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Schemes of Work
QCA

Science at key stage 3    (Year 9)

Unit 9M: Investigating scientific questions

QCA

Health and safety

Risk assessments are required for any hazardous activity. In this unit pupils:

  • plan and carry out their own investigations

Model risk assessments used by most employers for normal science activities can be found in the publications listed in the Teacher's guide. Teachers need to follow these as indicated in the guidance notes for activities, and consider what modifications are needed for individual classroom situations.


Sections in this unit

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