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This task assesses whether students know the most suitable reference resource to go to for particular information.

Students read through an article about a pending tidal wave. From their comprehension of the cloze passage, they fill in the gaps with their own words. SJ-2-2-1982. Text provided.

Task: use a chart comparing the features of insects and spiders to decide which group a wētā belongs in. Assessment Focus: classification.

Students read an article about the Moa then answer retrieval and inferential questions. SJ-2-3-1982. Text not provided.

This task requires a hyacinth bulb to be set up in a glass container. As it develops and grows students make observations.

Students read a text on shoplifting to answer retrieval and inferential questions.

Students read an article on cold water survival and retrieve information from this text.

Students conduct a practical, statistical investigation. They decide on the question to investigate, conduct the survey, complete the tally chart, and construct and label a bar graph.

A newspaper article on working from home is the stimulus for this resource. The assessment focus is on looking at both sides of an issue, vocabulary and comprehension.

This task assesses student ability to find the text features of an explanation of a scientific idea.

Students explain how they can work out how many striped or shaded beads are needed for a number of repeated 'sets', and identify the number of striped and shaded beads for given numbers of sets.

This comprehension task assesses student ability to identify and justify evidence used to visualise and make inferences about a character and setting.

Students are assessed on their ability to find details that relate to the main idea of a text about a flood. SJ-2-2-2004. Text provided.

Assessment focus: deciding which description of the main idea of an informational text is most appropriate, and justifying their thinking. The text used is about the adaptation of bird's feet to their environment.

Students show how to solve some subtraction problems.

Answer questions about a table comparing the energy usage and lifespan of different sorts of lights, and use this information to complete a second table to describe advantages and disadvantages of each. Assessment focus: reading a technical table.

Answer questions about rubbish picked up on a beach, and suggest reasons why plastic is the most common rubbish.

Task: Students match parts of statements about how Joan Wiffen worked like a scientist, and identify what skills or experiences helped her find fossils. Assessment focus: interpreting information about how scientists work.

Task: Answer questions about a table comparing the energy usage and lifespan of different sorts of lights, and use this information to complete a second table to describe advantages and disadvantages of each. Assessment focus: reading a technical table.

Task: Students decide whether four dinosaurs are meat-eaters or plant-eaters, and justify their answers. A list of features of each group is provided. It may be completed individually or as a group assessment. Assessment focus: using evidence.

Task: Using statements from four people decide and justify whether or not each person supports wind farms. Identify which person has a misconception about wind farms, giving a reason. Assessment focus: identifying different perspectives.

In this activity students progressively build up evidence for and against a new idea in pest control: using bumblebees to transmit a fungicide. Students practise argumentation skills and reflect on how they formulate opinions on environmental issues.

This comprehension task involves progressively disclosing a poem to students. It assesses their ability to infer. SJ-1-1-1998. Text provided.

Students first do the science activity Throwing Balloons 2 (PW2548) where they predict, observe, and explain what will happen when a balloon containing another balloon filled with water is thrown. Then the students do this writing task where they describe the balloon and what happened when it was thrown, and explain why they think it moved the way it did. Six annotated exemplars of student scripts (writing) are included under the "Working with Students" tab.

Students to show how to calculate problems that involve rates and ratios.