Science sources, safety… | Foundation Science · T1 W5–6 · Materials

Truth and safety before the lesson

Week 5, living features: Adult preflights a school-approved safe view of two different actual living plants and, if available, one live animal seen without approaching it. A live animal may never appear; a rights-cleared, teacher-selected animal photograph can support source reading, with its creator/source/licence/date and the date viewed written down. A photograph is a photograph, not the child's live-animal observation. The teacher verifies any species name before using it; “plant A”, “plant B” and “animal in this source” are sufficient. Check sun/weather, mobility, allergies, garden treatments, supervision and line of sight. No touching unknown plants, fungus, insects or animals; no picking, feeding, collecting, chasing, tasting or smelling. Indoor approved live-plant or window view is valid. A child can direct an adult to a feature, request a neutral description, use AAC/sign, or pass. Write local date, broad location/source, object identity, live/photo/model/adult-report access, exact externally visible feature and prompt. Never infer diet, health, sex, emotion or behaviour from an appearance.

Week 6, material property for a purpose: This is a separate visibility-through-a-layer inquiry that complements, rather than repeats, the integrated five-card holder. Adult preflights one large dark filled circle printed/drawn on a broad white card, a clear stable desk, and one or two broad intact teacher-held school-approved panels. A rigid clear classroom panel and an opaque card panel are candidates, not supplied materials; verify any material labels from product/preparation information or write UNKNOWN. Keep panel edges smooth, no loose film, plastic bag, small parts, sharp tool, bright torch or looking at the Sun. Do not cover faces, block mobility, or require touch. Hold each panel at the same marked position between child and symbol, with same room light, symbol/distance/background where feasible. Ask whether the actual symbol could be seen through this exact panel in this try; write cannot tell when lighting/access differs. An attributed adult visual description permits participation but is not relabelled the child's own sight. Different colour, finish, thickness and distance may change visibility; do not assert a universal “plastic is see-through” or isolate material cause from incomparable samples.

For all actual records: A prediction goes in its box before a safe action. The teacher logs source/date, access, conditions, actual result, and prompt. If no approved real source is available, write REAL OBSERVATION NOT AVAILABLE. Paper or tactile model reasoning never establishes a local plant, animal, material property or safe investigation. Keep child work in school-approved private storage, not public files; no child photos/voice uploads.

Complete original fictional source cards

Model F · drawn-feature set (Week 5 teaching only). Card F1 says “INVENTED PLANT-LIKE DRAWING”: one vertical line, a broad oval outline attached on the left, and a narrow pointed outline attached on the right. Card F2 says “INVENTED ANIMAL-LIKE DRAWING”: one horizontal oval outline with four short lines below it and one small triangle at its right edge. These are author-made marks, not photographs, species, verified body parts or local observations. A child can group drawn marks by oval/line/pointed outline, but cannot claim real living-thing features from them. Exact nonvisual/tactile route: adult reads each line in order; broad raised outlines fixed to a page may represent the same invented marks. Do not label the triangle “beak” or lines “legs” unless a real verified source supports such language.

Model G · grouping records (Week 5 teaching only). Three fictional paper records: G1 “one broad oval mark and one long line”; G2 “two narrow pointed marks and one long line”; G3 “one broad oval mark and four short lines”. Each is stamped DRAWING DESCRIPTION ONLY. Worked grouping rule “has a broad oval mark”: G1 and G3 together, G2 elsewhere. Rule change “has a long line”: G1 and G2 together, G3 elsewhere. These are groups of marks, not categories of actual organisms.

Model H · material-view records (Week 6 teaching only). Three invented source cards, each stamped FICTIONAL PRACTICE, NO LOCAL TEST. H1: “The large filled circle is drawn behind a panel labelled CLEAR in an invented sketch; its outline is still drawn.” H2: “The same circle is drawn behind a panel labelled COVER in an invented sketch; no circle is drawn in front.” H3: “The artist has left a blank panel with no symbol record.” The drawing shows marks and words, not verified materials or what a real child can see through an actual layer. H3 means not recorded, not necessarily hidden. Exact read-aloud/tactile route: read H1/H2/H3 fully, or place large fixed text strips in order; no actual panel result is inferred.

Model J · source choice (both weeks). Three complete statements: “I saw this feature on live plant A here today”; “The teacher described what they saw on a live animal today”; “An invented card has an oval mark.” These are examples of source wording, not supplied actual observations. Without a real dated plant/animal event, the first two are hypothetical scripts and must not be entered into a child's actual log.

Six A4 aids · exact linear and tactile equivalents

Each SVG/PDF in the index has selectable page text and an SVG title/description. These exact words and order allow a teacher to read, copy at high contrast, use AAC or make large secured tactile cards. Tactile outlines are models unless linked to an actual approved source. No small loose counters are needed.

living-safe: Heading “Notice living things safely”; subtitle “Look from an approved place; leave the source undisturbed.” Six boxes top to bottom: “1 SOURCE · live plant, live animal, photo or MODEL”; “2 DATE · where/when, broad and private”; “3 LOOK · external features only”; “4 NAME · what this source actually shows”; “5 UNKNOWN · what cannot be told”; “6 CARE · do not touch, feed, pick or chase”. Tactile: six broad numbered cards in that order; read each aloud.
feature-source: Heading “What can I notice?”; subtitle “Use a real dated source or label an invented model.” Six blank boxes: “SOURCE + DATE + ACCESS”; “PLANT / ANIMAL / PHOTO / MODEL”; “FEATURE 1 · EXACTLY SHOWN”; “FEATURE 2 · EXACTLY SHOWN”; “WHAT I CANNOT TELL”; “ONE NEXT SAFE QUESTION”. Tactile: six large labelled panels, adult scribes verbatim.
group-rule: Heading “Sort by a feature you can show”; subtitle “A new rule can change the groups; the sources do not change.” Six blank boxes: “SOURCE CARDS + DATES”; “MY VISIBLE-FEATURE RULE”; “GROUP A · WHICH SOURCES + WHY”; “GROUP B · WHICH SOURCES + WHY”; “CANNOT TELL FROM SOURCE”; “NEW RULE · WHAT MOVED + WHY”. Tactile: two broad bounded areas A/B plus one CANNOT TELL area; adult reads the six prompts in order, with broad source cards.
feature-model: Heading “Marks are not living things”; subtitle “INVENTED MODEL · not a plant or animal observation.” Two outlined panels labelled F1 and F2: F1 has a vertical line, broad oval left, narrow pointed outline right; F2 has a horizontal oval, four short lines below, small triangle right. Footer “Describe the drawing. Check a real source before claiming real features.” Exact nonvisual route is Model F above; large raised-line versions remain models.
layer-test: Heading “Can we see the symbol through it?”; subtitle “Actual panel + date + same conditions, or NOT TESTED.” Six blank boxes: “SOURCE + DATE + VERIFIED MATERIAL OR UNKNOWN”; “SYMBOL + ROOM LIGHT + DISTANCE”; “PANEL A · PREDICTION BEFORE TRY”; “PANEL A · ACTUAL VIEW OR NOT TESTED”; “PANEL B · PREDICTION BEFORE TRY”; “PANEL B · ACTUAL VIEW OR NOT TESTED”. Tactile: six labelled panels; a broad filled-circle card and broad fixed panel labels support ordering. Direct visual result is attributed accurately.
science-claim: Heading “Tell what the source supports”; subtitle “A purpose choice needs a source and a limit.” Five blank boxes: “SOURCE + DATE + LIVE / PHOTO / ADULT REPORT / MODEL”; “QUESTION + PREDICTION BEFORE TRY”; “WHAT ACTUALLY SHOWED / OR NOT TESTED”; “MY GROUP OR MATERIAL CHOICE + REASON”; “WHAT IS STILL UNKNOWN + NEXT SAFE CHECK”. Tactile: five broad numbered prompts, adult scribe; private response permitted.