Science Display Labels: Types of Enquiry, Skills and Presenting Data

This resource is best suited to KS2 and features key vocabulary to help with setting up a science working wall. I have included it in Word format as well as PDF so you can edit to suit your favourite colours and fonts. It includes:

• Scientific skills, e.g. comparing results, using equipment.
• Types of scientific investigation with an example scientific question for each, e.g. observation, fair test (kids love a fair test!)
• Ways of presenting data with a picture of each, e.g. table, line graph.
• 18 scientific questions for pupils to match with the most appropriate type of enquiry.

Uses:

• Print and laminate several copies for pupils to use as a toolkit to help with planning their investigations.
• Give pupils the selection of scientific questions provided and ask them to decide which type of investigation best suits each question. Similarly, give pupils scientific questions and ask them to consider what the data would look like and the most effective way to present it.
• Print and laminate these labels and keep them on your science working wall permanently or select a few to display as the focus of each unit.
• As a class, consider which scientific skills we are good at and which we need to work more on.
• Ask pupils to consider ‘What’s the same? What’s different?’ between different types of investigation and data presentation.
• Pose the scientific question for the lesson and ask pupils to rule out each type of investigation in turn until they find the best way of answering the question. Or flip this around and give the pupils a type of investigation and they must come up with a question that they would like to investigate.

Hope this save a bit of time for you and also helps to keep the transferable scientific skills in the forefront of pupil’s minds whilst they enjoy exploring the subject knowledge of plants, humans, materials etc.