Students fill out the middle column of the worksheet. They try and work out why the animals have those adaptations. When complete and seen by the teacher, they are then allowed to hunt around the room to find the real answers.

Print out the cards on different coloured paper. Hide around your room, below waist level, above eye level works wonders. Get them to copy the cards that they find into the table.

Using an everyday example to try and get students to realise what fair testing involves.

Homework = a short homework at two levels, designed for those who almost 'Get it' and those who are still struggling. Butchered Exam = butchered NZQA exam, adapted to suit my class. From 2002.

A mini Round Robin of activities to explore with magnets.

A game similar to last card, to help students learn their reactions.

A series of mini practicals, designed to be run when the students have completed the theory and need practice. They are asked to predict what will happen in each experiment and explain why. Only after adequate explanation has been given are they then allowed to investigate. 3 files. Worksheet for students, Answers and work station cards.

A self directed section of work. Designed to be done over 4 weeks, so that the students have time to make mistakes and correct them. Some hints given in the equipment list and pictures. Variables to change would be mass of citric acid, mass of baking soda, volume of water, size and shape of fins, adding a nose cone or not.

A practical round robin. Designed to introduce students to fair testing / investigations. Focusing on observations, cause and effect and hypotheses.

We use this as an assessment to see if students have truly understood what adaptations mean.

For the New Zealand curriculum, but may be useful to others.