Year 7 Science · Unit 4 · Lesson 1
Master Worksheet
Learning Goals
1. State the purpose of science, and name the three steps it uses to build knowledge.
Find the error
Ollie’s revision notes
Line 1: Science is a collection of facts that have been proven forever.
Line 2: Scientists observe, experiment and analyse, then go round those stages again and again.
Line 3: Geology is the study of living things, such as fungi and microbes.
Line 4: “Vanilla is the best ice cream flavour” is a scientific claim, because you can taste it.
2. Three of Ollie’s four lines contain one error each. Name each wrong line and rewrite it so that it is correct.
3. Decide whether each statement is a scientific claim, an opinion or pseudoscience. Give a reason for each decision.
| Statement | Claim, opinion or pseudoscience? Reason |
|---|---|
| (a) This pendant uses ancient energy to protect you from all illness. | |
| (b) Plants given fertiliser grew 4 cm taller on average than plants given none. | |
| (c) Autumn is clearly the most pleasant season of the year. | |
| (d) Water boils at a lower temperature at the top of a high mountain. |
Read the data: the battery sticker
Scenario
An online shop sells an “energy sticker” and says it makes a phone battery last longer. A class tests it with two phones of the same model. Both are fully charged, set to the same brightness and play the same video until they switch off. After each trial the class moves the sticker to the other phone.
| Trial | Phone with the sticker | Phone without the sticker |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9.2 | 9.1 |
| 2 | 8.8 | 9.0 |
| 3 | 9.0 | 8.6 |
| Average |
Source: made-up class results for this worksheet.
4. Calculate the average time for each column and write both averages in Table 1.
With the sticker h
Without the sticker h
5. Do the results support the shop’s claim? Compare the difference between the averages with how much the trials in each column vary.
6. The shop replies: “Your test failed because the sticker’s energy cannot be picked up by normal instruments.” Explain why this reply turns the claim into pseudoscience.
7. Evaluate this statement: “Because modern science is interdisciplinary, scientists no longer need to specialise in one branch.” Use one real problem that needs several branches of science as your example.
Question 1
To build knowledge and understanding of the world (1) through observation, experimentation and analysis (1). [2 marks]
Find the error
2. Line 1: scientific knowledge is open to change when new evidence appears (1). Line 3: that is biology; geology studies Earth, its rocks and minerals (1). Line 4: that is an opinion, a preference no experiment could prove (1). Line 2 is correct. [3 marks]
Question 3
1 mark per row, type and reason. (a) Pseudoscience: cannot be tested or measured. (b) Scientific claim: measured evidence. (c) Opinion: a preference no test could prove. (d) Scientific claim: testable with a thermometer. [4 marks]
Question 4
With: (9.2 + 8.8 + 9.0) ÷ 3 = 9.0 h (1). Without: (9.1 + 9.0 + 8.6) ÷ 3 = 8.9 h (1). [2 marks]
Question 5
No (1). The averages differ by only 0.1 h (1), but trials in each column vary by 0.4 to 0.5 h (and in trial 2 the phone without the sticker lasted longer), so the difference is within normal variation (1). [3 marks]
Question 6
A scientific claim must be testable, but the shop now says its effect cannot be measured, so it can never be checked (1). It also ignores the evidence against it, which is a mark of pseudoscience (1). [2 marks]
Question 7
Marking guide: 1 judgement (disagree); 1 interdisciplinary = combining branches on one problem; 1 each for two branches with their role in the chosen problem (e.g. reef: biology for corals and bleaching; chemistry for CO₂ making seawater acidic; physics for temperatures and currents); 1 each part needs deep skills, so specialist teams work side by side (CSIRO); 1 conclusion: it needs specialists who work together. [6 marks]
Model answer: I disagree. Interdisciplinary science combines branches on one problem. On the reef, biologists study how warm water bleaches coral, and chemists measure how CO₂ makes seawater acidic. Each part needs deep skills, so specialist teams work side by side, as at the CSIRO: more teamwork, not fewer specialists.
Common error: calling a statement scientific because it sounds technical.