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SavannahYear 8
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ScienceWorking scientifically25 min★★ difficulty

Turning results into tables and graphs that argue

A good graph makes the pattern visible before a single word is read. A bad one hides it. The choices you make are scientific decisions, not decoration.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Working scientifically: Present observations using appropriate methods, including tables and graphs, and communicate ideas using scientific terminology

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Present observations using appropriate methods, including tables and graphs, and communicate ideas using scientific terminology

Key learning points

  • • Tables first
  • • Choosing the graph
  • • Describing the pattern

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 15 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

presentobservationsappropriatemethodstables

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 15 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 15

Watch first

Turning results into tables and graphs that argue

An English teaching video on this topic from Smart Learning Ltd. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

Do it for real

The practicals below use what the film shows, with a full method you can follow at home.

The paper helicopter fair testRepeat readings and the anomaly hunt

In a nutshell

Present observations using appropriate methods, including tables and graphs, and communicate ideas using scientific terminology

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 15

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Tables first

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 15

Learn

Tables first

Put the independent variable in the first column and the dependent variable next, with units in the headings and not beside every number. Keep the same number of decimal places down a column so readers can compare at a glance.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 15

Learn

Choosing the graph

Use a line graph when both variables are continuous, such as time and temperature. Use a bar chart when the independent variable is categoric, such as different materials. Plot the independent variable on the x-axis, label both axes with units, and draw a line of best fit rather than joining every dot.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 15

Quick check

Where do units belong in a results table?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 15

Quick check

Which graph suits continuous data?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 15

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 15

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Describing the pattern

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 15

Learn

Describing the pattern

Describe the shape, quote figures from the graph, then explain using science. 'As the temperature rose from 20 °C to 60 °C the rate doubled, because particles moved faster and collided more often' is a scientific conclusion; 'it went up' is not.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 15

Quick check

Which axis carries the independent variable?

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 15

Quick check

What makes a conclusion scientific?

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 15

Worked example

Worked example: from table to conclusion

Temperature (°C): 20, 30, 40, 50. Time to react (s): 60, 41, 30, 22. A line graph shows a falling curve. Conclusion: as temperature increased, reaction time fell — roughly halving between 20 °C and 40 °C — because higher temperature means faster particles and more frequent successful collisions.

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 15

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Mastery quiz

Part 14 of 15

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Turning results into tables and graphs that argue

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Where do units belong in a results table?

  2. 2. Which graph suits continuous data?

  3. 3. Which axis carries the independent variable?

  4. 4. What makes a conclusion scientific?

15

Lesson round-up

Part 15 of 15

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Why the school greenhouse failed

A science club grew tomato plants in the school greenhouse. In June the plants grew well: leaves were dark green and the fruit set quickly. In July the club went away for two weeks and left the greenhouse door shut. When they came back, the leaves were curled and pale and most of the fruit had dropped.

The club had a data logger inside. It showed the temperature reached 46 °C on several afternoons and the soil moisture fell close to zero. The club knew photosynthesis needs light, water and carbon dioxide, and that enzymes in a plant work best in a narrow range of temperature. Above that range the enzymes stop working properly.

The club repeated the summer with the door propped open and a water bottle drip on each pot. Temperature peaked at 31 °C and the plants survived.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
  2. Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
  3. Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.

  • Method and results

    Writing

    Write the aim, what you changed, what you measured and what you kept the same, then record your results in a table.

    1 page + results table

  • Conclusion

    Writing

    Explain what your results show and why, using the scientific words from the lesson. Say how you know you can trust them.

    6–8 sentences

  • Labelled diagram

    Diagram

    Draw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.

    1 labelled diagram

  • Reading and notes

    Reading

    Read the lesson text again and write the key ideas in your own words.

    Half a page of notes

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 15 · Watch & discover

How this is going

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    Present observations using appropriate methods, including tables and graphs, and communicate ideas using scientific terminology

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