Communicating in science resources

Students are asked four short questions that explore their understanding of the Earth's rotation, Earth's revolution, and seasons.

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 construct a graph on data for temperature and depth below the Earth's crust. Students then answer four questions about this.

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 a map that has numbers on it representing various ash fall depths from a volcanic eruption. Students draw lines to link the similar numbers and answer questions about these. They also explain three major problems an ash fall could cause.

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.

Students use a diagram of a cutting showing exposed rock layers to answer questions about their formation, age, and geological history.

Task: Complete a diagram of part of the water cycle and answer a question about rain. Assessment focus: Question a) – the water cycle and conventions of diagrams; question b) – evaporation of a solution.

Students use a diagram to answer questions about water reserves, the main difference between lake and sea water, and to explain how water in the ocean could end up falling as snow in the mountains.

Students interpret a weather map to answer three multiple-choice questions on information it contains.

Students answer three questions by interpreting a weather map and other forecast information.

From a given list students select the correct name for each of four labelled features on a weather map. They then identify a pattern to name a pressure reading number.

Students are provided with a graph showing the average rainfall and temperatures for Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Perth. Students interpret this graph to answer a number of questions.

Students are provided with a map of NZ showing the average annual rainfall in different areas. Students interpret this information to answer three short answer questions, and then construct a bar graph that shows the rainfall for nine North Island locations.

Students are provided with a weather map for the North Island of NZ and interpret this information to answer three short answer questions.