the ways in which those properties can be used in building and construction.

Text

Biofabrication – communicating STEM frontiers

In this lesson students learn about biomedical engineering and the emerging field of biofabrication.

Text

Engineering solutions for platypus protection

Students learn about the important role engineering plays in conservation. They explore how engineers, industrial designers and ecologists collaborate to mitigate the impact of human activity on different species.

Video

Four Corners: Fire management strategies

What role do fire-behaviour specialists and ecologists have in fire management? Watch this clip to find out about issues relating to fire management in Australia, in particular prescribed burning.

Video

Catalyst: Volcanic eruptions at Mount Ruapehu

Imagine a volcano erupting kilometres away. You are afraid, worried for the safety of yourself and others. Paul Willis presents the work of New Zealand volcanologists conducting research at Mount Ruapehu, a volcano with a history of devastating lahar (water, sediment and rocks) flows. Learn more about lahar flows and the ...

Video

Catalyst: Supercapacitors: new battery technology

Discover how nanotechnology is contributing to the creation of new, improved batteries that may soon be used in all our mobile phones and portable music devices - even in cars and trams. Catalyst's Tanya Ha looks at how traditional batteries produce electricity and how their efficiency may be increased by tiny devices known ...

Video

Catalyst: Do heavier things fall faster?

Will a medicine ball or a basketball hit the ground first when dropped at the same time from the same height? In this clip, Catalyst's Dr Derek Muller investigates what influences the speed at which objects fall. Derek challenges some people in a market to make a prediction and explain their thinking, before he finally ...

Video

Four Corners: Megafires

Are we approaching the 'age of megafires'? It might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but some scientists believe there is cause for concern. Watch this clip to find out how bushfires as we know them are changing. Discover why.

Video

BTN: A career as a geologist

Do all scientists wear white lab coats and work with chemicals? Watch this clip and discover how a career in science can take you soaring to dizzying heights. Find out what an exploration geologist does and why helicopters are used in the job. This clip will inspire you to consider a career in one of the many varied fields ...