AC9SFH01: Explore the ways people make and use observations and questions to learn about the natural world

People use observations to learn

A gardener notices leaf edges have changed and asks what might be happening. Careful observations, questions and records help people learn about nature. The first observation may not tell them the cause.

Observation or explanation?

A child sees a leaf with holes and says, “An insect ate it.” What was directly observed, and what is still an idea to investigate?

Choose a useful record

A naturalist wants to compare the same seedling today and next week. How could a record help?

Look closer with a purpose

A child notices tiny marks on a leaf. What tool could help, and what question could they ask?

Ready to move on

Describe something a person could observe outdoors, ask a connected question and choose a way to record it.

1. Nature notice

Choose a leaf, rock or plant. Say three things you can actually observe.

2. Turn noticing into a question

Use one observation to make a question beginning with what, how, which or will.

3. Look again

Use a magnifying glass or close photo. Add one new detail to your observation.

E1

using their senses to make observations and exploring how scientists use their senses as well as equipment to make observations

Teaching example: Compare what can be seen on a leaf unaided and with a magnifying glass. Explain which extra detail the tool helped reveal.

E2

viewing examples of observations such as rock paintings, bark drawings, age-appropriate written reports, labelled drawings or photographs to explore ways they can make and record observations

Teaching example: Compare a labelled drawing and a photograph of the same natural object. Discuss what each record preserves; use permissioned cultural records in their proper context.

E3

exploring how First Nations Australians gain knowledge about the land and its vital resources, such as water and food, through observation

Teaching example: Use a community-approved account from named Peoples and Country/Place to discuss how careful observations inform local knowledge of food, water or land. Do not generalise one account to all communities.

E4

interacting with stories or documentaries about scientists such as Dame Jane Goodall or Sir Joseph Banks and noticing the ways they make their observations such as through drawings, collections, sound recordings and photography and how they ask questions about what they think they will observe and find

Teaching example: Use an age-appropriate account of a scientist already named in the curriculum. Identify the observations, questions and recording methods actually shown in that source.

E5

watching an age-appropriate documentary; noticing how people including scientists, engineers, naturalists or citizen scientists ask questions; and posing their own questions

Teaching example: Pause an appropriate nature documentary when someone asks a question. Identify the observation behind it and suggest one related question children could explore safely.