TEACHER'S NOTES
Class Context:
Stage: 4
Year: 8
Subject: Science
Writing: Scientific Report
Number of Students: 28 (co-education)
Syllabus Topic: “Being a Scientist”
Values and attitudes:
Appreciates the importance of science in their lives and the role of scientific inquiry in increasing understanding of the world around them. (SC4 - 1VA)
Syllabus Outcomes:
Skills 4.13 to 4.20:
o Identifying data and choosing equipment
o Planning and performing first hand investigations
o Gathering information from primary and secondary sources
o Processing and presenting information
o Thinking critically
o Problem solving
This web resource is to be used as a follow up activity to be completed out of class in the students’ own time, at their own pace, following a lesson introducing scientific report writing. In the lesson, students discuss as a class what a scientific report should include, while the teacher gives minimal guidance. They then do a small group brainstorm and make a mind map of the important characteristics and features of scientific reports, which they should be told to make use of when completing these online tasks.
A flowchart of the usage of the web resource.
Stage: 4
Year: 8
Subject: Science
Writing: Scientific Report
Number of Students: 28 (co-education)
Syllabus Topic: “Being a Scientist”
Values and attitudes:
Appreciates the importance of science in their lives and the role of scientific inquiry in increasing understanding of the world around them. (SC4 - 1VA)
Syllabus Outcomes:
- Communicate ideas and information using a range of text types including explanation, procedure and report formats to present data and information from first-hand investigations
- Communicating information and understanding, using terminology and reporting styles appropriately and successfully to communicate information and understanding
Skills 4.13 to 4.20:
o Identifying data and choosing equipment
o Planning and performing first hand investigations
o Gathering information from primary and secondary sources
o Processing and presenting information
o Thinking critically
o Problem solving
This web resource is to be used as a follow up activity to be completed out of class in the students’ own time, at their own pace, following a lesson introducing scientific report writing. In the lesson, students discuss as a class what a scientific report should include, while the teacher gives minimal guidance. They then do a small group brainstorm and make a mind map of the important characteristics and features of scientific reports, which they should be told to make use of when completing these online tasks.
A flowchart of the usage of the web resource.
Students should be introduced to the website equipped with prior knowledge of the basic structure of the structure, components and characteristics of a scientific procedure and report. Activity one allows students to comment on the mistakes that are commonly made by students when they initially start writing reports- mistakes include not starting each step of the procedure with verbs, and incorrect use of bullet points. A prepared document of a wrong report has been embedded as a Scribd file so that students can comment in the “Comments” section below on the mistakes they see in the report. Students should also be encouraged to comment on each other’s responses, and it should be made clear to them that peer reviewing and providing feedback for one another is an important factor in the scientific community. Students are distributed with their own username and password, so all their comments and activities are tracked and can be recorded by the teacher.
In activity two, less scaffolding is provided for students to write their own report on a scientific experiment, given what they have watched on the YouTube video. This is an effective means of student expression as students are able to see each others’ submissions, make improvements on their own submissions based on what they perceive to be the strengths of their peers’ work, and can provide feedback for each other.