Interpret representations resources

Task: Use a diagram and fact file to answer questions about sharks' fins. Assessment focus: adaptations of sharks to facilitate movement in water.

Task: Answer questions about a monarch butterfly's life cycle. Assessment focus: insect life cycle. This resource includes an interactive infographic. You will need Adobe Flash Player to view it.

Task: Answer questions about a key for metals: Assessment focus: recognising the purpose of a specific key.

Students view an online animation which illustrates stages of a volcanic eruption, write their observations and answer question about eruptions. Assessment focus: observations based on a model, and knowledge of volcanic eruptions.

Task: Answer questions about what happens to water in open and closed containers and compare to the water cycle. Assessment focus: evaporation, the water cycle.

Students answer two multichoice questions giving explanations for their choice and two short answer questions.

For this practical task students investigate some features of craters, complete a table, and explain what they found out. Students then use a diagram showing some craters on the Moon to write as much information as they can about these craters.

Students interpret two cartoon-style drawings of the enhanced greenhouse effect and write a short description of the artist’s message, as they see this.

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

Task: Students answer questions about a soil food web. Assessment focus: reading a food web, systems thinking.

Task: Students answer questions about a Southern Ocean food web. Assessment focus: interpreting food webs.

Task: Choose images to enhance a science text about an adaptation of kererū, compare the messages of images, and reflect on the role of illustrations in science texts. Assessment focus: using and interpreting images in science texts.

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.

This task assesses student ability to find the text features of a science report about moa.

Task: Look for the similarities and differences in how students draw graphs to display information.

Task: Explain how a change in the cockle population has affected one or more organisms in a food web in the short and long term. Assessment focus: Sorting observations and inferences; reading food chains and; using a food web diagram to predict impact of change.

This task assesses student ability to find the text features of a science report about one of our native birds. The task is essentially a literacy task in the context of scientific writing, and can also be accessed from the English Bank.

Task: Match the parts of a water cycle to the parts represented in a model of the water cycle and compare how they are the same and different. Assessment focus: interpreting a model.

Use knowledge of insulation to answer questions about baked Alaska dessert, and how it compares to a chilly bin. Assessment focus: Interpreting diagrams, interpreting analogies, and using knowledge of insulation.