Year 7 Science · Unit 4 · Lesson 1
Master Worksheet
Learning Goals
Scientific or not?
Read each claim. Decide whether it is scientific (testable, evidence-based) or not scientific (opinion or pseudoscience). Tick one box and give a short reason.
| Claim | Scientific? | Not scientific? | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plants given fertiliser grew 4 cm taller on average than plants without it. | |||
| This pendant uses ancient energy to protect you from all illness. | |||
| Autumn is clearly the most pleasant season of the year. | |||
| Water boils at a lower temperature at the top of a high mountain. |
Plan an investigation
Scenario
A classmate claims that "music helps plants grow faster." This is the kind of claim that science can actually test. Your job is to turn the claim into a fair, testable investigation using the three pillars: observation, experimentation and analysis. Remember a fair test changes only one thing at a time and keeps everything else the same.
(a) Write a clear, testable question for this claim, and describe the one thing you would change and the one thing you would measure.
(b) Outline your method using the three pillars. Explain what you would observe, what you would do in your experiment to keep it fair, and how you would analyse the results to reach a conclusion.
(c) Evaluate this statement: "Because modern science is so interdisciplinary, no scientist needs to specialise in just one branch anymore." Do you agree? Justify your answer using a real Australian example, such as the Great Barrier Reef or CSIRO research.
Wrap Up
In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?