Scientific communication for purpose and audience — AC9S9I08

• Identify audience and purpose before selecting a communication form.
• Use scientific terminology accurately while explaining unfamiliar terms when needed.
• Select tables, graphs, diagrams and digital features that contribute meaning.
• Maintain evidence accuracy when simplifying or adapting a message.

Recall claim–evidence–reasoning, data representations, source citation and core features of practical reports, explanations and evidence-based arguments.

Purpose could be to explain a mechanism, report an investigation, argue from evidence, advise a decision maker or inform a public audience. Audience affects assumed background knowledge, vocabulary and amount of detail. It does not justify changing data or exaggerating certainty.

Scientific texts use features purposefully: headings create structure, tables preserve exact values, graphs show patterns, diagrams explain relationships, captions state significance, citations establish provenance. Digital tools can support accessibility and interactivity, but decorative media that do not add scientific meaning can distract.

• Good science writing must sound complicated. Precision matters more than unnecessary jargon.
• Simplifying means removing uncertainty. Uncertainty can be explained clearly without distortion.
• More graphs/images always improve communication. Each feature should serve a scientific purpose.
• Audience changes the result. Audience changes presentation, not evidence.

1. Rewrite one technical sentence for a general audience while preserving meaning.
2. Select a graph or table for a stated communication purpose.
3. Improve a graph caption so it states the scientific message.
4. Identify an overclaim introduced by an exaggerated headline.

1. Define purpose and audience for three science-text scenarios.
2. Rewrite a jargon-heavy paragraph accurately.
3. Choose two useful visual features for an investigation report.
4. Write a 60-word public summary of a result including uncertainty.
5. Transform the same evidence into a decision brief.
6. Evaluate whether a digital interactive feature adds scientific meaning or decoration.

A dataset shows a modest effect with substantial uncertainty. Produce two communication plans: one for a Year 9 science class and one for a local decision maker. Explain what you would change and what evidence/caveats must remain identical.

1. What changes with audience? Vocabulary, assumed background, structure, detail and format.
2. What must not change? The underlying evidence, data integrity and justified level of certainty.
3. When should I use a visual? When it communicates a relationship, pattern, structure or comparison more effectively than prose alone.
4. Why cite sources? To show provenance and let readers check evidence.

1. Adapt a technical explanation for a younger/public audience without losing accuracy.
   Define terms and simplify syntax; preserve evidence/certainty.
2. Design the structure and visual features for a scientific investigation report.
   Justify each feature by its communication job.
3. Critique a persuasive science infographic that overstates a result.
   Identify the mismatch between evidence and wording/visual emphasis, then rewrite it.

• I identify audience/purpose first.
• I use scientific language accurately.
• I choose visuals for meaning.
• I preserve evidence and uncertainty.

Exit ticket: What can you simplify for a public audience, and what must you never simplify away?

Australian Curriculum v9.0 — AC9S9I08: create texts for identified purposes/audiences using appropriate content, language, features and digital tools.

Victoria Levels 9–10 — VC2S10I08: Exact.

NSW Stage 5 — SC5-WS-08: Exact communicates scientific arguments with evidence using scientific language in a range of forms.

• AC9S9I07 scientific arguments
• AC9S9I04 representations

• Australian Curriculum v9.0
• Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0
• NSW Science 7–10 Syllabus (2023)

Curriculum equivalents for And create texts to communicate ideas, findings and arguments effectively...

Mapped skill: write and create texts to communicate ideas, findings and arguments effectively for identified purposes and audiences, including selection of appropriate content, language and text features, using digital tools as appropriate

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.