Learning how to read scientific reports

Kia ora

We are learning how to read and write scientific reports. We have been doing experiments and writing about them. This is a reading activity we did. We had to be able to match a thesis with its hypothesis.

We are learning how to understand the structure and language of a report about a scientific experiment #3 Understanding that a hypothesis is a brainy prediction based on what you already know.

In this exercise you need to match a thesis with its hypothesis.  Use the ‘Fill tool’ to colour code the matching ideas.

                               Thesis                                                                      Hypothesis

I know this……                                                                         So therefore if I do this I think this will happen…

I know that a puddle of water is a small amount of water lying (usually) on the ground. I know that water is a substance which is found on our planet and that it can exist as a solid (ice), liquid or a gas (water vapour). I know that the main reason water changes from one state to another on Earth is because of  temperature -heat or cold. On Earth a sunny day is when there are no clouds, the sky is blue and the temperature is usually warm or hot.	I predict that when I mix vinegar and baking soda together that a chemical reaction will occur and that I will be able to notice this. I might feel hotness or coldness, notice smoke or bubbles, smell something, hear some kind of noise or  find that the taste or texture of the foods has changed.
I know that heavy things usually sink and light things float. However, container ships are heavy but they still float so there must be more things that have an effect on floating than just weight. Blutack is a squishy material that is quite light. It usually comes as a wide, flat strip but you can shape it into a round ball, a sausage shape, an O shape etc or you could flatten it out into a thin, wide shape like a leaf or saucer. Leaves usually float and ships look a little like a leaf shape.	I predict that when I take an ice cube out of a freezer it will begin to change back into liquid water (this is called melting) because it will no longer be colder than 0 degrees centigrade.
I know that an ice cube is water which is frozen. I know that that liquid water freezes into ice when the temperature reaches 0 degrees centigrade. An ice cube will stay an ice cube as long as it stays in a freezer.	I predict that if I make a puddle of water somewhere on the playground on a hot, dry day that the puddle will dry up and disappear quite quickly.
I know that everything we eat is made up of different kinds of chemicals.Sometimes when you mix different chemicals together they react with each other in different ways and the substances will do things that they didn’t do before (chemical reaction) and become different to what they were like before (chemical change). You will be able to notice things happening by using your 5 senses to  listen, smell, feel, look at and sometimes taste what is going on. I know that vinegar and baking soda are both food substances and I learned that they are chemically different	I predict that if I take some ice cubes out of a freezer and wrap them in different materials, I will find that one material will keep the ice cube frozen for longer than the others. This material would then have proven itself to be the best insulator.
I know that liquid water changes into a solid (ice) when the temperature reaches 0 degrees centigrade. I know that a freezer will keep water solid because a freezer’s job is to keep food at a temperature just below 0 degrees centigrade.	We are going to use Bluetack as our material. We will use the same amount of Blutack to make three different shapes. One will be a straight, rectangular strip of Blutack, one will be a compact, round ball and the third will be a rounded  saucer shape like a boat. We predict that at least one of these will float.
I know that insulators are materials that can be used to protect yourself from too much heat or cold. When we put clothes on because we are cold, the clothes are insulators which help our bodies stay warm. If you put insulating material like Pink Batts in the ceiling of your house, in the winter the Batts help keep warm air inside the house. In the summer, The Pink Batts help stop hot air coming into the house so they help to keep us cool. Many  food containers like Thermos flasks and Chilly Bins are made out of insulating materials to keep food hot or cold.	I predict that when I put some liquid water into a freezer it will change from a liquid state into a solid state (ice) because the temperature in the freezer will be below 0 degrees centigrade.