Communicating in science resources

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

Pictures are given of the life cycles of three different animals (hawk, turtle and deer). Students identify which stage the animal's survival is most in danger and give explanation of why it is not safe. Students also give one special feature that helps this animal survive at this time.

In this task, students look for patterns in electron arrangement in the periodic table. They use their ideas to place missing elements in the table, answer some questions about the patterns, and use the patterns to predict the properties of some elements.

Task: Complete a drawing of things found in or near a waterway, and describe relationships between them. Assessment focus: interdependence in a waterways environment.

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

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.

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

Students identify the solids, liquids, and gases in three short passages.

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.

Task: Students read a pH scale to determine how it shows the increasing strength of an acid and a base solution and decide from different pH products what the effect would be on an acidic soil. Assessment focus: interpreting a pH scale.

Task: Play a card game to join two sentence fragments to complete a sentence. Assessment focus: a) relationships of elements in a waterway, and b) science vocabulary.

Task: Students play a card game to construct a waterways relationships web. Assessment focus: relationships within a waterways ecosystem.

For this NEMP task students use a key to name five small animals. They answer a question about the gas animals need to survive.

Task: Read a table to answer questions about when birds are likely to visit a native garden for food. Assessment focus: interpreting a table.

Task: Use pictures to identify special features of various fish and make predictions as to likely habitats based on these features. Assessment focus: purpose of adaptation in fish.

Students are given results from an investigation looking at light intensity and its effect on the rate of photosynthesis in two plants. Students are required to draw line graphs of this data and then answer a number of questions pertaining to this.

A bar graph showing the percentage of endangered species threatened by predation, competition, and/or habitat loss is given. Students use this graph to answer questions and explain the terms; predation, competition, and habitat loss.

Task: Interpret the information on a chart to provide evidence of the likely cause of oxygen deficiency. Assessment focus: interpreting data.

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.

Students interpret distance-time graphs for a number of scenarios.

Task: identify micro-organisms. Assessment focus: using an identification key

Task: Describe which cyclist uses more energy and why. Assessment focus: forces created by air resistance.

Students are given a graph that shows how many days it took for bread placed in different areas to grow mould. Students use this graph to answer three short questions.

Using the information provided on unattached and attached ear lobes, students complete a family tree for this genetic trait.

This task is about describing the behaviour of light rays.