AC9S3H01: Examine how people use data to develop scientific explanations

Students learn to examine how people use data to develop scientific explanations. They use the visual model, precise vocabulary and evidence to explain and apply the concept.

Learning routine: Observe → Model → Investigate → Record → Explain

Success looks like

• Recognise claim
• Use evidence
• Explain reasoning
• Apply in a new context
• Justify with evidence

claim

the explanation being proposed

evidence

relevant observations or measurements

reasoning

the link showing how evidence supports a claim

The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning.

• Content description: examine how people use data to develop scientific explanations
• E1: investigating the stories of people who used multiple observations to develop scientific explanations, such as 17th-century entomologist and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian, who was the first to record the nature of metamorphosis
• E2: exploring how farmers use soil tests to monitor and manage the health of farms
• E3: investigate how 18th-century physicists such as Jean Ingenhousz and Sir Benjamin Thompson collected data on conduction of heat to determine the best conductors or insulators
• E4: exploring age-appropriate science reports and journal articles and identifying where in the text the author has included data, findings or explanations
• E5: viewing a documentary or webinar and observing how scientists and researchers share their data and explanations

Core idea: Students learn to examine how people use data to develop scientific explanations. They use the visual model, precise vocabulary and evidence to explain and apply the concept.

Remember

• Recognise claim
• Use evidence
• Explain reasoning
• Apply in a new context
• Justify with evidence

Important questions

• Which statement is a supported scientific explanation? Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Complete the explanation structure. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Explain build a claim–evidence–reasoning explanation. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Correct: Opinion used as evidence. Explain using the model or evidence above.

Read the topic guide and use the teacher slide for instruction. Students can then use the worksheet for written work, open Practice for supported feedback, or take the Test when they are ready.

• Opinion used as evidence — Scientific evidence comes from relevant observations or measurements.
• Feature named without effect — Explain how the feature changes meaning or outcome.
• One example treated as a rule — Test the idea with another example.

This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.

Curriculum equivalents for Examine how people use data to develop scientific explanations

Mapped skill: examine how people use data to develop scientific explanations

These references identify matching or closely related learning. Curriculum sequence, terminology and depth vary, so teachers should use the mapped skill and lesson difficulty to confirm suitability.

Australian Curriculum v9.0 is the canonical source for this SkillrHub lesson. Victoria and NSW entries name the closest published state codes or outcomes; international entries are planning references rather than claims of identical curricula.

• Australian Curriculum Version 9.0
• Victorian Curriculum F-10
• NSW Curriculum
• Common Core State Standards
• Next Generation Science Standards
• England National Curriculum
• New Zealand Curriculum
• NCERT textbooks

• AC9S3U01: Compare characteristics of living and non-living things and examine the differences between the life cycles of plants and animals
• AC9S3U02: Compare the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate why they are important Earth resources
• AC9S3U03: Identify sources of heat energy and examine how temperature changes when heat energy is transferred from one object to another
• AC9S3U04: Investigate the observable properties of solids and liquids and how adding or removing heat energy leads to a change of state
• AC9S3H02: Consider how people use scientific explanations to meet a need or solve a problem
• AC9S3I01: Pose questions to explore observed patterns and relationships and make predictions based on observations
• AC9S3I02: Use provided scaffolds to plan and conduct investigations to answer questions or test predictions, including identifying the elements of fair tests, and considering the safe use of materials and equipment
• AC9S3I03: Follow procedures to make and record observations, including making formal measurements using familiar scaled instruments and using digital tools as appropriate