AC9S5I01: Pose investigable questions to identify patterns and test relationships and make reasoned predictions

Students move from observations to focused questions naming variables, select measurable outcomes and write predictions that state direction and scientific reasoning.

A strong investigation question identifies a relationship that can be explored through controlled observation or measurement.

The prediction should be testable and based on evidence or a scientific explanation, not a preferred result.

Define criteria for words such as best or strong and isolate one relationship per investigation.

Learning routine: Observe → Model → Investigate → Analyse → Explain → Evaluate

Success looks like

• Identify system components
• Explain relationships with a model
• Use evidence from a fair method
• Apply to a new context
• Evaluate limits and further questions

investigable question

question answerable through evidence collection

variable

factor that changes or is measured

prediction

expected result supported by reasoning

Content description: pose investigable questions to identify patterns and test relationships and make reasoned predictions.

• E1: posing questions that can be investigated scientifically, such as: ‘Do all animals which live in desert habitats have ways to survive without water?’
• E2: acknowledging and using information from First Nations Australians to guide the formulation of investigable questions about structural features and behaviours of living things
• E3: posing investigable questions about landscape features and how they were changed by weathering, erosion, transportation or deposition
• E4: asking questions and making predictions to test relationships, such as: ‘Will there be more erosion of steeper slopes? Will this organisation of mirrors enable me to see around corners? Are animals that camouflage well more likely to survive predation?’
• E5: making reasoned predictions about the habitat a plant or animal lives in or the observable effect of light interacting with an object

Core idea: A strong investigation question identifies a relationship that can be explored through controlled observation or measurement.

Remember

• Identify system components
• Explain relationships with a model
• Use evidence from a fair method
• Apply to a new context
• Evaluate limits and further questions

Important questions

• Identify variables. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Write a relationship question. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Add a because reason. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Improve ‘best’. Explain using the model or evidence above.
• Distinguish prediction/conclusion. Explain using the model or evidence above.

Learn from the Topic Guide and fixed Teacher Slides, complete the Practice Sheet, use Practice for supported feedback, then take the Test when ready.

Project the fixed branded slide deck one slide at a time.

• Question asks opinion — Use measurable evidence.
• Prediction gives no direction — State what is expected to increase, decrease or differ.
• Several variables change together — Focus the relationship.
• Prediction rewritten after results — Record it before testing and evaluate later.

Curriculum equivalents for Investigable questions to identify patterns and test relationships and make...

Mapped skill: pose investigable questions to identify patterns and test relationships and make reasoned predictions

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

• AC9S5U01: Structural and Behavioural Adaptations
• AC9S5U02: Weathering, Erosion and Deposition
• AC9S5U03: Reflection, Refraction and Absorption of Light
• AC9S5U04: Solids, Liquids and Gases
• AC9S5H01: How Scientific Knowledge Develops
• AC9S5H02: Science, Decisions and Unintended Consequences