Diagnostic and formative information was gained from both trials.

In the national trial, nearly a quarter of the students placed the next year beech seeds are plentiful last. They did not appear to recognise that the formation of seeds followed flowering, and instead thought the word "next" near the beginning of the sentence signalled the beginning of a new cycle.

In the practical trial all three groups correctly placed thestatement about seeds second. However, although two groups explained that this was because flowers produced seeds, the third group had used the clues in the sentences. The first sentence states One year, beech trees flowered heavily and the second begins The next year. Unlike many of the students in the national trial though, this group still managed to get the correct answer. (This illustrates well the importance of asking students the reasons for their answers.)

This activity generated thoughtful discussion in the practical trial both in small groups and when the groups joined together to share. Their responses as to why they thought things had happened showed up some areas for further probing. When asked why they had chosen to put Birds that feed on mice and insects increase in numbers before Stoats that feed on mice and insects increase in numbers, the students responded that stoats were higher up the food chain so their increase in numbers would come after the birds. No student voiced an opinion that increases in bird and stoat numbers might occur together even though the position of these statements is interchangeable.

All groups in the practical trial correctly placed stoats feeding on birds last but one group suggested that "everyone is eating each other so since the stoats and birds are eating mice and insects no-one is eating stoats and birds. There are hardly any mice and insects so they eat each other." This is partially correct but there are also misconceptions. See common alternative ideas about inter-relationships. The mice and insects only eat the seeds and the birds will not eat the stoats.

Another group suggested that as food becomes scarce "they change their appetite and the food chain changes." Animals do not change what they eat at will, although some species eat a much wider range of foods than others. (Animals that eat a very narrow range of foods are much more at risk if there are changes in the environment. Pandas, for example, are endangered animals that eat only bamboo).