# Day 31 — What would our collection help us find?

**Useful outcome:** Choose a useful question before collecting clues.

**Prepare:** O1; two broad question slips; blank question mat.

**Partial opportunities:** AC9HS1S01, AC9HS1S02, AC9HS1S03. Refer to whole authority and explicit limits in the linked curriculum scope; opportunity is not observed mastery.

1. **Start ·3:** Read child invitation I01 in the ordinary source menu. Invite a wanted useful product. Offer private work, rest, pass, stop or another route.

2. **Source/model ·5:** A separate invented coat tag states cotton but not the maker; a material question can use it, a maker question stays open. Adult demonstration stays separate from child evidence.

3. **Guided source work ·part of 10:** Read O1. Its three descriptions identify material/shape and two stated uses, but do not identify makers. Ask which source could help with “What are these made from?” and which missing question cannot yet be answered.

4. **Own useful work ·rest of 10:** Child develops a question they want this small collection to help answer. Collect two relevant O1 details with their source labels. Mark the maker as unknown if chosen; do not turn adult question choices into child-developed evidence.

5. **Compare ·5:** Try finding each collected detail in O1. Ask whether the question needs an object clue, a catalogue or a person's account. Keep or change the question only at the child's direction.

6. **Notice and teach next ·2:** If questions are only titles, use an unrelated invented kite label with material stated and builder missing; model a what/who question. If every source is assumed to answer everything, contrast that label with a blank maker field.

### Three ways to take part

(a) **Question delivery:** Place or direct a broad question slip beside the source detail that can help. A reachable seated layout works.

(b) **Clue notebook:** Draw, dictate or describe two details under a chosen question; preserve their source names.

(c) **Listener challenge:** Tell a willing listener one question and ask them to point to a useful O1 detail. Self-read is equally complete; record only an actual reply.

All routes retain the access/attribution/stop choices above. **Observe:** One developed source-related question and relevant collected details, with an honest missing answer.

**Extra contexts:** C01/C02; **home:** H01; **optional larger making:** X01; **written read-aloud:** N01. Full source/own/staff separation follows the linked assessment selection guidance.

## Complete selected sources

### O1 — The play-clue tray

Original fiction, three description cards recorded 2026. ItemP is a rectangular paper path with four broad spaces; its card says players choose a space in turns. ItemQ is a cloth square with a stitched star; its card does not describe how it was used. ItemR is a wooden wheel-shaped piece; its card says it was part of a toy cart. No card names a maker, owner or making date. The descriptions are supplied text, not a child's observation or an image of a real collection. These items can help a material question; the maker is unknown.

[Short child start](../child/day-31.html) · [Home](../home/H01.html) · [Larger project](../projects/X01.html) · [Capture/support](CAPTURE.html) · [Curriculum scope](CURRICULUM.html).

[Sources and reuse](../SOURCE-NOTICE.html) · Original educational work © NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026, CC BY 4.0. Linked authority/provider exceptions and learner ownership stay separate.