Science / Year 7 / Science Inquiry Skills / Planning and conducting

Curriculum content descriptions

Measure and control variables, select equipment appropriate to the task and collect data with accuracy (ACSIS126)

Elaborations
  • recognising the differences between controlled, dependent and independent variables
  • using a digital camera to record observations and compare images using information technologies
  • using specialised equipment to increase the accuracy of measurement within an investigation
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Data collection,  Independence (Experiments),  Scientific control

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.

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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 ...

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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.

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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.

Online

MoneySmart: Should I drink bottled water?

This unit of work gives students opportunities to develop an understanding of the importance of water for the environment and potable water for human consumption. Students will consider water availability and use from an individual, national and international perspective; explain the natural processes in the water cycle ...

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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.

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Create dichotomous keys lesson

In this lesson students engage in a hands-on exploration of local diversity. Students research and record local wildlife, learn about biodiversity in Australia, and conduct a ‘bush blitz’. They learn how to create dichotomous keys and translate their keys into a wildlife discovery app prototype. The resource includes links ...

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Food innovation and molecular gastronomy lesson

In this lesson, students explore connections between science, design, and technologies through the lens of food innovation and food science. Students look at interesting and unusual food products, using food textures as a jumping off point to explore the relationship between chemistry and food. Students then experiment ...

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DTiF in conversation with Kevin Bradley and Cassandra Arkinstall from Save the Bilby Fund – Using Digital Technologies to help save bilbies

Kevin Bradley, CEO of Save the Bilby Fund, and Cassandra Arkinstall, a researcher and volunteer at Save the Bilby Fund explain how important digital technologies are in the campaign to save the bilby from extinction. The video explains how digital systems are used to collect and visualise data and help eradicate threats ...

Interactive

experiMENTALS: Trumpet straw

This resource contains a materials and instruction list and brief explanation for students about the process of making a straw that can produce vibrations when blown through.

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Electromagnetic Simulation (sk-Intel)

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Interactive

Rotocopters

This resource contains lessons plans containing instructions and teachers' notes for a lesson that can be part of a unit on flight or used as a great motivating activity to foster positive attitudes. The clear and explicit instructions are a good example of a procedural text. The notes also provide a clear explanation of ...

Interactive

Preparing Slides of Plant Cells

Students use this resource consisting of six slides with diagrams, written explanation and voice-over to understand how to prepare a slide of onion cells. There is a two-question quiz and a summary slide.

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experiMENTALS: Bouncing balls

This resource contains a materials and instruction list and brief explanation for students to observe what happens when two different sized balls are dropped independently or in vertical contact. The simple explanation relates to transfer of energy.

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Science Talk 2007: Tim Entwistle

An interview and tour of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney and its herbarium with Dr Tim Entwistle, a plant scientist and the NSW Government Botanist. Tim talks to a pre-service teacher from Macquarie University about his love of plants, in particular freshwater algae. In the herbarium we find out why it is so important ...

Online

Carbon is energy

We all use energy every day. Energy is available to us in many different forms - food, heat, electricity, petrol. But where does it all come from? This unit investigates the science of energy, renewable and non-renewable energy sources and how they can be sustained into the future. The unit includes PDF resources and video ...

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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 ...

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Modelling the Seasons

This resource provides a scaffold for students to undertake a simple experiment. Students use a world globe and a heat lamp to investigate how the tilt of the Earth’s axis causes the seasons.

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DTiF in conversation with Save the Bilby Fund – Background information on the Save the Bilby Fund

Kevin Bradley, CEO of Save the Bilby Fund, and Cassandra Arkinstall, a researcher and volunteer at Save the Bilby Fund, explain why the bilby is an important indicator of the health of an ecosystem, and how their decline impacts other wildlife. This video gives an overview of what the Save the Bilby Fund does as they work ...

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Field Guide to NSW Fauna - Google Play app

View descriptions of NSW fauna together with maps of distribution, images and endangered species rating. Animals are grouped by mammals, reptiles, fishes, amphibians, birds or insects and other invertebrates. Info pages include images and animal sounds. Free when reviewed on 12/5/2015.