AC9S7I01 Year 7 Science

AC9S7I01 – Year 7 Science: Questioning and predicting

Strand

Science inquiry

Substrand

Questioning and predicting

This Content Descriptor from Year 7 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

develop investigable questions, reasoned predictions and hypotheses to explore scientific models, identify patterns and test relationships

Elaborations

• discussing the features of investigable and non-investigable questions, including consideration of school and web-based resources available, and examining their own and others’ questions
• consulting with First Nations Australians to clarify questions based on their traditional ecological knowledges, such as predictions regarding the impact of invasive species
• developing investigable questions to explore scientific models, such as: ‘How does particle theory explain the properties of substances?’
• developing investigable questions to test relationships, such as: ‘How does the volume of a balloon change as it is heated and cooled? What happens to the height of the tide at different points of the lunar cycle?’
• discussing the relationship between a reasoned prediction and a hypothesis, identifying essential elements of a hypothesis and using a provided scaffold to develop hypotheses
• formulating hypotheses such as: ‘If the surface area of the parachute is decreased, the parachute will descend more quickly because there will be less air resistance’

Achievement Standard This Supports

This Content Descriptor contributes to the following Achievement Standard:

Year 7 ASSCIY7

Year 7 Science Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 7 students explain how biological diversity is ordered and organised. They represent flows of matter and energy in ecosystems and predict the effects of environmental changes. They model cycles in the Earth-sun-moon system and explain the effects of these cycles on Earth phenomena. They represent and explain the effects of forces acting on objects. They use particle theory to explain the physical properties of substances and develop processes that separate mixtures. Students identify the factors that can influence development of and lead to changes in scientific knowledge. They explain how scientific responses are developed and can impact society. They explain the role of science communication in shaping viewpoints, policies and regulations. Students plan and conduct safe, reproducible investigations to test relationships and aspects of scientific models. They identify potential ethical issues and intercultural considerations required for field locations or use of secondary data. They use equipment to generate and record data with precision. They select and construct appropriate representations to organise data and information. They process data and information and analyse it to describe patterns, trends and relationships. They identify possible sources of error in methods and identify unanswered questions in conclusions and claims. They identify evidence to support their conclusions and construct arguments to support or dispute claims. They select and use language and text features appropriately for their purpose and audience when communicating their ideas and findings.