This practical task requires students to use methods of separation to separate a mixture of salt, sand, and iron filings. Students explain how they did this and the property of the substance that they used.
For this practical task students plan and carry out a fair test to determine which of four different cups will keep water the hottest over 10 minutes. Students are also required to graph their results and write a conclusion.
Task: Match everyday terms about properties with their meanings. Use their understanding about properties of paper and their uses to justify appropriate questions to investigate. Assessment focus: asking questions about paper properties.
Task: Students fill in a chart to select the best material for making 6 objects, and give reasons for their answers. Assessment focus: properties of materials related to use.
Task: Create, use and identify ‘rules’ based on observable and/or measurable physical properties of common plastics. Assessment focus: classifying & identifying.
This practical task requires students to sort some common items from hardest to softest. Students then explain a test that they used to help determine this.
For this practical task students complete a table of observations on nine common materials. Students then use their results to group the materials according to similar properties.
For this practical task students determine the viscosity of different household susbstances such as golden syrup, cooking oil, fruit juice etc. Students complete the experiment and construct a chart showing their results and observations.
This practical assessment requires students to design and carry out tests on three properties of four different fabrics in order to find the most suitable fabric for the stated purpose.
Task: Look at the arrangement of fibres for four different paper towels, arrange an appropriate sequence of instructions, carry out the instructions and then communicate the data in an appropriate graph that will help answer the question. Different elements of the nature of science are embedded throughout the tasks. Assessment focus: planning and carrying out a fair test, using evidence to answer a question.
In this practical students are first required to identify as many uses of paper they can think of. Then, using samples of different paper types, they identify particular uses for that type of paper and reasons why the paper is used for this purpose.
Task: Describe and compare some physical properties of plastic objects and identify the properties scientists might use for classifying materials. Assessment focus: classifying using physical properties.