Making scientific predictions
A good prediction is not a guess — it is a claim backed by science, and it says exactly what you expect to happen and why.
Part of your national curriculum
- Working scientifically: Make predictions using scientific knowledge and understanding
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Make predictions using scientific knowledge and understanding
Key learning points
- • Prediction versus guess
- • Using patterns you already know
- • Testing predictions
This lesson at a glance
- 22 minutes
- 14 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 14
Watch first
Making scientific predictions
An English teaching video on this topic from Smart Learning Ltd. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Make predictions using scientific knowledge and understanding
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 14
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Prediction versus guess
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 14
Learn
Prediction versus guess
A prediction uses existing scientific knowledge to state what should happen in an investigation, and gives a reason. 'The ball will bounce lower on carpet than on tile because carpet absorbs more energy' is a prediction. 'The ball might bounce' is just a guess.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 14
Learn
Using patterns you already know
If you know that increasing temperature increases the rate of a reaction, you can predict that heating a fizzy tablet in water will make it dissolve faster than in cold water — and you can predict roughly how much faster from the pattern of previous data.
Quick check
Part 5 of 14
Quick check
Which of these is a scientific prediction?
Reset break
Part 6 of 14
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.
Quick check
Part 7 of 14
Quick check
Why must a prediction be based on scientific knowledge?
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 14
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Testing predictions
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 14
Learn
Testing predictions
A prediction is only useful if it can be tested by an investigation with a fair, controlled method. If the results agree, the underlying science is supported; if not, the prediction — or the science behind it — needs re-examining.
Quick check
Part 10 of 14
Quick check
What should you do if results do not match your prediction?
Challenge round
Part 11 of 14
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
Challenge round
Part 12 of 14
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
A prediction uses existing ____ knowledge to state what should happen in an investigation, and gives a reason.
'The ball will bounce lower on carpet than on tile because carpet absorbs more energy' is a ____.
Mastery quiz
Part 13 of 14
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Making scientific predictions
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Which of these is a scientific prediction?
2. Why must a prediction be based on scientific knowledge?
3. What should you do if results do not match your prediction?
Lesson round-up
Part 14 of 14
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 LunaDo 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.
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
- Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
- Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
- Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.
Method and results
WritingWrite 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
WritingExplain 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
DiagramDraw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.
1 labelled diagram
Reading and notes
ReadingRead 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 14 · Watch & discover
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Make predictions using scientific knowledge and understanding