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SavannahYear 8
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ScienceWorking scientifically22 min★ difficulty

Presenting and communicating results

Raw data is hard to read. Scientists turn it into tables and graphs so the pattern becomes obvious at a glance.

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 a graph
  • • Using scientific terminology

This lesson at a glance

  • 22 minutes
  • 13 parts to scroll through
  • 3 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 13 · Discover8%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 13

Watch first

Presenting and communicating results

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

In a nutshell

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

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 13

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 13

Learn

Tables first

A results table should have clear column headings with units (e.g. 'time (s)'), and results recorded to a consistent number of decimal places. This makes it easy to check for anomalies before plotting a graph.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 13

Learn

Choosing a graph

A line graph suits continuous data such as temperature over time. A bar chart suits categoric data such as comparing plant growth in three different soils. Scatter graphs reveal whether two continuous variables are correlated.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 13

Quick check

Which graph type suits categoric data, like growth in three soil types?

6

Reset break

Part 6 of 13

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
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 13

Quick check

What should a table's column headings include?

8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 13

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Using scientific terminology

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

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 13

Learn

Using scientific terminology

Precise words matter: 'concentration' is not the same as 'volume', and 'mass' is not the same as 'weight'. Using the correct term, with correct units, lets other scientists understand exactly what was measured.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 13

Quick check

Why use precise scientific terms like 'mass' rather than 'weight'?

11

Challenge round

Part 11 of 13

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

12

Mastery quiz

Part 12 of 13

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Presenting and communicating results

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

  1. 1. Which graph type suits categoric data, like growth in three soil types?

  2. 2. What should a table's column headings include?

  3. 3. Why use precise scientific terms like 'mass' rather than 'weight'?

13

Lesson round-up

Part 13 of 13

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 3 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 13 · 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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