Tables, graphs and saying it in scientific language
A result nobody can read is a result nobody can use. This lesson covers the table, the choice of graph, and the sentence that describes the pattern in proper scientific terms.
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
- • A table that does the work
- • Choosing and drawing the graph
- • Describing the pattern
- • Conclusion, and what it does not prove
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 18 parts to scroll through
- 4 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 18
Watch first
Tables, graphs and saying it in scientific language
An English teaching video on this topic from Miacademy & MiaPrep Learning Channel. 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.
In a nutshell
Present observations using appropriate methods, including tables and graphs, and communicate ideas using scientific terminology
What you already know
Part 2 of 18
Before we start
What you already know
You should be able to take repeat readings and calculate a mean.
Key words
Part 3 of 18
Key words
Words you'll need today
- Independent variable
- The variable you change; it goes in the first column and on the x-axis.
- Dependent variable
- The variable you measure; it goes on the y-axis.
- Continuous data
- Data that can take any value, such as temperature - plot a line graph.
- Categoric data
- Data in named groups, such as metal type - draw a bar chart.
- Line of best fit
- A single smooth line or straight line showing the trend through the points.
Learning cycle
Part 4 of 18
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Building the table and the graph
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 18
Learn
A table that does the work
One column for the independent variable, then columns for each repeat, then the mean. Units go in the column headings, not next to every number, and every value in a column is written to the same number of decimal places. Ruled lines, no missing cells. Get the table right before you start measuring and you will not lose data halfway through.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 18
Learn
Choosing and drawing the graph
Continuous independent variable such as time, mass or temperature: line graph. Categoric groups such as different metals or types of insulation: bar chart. Independent variable on the x-axis, dependent on the y-axis, both labelled with units, and a scale using sensible squares so the points fill more than half the grid. Plot points with small crosses, then add a line of best fit - not a zigzag joining every dot.
Quick check
Part 7 of 18
Quick check
The independent variable goes...
Reset break
Part 8 of 18
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 9 of 18
Quick check
Comparing heat loss from four different insulating materials, you should draw a...
Learning cycle
Part 10 of 18
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Describing it in scientific language
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 18
Learn
Describing the pattern
Say the direction, the shape and the numbers: 'as the temperature increased, the rate increased, and the graph is a straight line through the origin, so the rate is directly proportional to the temperature'. Quote figures from the graph to support it. Words worth using: increases, decreases, directly proportional, levels off, peaks at, plateau, anomalous.
Explore the idea
Part 12 of 18
Learn
Conclusion, and what it does not prove
The conclusion answers the original question and only what the data supports. If you tested three temperatures you cannot claim to know what happens at 90 degrees - that is extrapolation. A correlation is not automatically a cause; something else may be changing alongside. Finish with the scientific explanation of why the pattern happens, in the language of the topic - particles, energy, forces - not everyday phrasing.
Quick check
Part 13 of 18
Quick check
Where should units be written in a results table?
Quick check
Part 14 of 18
Quick check
Claiming what happens at 90 degrees after testing only 20-40 degrees is...
Common mix-ups
Part 15 of 18
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- Units belong in the column heading, not beside every reading.
- Line graphs are for continuous data; bar charts are for categoric groups.
- A line of best fit is not a dot-to-dot.
- Correlation does not prove cause.
Challenge round
Part 16 of 18
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
Mastery quiz
Part 17 of 18
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Tables, graphs and saying it in scientific language
6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. A graph scale should be chosen so the points...
2. 'Directly proportional' describes a line that is...
3. Which is the best scientific description?
4. A line of best fit should...
5. Continuous data is best shown with a...
6. A conclusion should...
Lesson round-up
Part 18 of 18
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 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 18 · Watch & discover
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Present observations using appropriate methods, including tables and graphs, and communicate ideas using scientific terminology