AC9S3I01 Year 3 Science

AC9S3I01 – Year 3 Science: Questioning and predicting

Strand

Science inquiry

Substrand

Questioning and predicting

This Content Descriptor from Year 3 Science provides the specific knowledge and skills students should learn. Use it to plan lessons, create learning sequences, and design assessments that align with the Australian Curriculum v9.

Content Descriptor

pose questions to explore observed patterns and relationships and make predictions based on observations

Elaborations

• acknowledging and using information from First Nations Australians to guide the development of questions regarding life cycles
• posing questions about the relationship between soil characteristics and the growth of particular plants, such as: ‘Will beans grow best in sandy, loamy or clay soils?’
• comparing simple maps of Australian agriculture and soil types and posing questions about observed patterns, such as: ‘Does wheat grow in particular soils?’
• posing questions about substances that are difficult to classify as a solid or liquid, such as toothpaste, slime or hair gel
• predicting whether the mass of ice in a sealed container will change when the ice has melted
• predicting which material will be the most effective insulator of heat
• predicting how quickly ice will melt at different ambient temperatures based on previous observations

Achievement Standard This Supports

This Content Descriptor contributes to the following Achievement Standard:

Year 3 ASSCIY3

Year 3 Science Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 3 students classify and compare living and non-living things and different life cycles. They describe the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and describe their importance as resources. They identify sources of heat energy and examples of heat transfer and explain changes in the temperature of objects. They classify solids and liquids based on observable properties and describe how to cause a change of state. They describe how people use data to develop explanations. They identify solutions that use scientific explanations. Students pose questions to explore patterns and relationships and make predictions based on observations. They use scaffolds to plan safe investigations and fair tests. They use familiar classroom instruments to make measurements. They organise data and information using provided scaffolds and identify patterns and relationships. They compare their findings with those of others, explain how they kept their investigation fair, identify further questions and draw conclusions. They communicate ideas and findings for an identified purpose, including using scientific vocabulary when appropriate.