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Science at key stage 3    (Year 9)

Unit 9M: Investigating scientific questions
Section 1: What sort of questions can be investigated scientifically?

QCA

Objectives
Children should learn:
  • to suggest questions about a topic
  • how to identify ideas that can be investigated
  • how to choose an appropriate strategy

Activities

Outcomes
Children:
  • Present pupils with a range of questions, which could be related either to one attainment target, eg materials and their properties, or to one area with links to all three attainment targets, eg water. Ask pupils to suggest other questions which they might ask in this area and compile a list of questions, eg
    • How much of an apple is water?
    • Why do elephants throw water over themselves?
    • Are waterfalls beautiful?
    • Are the types and abundance of plants on the school field affected by the level of moisture in the soil?
    • How could you classify all the plants that grow in and around water?
    • What is the best way to clean dirty water?
    • Which gases dissolve in water?
    • Where is the rainiest place on Earth?
    • How does the concentration of salt in a solution of salt water affect buoyancy?
  • Ask pupils to identify which questions would be suitable for scientific enquiry, eg How much of an apple is water?, and which would not, eg Are waterfalls beautiful?
  • Ask pupils to discuss briefly the strategies they would use to tackle these questions, and ensure that pupils recognise that there is a variety of strategies for answering scientific questions.
  • Ask pupils to select a question for further scientific investigation.
  • suggest questions for investigation
  • identify and explain which questions can be answered through scientific enquiry
  • suggest and explain why a strategy is or is not appropriate for a particular question

Points to note
  • This activity helps pupils to identify appropriate strategies for answering different sorts of scientific question. It is followed by activities related to different kinds of investigation.
  • The questions given relate to water. Many other topics, eg woodlice, rocks and soils, sports, can yield questions requiring a range of different strategies for investigation.

Sections in this unit

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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
1. What sort of questions can be investigated scientifically?
2. Using and evaluating a way of finding out how much of an apple is water
3. Using a model and data from a fair test to find out why elephants throw water over themselves
4. Carrying out a survey, using a suitable sample size, to find out how the moisture level in the soil affects the variety and abundance of plants on the school field
5. Developing a classification system for a variety of plants that grow in and around water
6. Using secondary sources to develop and test hypotheses about factors that might affect the pH of rainwater
7. Concluding the unit on investigating scientific questions