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Investigating in Science
Developing and Communicating Scientific Understanding

Bushy Beans

 Teachers' notes
Progress indicators
What the work shows Curriculum links The learning context Where to next

What the work shows

Zoe's work shows the development of her processing and interpreting skills. Her bean diary shows she can keep the results of an investigation, on a daily basis, for a month.

Zoe's bean diary Zoe's bean diary

Zoe's bean diary

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

My seed investigation

I want to find out:

if it will grow without soil.

What I am going to do:

  • put it in a pot with no soil
  • I will water it
  • I will put it somewhere warm.

What I will need:

  • a seed
  • a pot
  • water
  • a sunny place

I think my seed will:

not grow because it doesn't have soil – it needs soil to help it grow.

My results

  1. What I found out from my bean diary:
    My bean didn't grow
  2. What I found out about what beans need to grow best:
    soil, light and water to grow best
    (This answer is the result of Zoe comparing the "control bean'" result with her own result)
  3. The answer to my question is that:
    it didn't grow without soil

What did you do well in the investigation?

I looked after my bean
I wrote the dates well

What could you do better next time?

water my bean more

Progress Indicators

Investigating in Science

Using systematic approaches and scientific conventions
Zoe's bean diary shows that she is able to collect and record simple data from observations on a daily basis. Her drawings from her observations record the small differences that occurred over the month (see Zoe's bean diary).

Processing and interpreting
Zoe's bean diary shows she is able to reach conclusions to simple investigations linked to her own understanding (L2).

Developing and Communicating Scientific Understanding

Reflecting on their own understanding
Zoe is aware of changes in her own understanding (germination) as she uses the information from the teacher's beans (a normal germination investigation) to make comparisons between their growth and the growth of her own bean.

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