Science / Year 10 / Science Inquiry Skills / Planning and conducting

Curriculum content descriptions

Select and use appropriate equipment, including digital technologies, to collect and record data systematically and accurately (ACSIS200)

Elaborations
  • selecting and using probes and data loggers to record information
  • applying specific skills for the use of scientific instruments
  • identifying where human error can influence the reliability of data
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Data collection,  Instrumentation (Technology)

Online

Green packaging lesson

This lesson plan engages students in finding ways to reduce plastic waste in food packaging. Students investigate problems created by plastic waste then observe ways these issues are being addressed. They design new packaging for food items that currently produce excessive waste then test their designs objectively. The ...

Interactive

The greenhouse effect

This is an interactive resource about how greenhouse gases affect the climate. Students use a simulation to explore the atmosphere during the ice age and today. They change variables such as adding clouds, changing greenhouse gas concentrations and see how the temperature changes. They can then compare this to the effect ...

Interactive

iPlan

This resource contains ten IWB flipcharts as well as Flash alternative exercises and models how to plan a scientific investigation, choose the right equipment and follow safe working practices.

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

experiMENTALS: Straw propeller

This resource contains a materials and instruction list and brief explanation for students about the process of creating a propeller using two bendy straws and a pair of scissors. A simple demonstration of one of Newton's Laws.

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

Designing urban carbon sinks lesson

In this lesson, students learn about the role of vegetation as carbon sinks, conduct field work to evaluate local carbon sinks and explore urban design issues. Students asses their own carbon footprints using the carbon footprint calculator, learn about carbon offset, carbon farming and carbon storage programs. Students ...

Video

Catalyst: Thinning ice sheet

Discover that that the massive ice sheet in East Antarctica has been losing mass since 2006 instead of growing, as was previously thought. Watch animations to see how scientists from NASA and Australia are using satellite technology and aerial monitoring to investigate the thickness of East Antarctica's ice sheet. Find ...

Video

Four Corners: Ecological effects of bushfires

Did you know that Australia is the most flammable continent on Earth? Watch this clip to discover how bushfires impact natural ecosystems, and how the increasing global threat of bushfires may affect Australia. Australian scientists explain the ecological consequences of fire and a US expert describes his concerns for the future.

Video

Caving for fossils

Imagine the enthusiasm of Australian paleontologists when they heard about the discovery of three caves in the middle of the Nullarbor Plain. Watch this clip to find out just what was discovered in the caves and why it is so significant.

Video

Catalyst: What is a megafire?

Join Catalyst reporter Anja Taylor as she visits the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico and discovers the impacts of recent megafires on the landscape there. What is a megafire? And how is a megafire different from a regular wildfire? How have recent fires permanently transformed the landscapes that Anja and Professor Craig ...

Text

The Conversation - issues concerning self and identity - organ donation

This resource contains a series of articles about organ donation, including ethical consideration of the role of family; research methods available to increase donor rates; and examples from other countries (e.g. Spain) that have high organ donation rates. It can be used to consider a wide range of issues, evidence, and ...

Online

Collisions and biomechanics lesson

This lesson plan investigates ways in which automobile manufacturers seek to reduce injuries that occur in car accidents. Students note the effects of car accidents on human bodies, the factors that influence the type and severity of injuries, and the safety ratings of vehicles in which they travel regularly. The resource ...

Text

Climate science analysis from The Conversation

This is a collection of articles about climate science. It includes articles about modelling, explanations about heat trends, predictions about sea level rise, and why the science about climate change is clear. The articles are written in plain language and are authored by experts from universities in Australia and around ...

Video

Catalyst: Birth of radio astronomy

Did you know that some of the most ground-breaking scientific discoveries were made by chance (serendipity)? Discover the link between static on a telephone line and the invention of the radio telescope that has helped scientists find new clues to the origin of the universe.

Video

ABC News: Sound waves measure ocean temperatures

View how scientists use underwater sound waves to measure ocean temperature changes in the Indian Ocean. The animations show how the technology called acoustic thermometry works. Australian scientists are working with a global network of 'listening posts' to monitor the long-term effects of climate change on ocean temperatures.

Video

Catalyst: Impact of coming to school on carbon emissions

How big is your carbon footprint as you travel to and from school? Watch Daniel O'Doherty, 2008 'Action Against Climate Change' Eureka Schools Prize winner, as he determines his hypothesis then designs and conducts a study about carbon emissions. Listen to the recommendations he makes to reduce and offset the emissions ...

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

BTN: The biggest radio telescope in the world

In the past, astronomers explored the universe with their eyes and optical telescopes, but what they could see was limited. Find out how radio telescopes have revolutionised the way astronomers 'see' the universe, allowing us to explore deeper into space than ever before.Watch this clip to learn about Australia's contribution ...

Video

Atoms of Fire: What makes salt and sugar so different?

Have you ever accidentally sprinkled sugar on your dinner or spooned salt into your coffee? Those white crystals might look the same but they taste very different because they are made of different kinds of atoms bonded in different ways. Discover how chemists identify what kinds of atoms a compound is made of, then find ...