Introduction to the topic

Tops and tails game

This game only requires two coins but it is also good to use music. The rules are as follows:

• The teacher instructs the students that they are free to move or dance around the room while the music plays.
• When the music stops the students must stop moving.
• The teacher says "Top or tails?"
• The students must place their hands on their head (top) or bottom (tail). This could be both hands on their head, both hands on their bottom, or one hand on each.
• Once they have decided they must hold this pose while the teacher tosses both coins.
• 'Heads' on the coin is tops and tails is tails.
• The teachers read out the results of the coin toss.
• Students who were in the correct pose are still 'in' but the other children are 'out' and must sit down.
• The game is repeated (and the music recommences) until a winner is revealed.
• It often works out that the remaining students exit the game at the same time. If this happens you could either declare the last ones to go out as the winners or replay that round until a winner is found.

Probability

(Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_paper_scissors#/media/File:Rock-paper-scissors.svg)

The following diagram is based on the game rock, paper scissors.

Hypotheses

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation which can then be used for further investigation.

https://study.com/learn/lesson/hypothesis-examples.html

If-then statements

 'If-then' statements provide a useful structure for hypotheses. The following video (1:12) explains the connections between hypotheses, 'if-then' statements, and variables.

'If-then' statements are also used in coding where they can also be called 'conditional statements'. See SILO 3.4 'Coding' for examples of conditional statements.

Fair test challenge

Make an animation or slideshow using the following 10 statements for the voice-over script. You can paraphrase or change the voice-over script but this should get you started.

1. In scientific experiments a variable is something which can vary or change.
2. A fair test is a controlled experiment involving an independent variable, a dependent variable and control variable(s).
3. A way to remember the rules for a fair test is Cows Moo Softly. This means Change one thing, Measure one thing, and keep everything else the Same.
4. The variable which we change is the independent variable because we choose to change it as the focus of an experiment.
5. The variable which we measure is the dependent variable because it depends on the independent variable.
6. Control variables need to kept the same to make it fair test.
7. (Design a fair test.) For example, experimenting with the baking of bread could become a fair test by making changes to the proportions or process.
8. (Write instructions with clearly defined variables.) This experiment…
9. A hypothesis in a fair test can link the ‘if’ with the independent variable and the ‘then’ with the dependent variable.
10. A hypothesis isn't about being right or wrong but about proof and falsification.

A PowerPoint file containing the voice-over scripts is available here.

A nervous experiment

This activity is suited to student working in pairs.

What you need for each pair of students:

• A ruler that shows centimetres.
• A paperclip (unwound so it looks like a rectangle and the ends are together)
• Paper and pencil
• An A4 print out of the table is available here as a PDF with two tables on each page (i.e., one page per pair of students).

The table above will only have the numbers 1 or 2 depending on whether the students can distinguish between 1 or 2 prongs from the paperclip. Is there any reason to average this data?

Types of inquiry 

https://www.sciencebydoing.edu.au/pre-2022-curriculum-unit-files

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