Communicating in science resources

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.

This assessment task requires students to graph data on the size of the ozone layer over Antarctica. Students then answer four short questions relating to the data and their graph.

Students explain a plastic recycling symbol. This resource assesses an aspect of knowledge helpful for making decisions about recycling.

Students indicate whether a series of statements apply to lunar eclipses, solar eclipses, or both.

This practical resource requires students to demonstrate some phases of the Moon.

Students are given a diagram that is used to describe the surface temperature and brightness of stars. Using the diagram and information provided, students indicate where different stars would be located.

Using information about comets, students label a diagram of a comet and draw the orbit of a comet and the position of the comet in two places in its orbit.

For this assessment students read a paragraph of information about the stars. They use this to complete a table that summarises all this information.

Task: Complete a diagram of the length and position of a shadow of a flagpole. Assessment focus: shadows in relation to sun's position.

Task: Answer questions about the temperature and brightness of types of stars. Assessment focus: interpreting a graph.

Students use provided data on the time of day and the length of the shadow to construct a line graph. Students interpret their graph to answer three questions.

A diagram showing the position of Earth in each of the four seasons has been provided. Students use this diagram to identify the season we would experience in New Zealand at each of the numbered places.

Students are provided with a star map showing the path of comet Haley-Bopp 1997. Students use this map to answer three questions.

Students are provided with two star maps as seen from Wellington at two different times of the year. Students are asked to explain why the stars on the map appear in different parts of the sky depending on the time of the year.

This resource requires students to process information on an earthquake. This entails calculating the distance that the recording stations are from an earthquake's epicentre, locating the epicentre, calculating the magnitude, and answering general questions on earthquakes.

Students are provided with information about the Earth's interior. Using this information and a provided scale, students construct and label a scale diagram of the Earth's interior.

Using a stimulus diagram showing plate tectonics, students explain why the following geological features or events; earthquakes, mid-ocean ridge, ocean trench, and volcanoes are present.

Students are provided with a diagram of a roadside cutting. They are asked to mark the fault line and the youngest rock layer in this cutting. Students then suggest two explanations for the pattern shown in the diagram.

Students are provided with two diagrams, one showing the focus of earthquakes in NZ and the other the Earth's plates. Students interpret these diagrams and use them to answer three short questions.

A diagram representing an area of a civil emergency is provided and students are asked to identify the geological event that has caused this. Students then give six hazards or problems that could result from this geological event.

For this task students are asked to explain the cause of weathering of rocks and to identify the hardest and the softest rock in a column of rock.

Student view an online animation of cliff erosion and then write a description of what they observe about this process.

Students are provided with a diagram showing rock layers. Students use this diagram to answer a number of questions.

Students are provided with a geological time scale which they use to interpret and answer a number of questions.

On a diagram students indicate how a cliff face might look different in 100 years from now, and explain the probable cause of this.