Science / Foundation / Science inquiry / Questioning and predicting

Curriculum content descriptions

pose questions and make predictions based on experiences (AC9SFI01)

Elaborations
  • posing questions based on experiences, such as: ‘What part of a plant is broccoli?’ or ‘How high do balls bounce?’
  • posing questions about everyday objects and the materials that they may be made of
  • making predictions before field work, such as which plants and animals they may observe in the school grounds
  • making predictions about how an unusually shaped object such as an egg or a hexagonal block might move down a slope
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and Creative Thinking
ScOT terms

Research questions,  Curiosity,  Predictions (Science)

Video

Sam the Lamb: what is wool?

This short video, narrated by Sam the Lamb and a group of young woolgrowers, explores where wool comes from, how it grows and how it protects sheep in all kinds of weather. Viewers will discover what wool looks it, how it feels and how woolgrowers harvest their sheep’s woolly fleece each year…and how it grows back again.

Interactive

Garden detective: Australian garden

Search for small creatures in an Australian garden. Find animals such as a scorpion, a lacewing and a cicada. Have a close look at their body parts. Identify groups of creatures that have similar body features such as wings or number of legs. Return all the animals to their habitats. This content is also suitable for use ...

Video

Why do we need bones?

Join Brianna and Professor Emma Duncan as they discuss why we need bones. Where are our smallest and hardest bones? Learn more about how the human body works with this animated video.

Video

What is a meteor?

Brianna and Professor Jonti Horner look up into the night sky to find out more about shooting stars. What is a shooting star made of and why do they fall from the sky?

Video

For the Juniors: Growing apples

Do you like eating apples? This clip shows where apples are grown. Learn how the apple farmer (orchardist) looks after the apple trees so they can grow lots of healthy fruit.

Online

Game changers and change makers: resource book of ideas for National Science Week 2018

This resource book includes ideas to support students’ involvement in investigating, exploring, experimenting, designing, creating and communicating their understandings about game changers and change makers from the past who have solved some of the seemingly unsolvable problems, to game changers and change makers of today, ...

Interactive

Light and shadows

Look at how a tree makes a shadow during a sunny day. Notice that objects always casts shadows that face away from the Sun. Examine how the shape and position of a shadow is related to the time of day and position of the Sun. Explore the shadows cast by different objects such as a bike, an umbrella and a child. Position ...

Image

Gold nugget

This is a gold nugget (approximately 3.4 cm x 2.2 cm), which was probably found in about 1865 on a goldfield in Otago (in the southern South Island of New Zealand).

Video

Play School: What's in the rock pools?

Have you ever been to the beach and explored rock pools? What did you see in them? Join Tom and his family as they go looking for sea creatures in rock pools. What are some of the animals they find? Have you ever seen a crab at the beach? Can you move like a crab?

Video

Sam the Lamb: needs of sheep

This short entertaining video, narrated by ‘Sam the Lamb’ and a wool-growing family show where their sheep live, what they eat and drink and how they ‘chew their cud’. Viewers will discover what a herbivore is, and how many stomachs sheep have. The video introduces rotational grazing and how farmers look after their sheep ...

Image

Giant sea spider

This is a colour photograph of a giant sea spider ('Dodecolopoda mawsoni') set against a black background. This is a preserved specimen that has lost its original red colouration and faded to orange due to the preserving liquid. The long legs, small body and bright colouration are displayed in the image.

Image

Phar Lap

This is a photograph showing the mounted hide of Phar Lap, a champion racehorse in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was a large chestnut-coloured gelding who stood 17.1 hands (about 174 cm) tall.

Image

Bunyip gold nugget, 1972

This is a gold nugget known as the 'Bunyip nugget'. It weighs 50 ounces (1.55 kg). It was found in the early 1970s by a farmer while ploughing near Bridgewater to the west of Bendigo in Victoria, and was purchased by the National Museum of Victoria (now Museum Victoria) in 1978 for $40,000.

Image

Zygomaturus fossil skeleton

This is a colour photograph of a 'Zygomaturus tasmanicus' fossil skeleton. The skeleton is a museum specimen and has been braced with metal rods. It is displayed in a standing posture.

Image

Southern gastric brooding frog

This is a colour photograph of a preserved southern gastric brooding frog ('Rheobatrachus silus'). It is a museum specimen viewed from the front.

Image

Sea louse

This is a colour photograph of a sea louse ('Natatolana woodjonesi').

Image

Great pampa finch

This is a colour photograph of a preserved great pampa finch ('Embernagra platensis'). The tail of this specimen is missing. Identification labels and cataloguing numbers are attached to the specimen.

Image

Paradise parrot

This is a colour photograph of a preserved paradise parrot ('Psephotus pulcherrimus'). It is a museum specimen displayed perching on a branch. The bright plumage colours for which it is well known are clearly visible.

Video

For the Juniors: Using and storing water on a farm

Can you imagine a farm with no water? What might happen to the animals and crops? This clip explains how important a water supply is for farmers. You will see some ways that farmers store water, which is especially important when there is limited or no rain.

Video

For the Juniors: How do you know when rain is coming?

How can you tell when rain is on the way? Some animals seem to know when wet weather is coming. This clip explains some different ways that people can tell it's going to rain.