Year 7 Science · Unit 4 · Lesson 2

How Science Builds Knowledge

Master Worksheet

Name

Date

Class

Learning Goals

Analyse a table of results to judge how trustworthy an idea is.
Plan how a new claim could be tested and confirmed by other scientists.
Justify why repeated testing and collaboration build reliable knowledge.

Warm Up

How much can we trust it?

Five teams tested the same idea: "a new plant food makes seedlings grow taller". Read the table, then answer the question below. The bar chart shows how many teams got the same result.

Team	Result	Repeated by others?
Team 1 (first study)	Seedlings grew 3 cm taller	Started the work
Team 2	Seedlings grew 3 cm taller	Yes, same result
Team 3	Seedlings grew 2 cm taller	Yes, similar result
Team 4	Seedlings grew 3 cm taller	Yes, same result
Team 5	No difference at all	Could not repeat it

Based on the table and chart, how trustworthy is the idea? Explain using the words replication and repeated.

Challenge 3 marks

Go Deeper

From idea to trusted knowledge

Scenario

A student claims that "listening to music while studying improves test scores". This is a testable claim. Your job is to plan how this idea could move from a hypothesis to trusted knowledge. Remember that science is collaborative, that other scientists must be able to check the work, and that repeated experiments and observations are what build trust.

(a) Write the claim as a clear, testable hypothesis. State the one thing you would change and the one thing you would measure.

Challenge 3 marks

(b) Describe how other scientists would help turn this hypothesis into trusted knowledge. Use the words peer review and replication, and explain what each one would involve.

Challenge 4 marks

(c) Evaluate this statement: "Once a scientific theory is accepted, it can never be changed." Do you agree? Justify your answer using a real Australian example, such as the Parkes Murriyang telescope or CSIRO research.

Challenge 4 marks

Wrap Up

In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?