As a whole class the students made playdough. I found this to be the best recipe as it did not require cooking. Ingredients · 2 cups plain flour · 2 tablespoons vegetable oil · 1/2 cup salt · 2 tablespoons cream of tartar · 1 and a half cups boiling water (adding it slowly until it feels just right) · food colouring (optional) · few drops glycerine (secret ingredient for stretch and shine!) Method Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add boiling water into the dry ingredients. Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky, combined dough. Add the glycerine. Allow it to cool down then take it out of the bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. This is the most important part of the process, so keep at it until it’s the perfect consistency. If it remains a little sticky then add a touch more flour until just right. Before the students were given their blob of playdough, we conducted a class brainstorm about all the ways we could manipulate it. These were recorded in our Class Science Journal eg, press, pinch, squeeze, roll, flatten etc. Then the students were given time to get creative. Once the students had completed their model they were asked to use the words on the worksheet to describe how they formed and molded the dough. This is where the worksheet comes in handy as the students had a visual copy of the words. Students who struggle with literacy and to write a full sentence were encouraged to circle the words that they used to create their model.

This is a set of PowerPoint slide to guide your students to investigate viscosity. Each team will need the following materials one polystyrene cup with a hole in it a small container of vegetable oil a small container of honey a small container of water. Newspaper to collect the mess timers The students will take turn to pour each liquid into the cup and time how long it takes for the liquid to exit the cup.

This powerpoint guide prepares students for a design task. Discuss with students what they have read or observed about robots helping to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, or for use in medicine or in hospitals. The task is to design a robot that can help someone. Students label each of the robot’s parts or features and then write a paragraph on how their design could have a positive impact on the quality of a human’s life. Students include a comment predicting whether humans will accept or reject the new robot and why.

The “Catch a falling ruler” powerpoint explains to students how to conduct an investigation with a partner to explore their ‘reaction time’ when a 1 metre ruler is held at their eye level and then dropped. The student must grasp the ruler and record their results for 5 trials.

This worksheet activity guides the students through three weathering and erosion investigation activities. In the first activity this students are given a half cup of frozen water. The teacher will need to set this up the day before. Each team or pair of students will require a cup of frozen water. They will compare and make observations about a glacier freezing and melting. In the second investigation each team of pair of students is given a small container containing three sugar cubes. By shaking the container the students simulate wind. Particles of sugar will gather in the container. This is the wind weathering rocks. In the third investigation the students are given a small piece of chalk and a container with vinegar and a pipette. The slowly add drop of vinegar to the chalk and observe the changes. This is ‘acid rain’. There are a few photos on the second page and the students identify what type of weathering is happening in each one.

This worksheet guides students as they work in teams to investigate the different properties of rocks. Each team is given a rock and worksheet. You will need th following materials to conduct the tests magnifiers digital scales tape measure water and pipette scissors torch vinegar and eye dropper

This is a design activity with the final goal making a set of shoes made from a variety of everyday materials. The students will test the following materials in this investigation. wood plastic sponge fabric cardboard There are 4 tests for the students to conduct. Investigation 1 - Heating and cooling Test each material by holding it against different surfaces for 1 minute and recording findings in a table. Investigation 2 -Friction Rub the material against different surfaces such as carpet, grass and paving for 1 minute to see if there is an effect on the material. Investigation 3 - Force Set a timer for 1 minute while standing on the material. Describe the material after standing on it. Investigation 4 - Water Immerse the material in water for 1 minute and recording findings in a table. To conclude the investigation the students share their findings and decide on the best materials to use to make their set of shoes.

This investigation is a lot of fun for young children. You will need one old CD rom or DVD for each child. Take the children outside on a sunny day. If you’re in Australia make sure that the children are wearing hats. LOL No hat no play! Locate the Sun. Make sure that the children are standing in the full Sun. The idea is to capture the sunlight by angling the CD rom or DVD and then shining the light into a shaded area. I had the children stand on the oval and then shine the light onto the school’s ‘undercover’ area. There were plenty of objects like benches and bins for the children to shine their light. The area I chose also had plenty of people coming and going so the children were able to shine their light onto them. This activity can be a be tricky and you will find many children saying ‘mine doesn’t work’. To conclude and to ensure that every child can shine a sunbeam, I asked small groups of children to stand in the shaded undercover area while the reminder of the class sone a ‘disco’ onto them. We then returned to class and I demonstrated on the whiteboard how to draw a ray diagram to show how light travelled from the Sun to the DVD or CD rom and then onto an object or person. On the worksheet the children can draw themselves holding the CD rom or DVD and the object/person that they shone light onto. They can add ray arrows to show how light travelled. And finally write their own sentence about the investigation.

Students set up a bug zapper in the evening at their own home to conduct their own 'fair test'. All the information you need is explained on the word document - investigation question, materials, procedure, analysing and explaining the results and extension ideas.

TIn this package you will find - a worksheet and an assessment rubric. To conduct this investigation you will need to collect several metal coat hangers and tie string to two ends of the coat hanger. Place students into teams of two. Each team has a set of materials to test using their coat hanger. The strings on the coat hanger are ‘draped’ around the students ears. This is how the student will pick up and sense the vibration. The student use the worksheet to record their findings. Each student will ‘tap’ a selection of materials onto the wire of the coat hanger and the other student will indicate if they sense the vibration.

This is a powerpoint to guide students through an individual investigation where they explore their nervous system. To conduct the investigation the students will need one pin 1 paper clip ice a polystyrene cup hot water a fine tipped black texta a piece of 1cm grid paper The students will use a black pen to draw and 1cm grid on the back of their hand. In this grid they will use different materials to test out their sense responses. The students will make a duplicate grid on a piece of 1cm graph or grid paper. On this piece of paper they will record their responses using codes. The final slide in this resource includes discussion questions.

This erosion investigation can be carried out in the school sand pit to investigate the effects of water on sand. Students can investigate what happens to a sandcastle when they pour differing amounts of water onto it. The powerpoint details the steps required for students to conduct their investigation. Students use the 'investigation planner' to determine variables and record their measurements and findings.

Heat producers or heated by something else?? This lesson package includes 1. A powerpoint presentation to identify and discuss with students when an object producers it's own heat or is heated by something else. 2. A hands on team investigation to identify various heat sources set up around the classroom using objects sourced in the classroom or brought in by the students or class teacher. 3. This task is the assessment component. Students need to identify images that produce their own heat and images that are heated by something else and sort them onto their T chart. 4. An assessment rubric to accompany the worksheet component.

This is a lesson plan, powerpoint and an accompanying worksheet about water pressure. The first investigation is with the teacher demonstrating how water stops flowing out of a plastic cup that has holes in it when it is dropped from a height. In the second investigation the students conduct their own trial by allowing water to be released from a hole in the bottle one at a time and measuring how far the water comes out at. There is also a challenge activity for the students to discuss on youtube.

This is an interactive investigation where the students are taken to a bushland setting in Perth Western Australia or have access to a bushland area on their school site. The students use the worksheet to guide their investigation about the Nyoongar season of Kambarang which occurs in October/November Djeran which occurs in March/April Makuru which occurs in June/July Djilba which occurs in August/September There are several Nyoongar Six Season posters that can be purchased or found online. I purchased mine from SERCUL in Beckenham. I do not have a worksheet for Birak. This season is over the Jaunary/December period and Australian students are on their summer holidays at this time.

Students were shown different materials buried in a ‘see-through compost container’. The materials in the container were - a banana skin, plastic knife and paper egg carton. Students then engaged in a discussion about how long it would take the different materials to rot. The students then conducted their own investigation. Students chose one material either; fruit or vegetable scrap, plastic, paper or Chux cloth. Students placed their material in the bottom of a round take away container then covered the material with potting mix. A few weeks later the students uncovered their material and recorded their findings on the worksheet. Resource also includes an assessment rubric.

This is a detailed powerpoint on how to guide your students to make a ‘circuit’ bug. A circuit bug is an electronic/craft project using LED lights, a 3V disc battery, a peg, copper wire and pipe cleaners. Once the students have created their circuit they can work creatively to make a bug/minibeast. The possibilities are endless. The final slide in the powerpoint is a a set of review questions for the students to evaluate their learning experience.

This investigation provides students with a hands-on experience to demonstrate how gravity separated the planets. Students work in teams to conduct and record findings in a fair test investigation to demonstrate how the planets were separated in the Solar System. Each team fills three plastic cups with sand, rocks and water. The students take turns to gently tap each cup with equal force and then measure how far the contents spread. Students record their findings and data on the worksheet. The students use the data to construct a column graph. Final slide includes review questions.

This is a powerpoint, youtube clip and worksheet that explains to students how to set up a fair test to investigate coral bleaching. Students will take two marine shells, weigh each shell then place one shell in a bowl of tap water and the other shell in a bowl of vinegar. Over the next week the students make observations and record the changes to each shell. There is also a worksheet to accompany this powerpoint. The worksheet is called ‘Investigating Coral Bleaching student worksheet’ . The students will make their own conclusions about the effect of Carbon Emissions on our coral reef ecosystems. The worksheet can be adjusted so that the investigation runs over a sorter period eg, one week.

This resource includes a powerpoint presentation to guide students as they investigate water with their fives senses. Some of the activities include shining a torch onto the cup of water and dropping a marble into the cup of water. Included is a worksheet for the students to record their findings about water.