Science · optional teacher… | Year 3 Subjects · T1 W3–4 · Teacher

Two connected short inquiries: sealed rock-surface observation and careful reading/planning of temperature data. Room-safe model routes are explicitly marked. No handling of dust, hot water, ice, unidentified minerals or unapproved samples.

Each Day 11–20 block is 12 minutes: notice 2, try/make 7, show 3. Choose what fits the timetable; these are supplements, not a complete subject allocation. Prepare the stated safe materials, give the separate learner card, and retain the checks and next moves teacher-side. The original print mat and text route support spoken, visual, tactile and low-print access. Code links are partial and exact in the crosswalk.

Day 11 — The closed rock window

Codes: AC9S3U02, AC9S3I01. Prepare: Two clean, non-dusting samples sealed by an adult, or labelled original line drawings marked MODEL.

Notice · 2 min. Present two teacher-approved, sealed rock samples R and S. Ask, ‘Which visible surfaces seem alike, and what would you need to check?’
Try/make · 7 min. With the bags closed, describe three visible features of each: colour, visible grain and smooth/rough appearance. Predict one possible difference, clearly marked as a prediction.
Show · 3 min. Name one observed similarity, one difference and one thing the closed bag cannot tell us.

Learner choices: Say and point; draw a two-column sketch; dictate labels to an adult.

Home/low-material: Use two household-safe objects in closed clear containers; label these an analogy, not rock evidence.

Evidence boundary: A drawn or photographed model is not direct observation of a real rock.

Day 12 — One question, one change

Codes: AC9S3I01, AC9S3I02. Prepare: Sealed samples or two adult-made surface drawings; no lamp handling by children.

Notice · 2 min. Show that a lamp moved closer can change how a surface looks. Ask whether R is truly lighter than S.
Try/make · 7 min. Plan a fair visual comparison: keep the same light position, bag type and viewing distance; change only the sample. Record what stays the same and what changes.
Show · 3 min. Explain why moving both the sample and lamp would make the comparison harder.

Learner choices: Move paper tokens for the variables; speak the plan; draw a same/change table.

Home/low-material: Use a window-side paper model of equal viewing distances; no rock collecting needed.

Evidence boundary: Record only the action and source that actually occurred; a plan is not a trial.

Day 13 — A source with a scale

Codes: AC9S3U02, AC9S3I03. Prepare: Closed sample, ruler with 0 clearly visible, recording mat; no sharp ruler edge.

Notice · 2 min. Show a ruler beside, but outside, a sealed sample. Ask what a centimetre can measure and what it cannot.
Try/make · 7 min. Use a familiar scaled ruler to measure the bagged sample's visible longest span to the nearest whole centimetre; repeat once from the same edge. Mark bag-plus-sample as the measured object.
Show · 3 min. Report both readings and say why this is not the bare rock's exact length.

Learner choices: Read the ruler visually; use a tactile raised-centimetre ruler; direct an adult to line up zero.

Home/low-material: Measure a closed household object or paper shape and name that object accurately.

Evidence boundary: Record only the action and source that actually occurred; a plan is not a trial.

Day 14 — Make the observations sortable

Codes: AC9S3I04, AC9S3U02. Prepare: Three printed practice notes and blank table. Do not imply actual observations.

Notice · 2 min. Read three original data notes: R visible grains large; S visible grains fine; T visible grains large. All are teacher-made practice notes.
Try/make · 7 min. Build a table with sample, grain appearance and source. Group R and T by the stated visible feature; add a question mark where no note exists.
Show · 3 min. Say the pattern and one reason it cannot identify the rocks.

Learner choices: Use large print table; movable textured labels; dictate cells.

Home/low-material: Sort three made-up notes with pencil boxes; no physical samples required.

Evidence boundary: Practice data are invented and must not be presented as a real result.

Day 15 — A second observer

Codes: AC9S3I05, AC9S3H01. Prepare: Fictional observer cards and closed drawing; no child is singled out for a wrong answer.

Notice · 2 min. Two fictional observers disagree: Jo writes ‘R has large visible grains’; Min writes ‘R looks fine-grained’. Ask what they should do next.
Try/make · 7 min. Compare how each viewed the same sealed drawing: Jo at arm's length, Min beside the page. Revise a same-distance viewing plan and name what evidence would settle the disagreement.
Show · 3 min. Give a cautious conclusion and a further question.

Learner choices: Role cards; oral comparison; tactile position tokens on a distance line.

Home/low-material: Use two adult voices or two written notes about an invented object.

Evidence boundary: These observer records are fictional; do not score them as actual class data.

Day 16 — Warmth is a transfer question

Codes: AC9S3U03, AC9S3I01. Prepare: Printed invented record; no heated water, ice, touch test or child handling.

Notice · 2 min. Present an adult-made, fictional temperature record: sealed bottle A 24°C at 0 min, 25°C at 2 min. Ask what might have transferred heat.
Try/make · 7 min. Identify the recorded change as 1°C. Predict a reason, then separate what the numbers show from what they do not show about the heat source.
Show · 3 min. Say ‘temperature increased by 1°C in the record’; add one testable follow-up question.

Learner choices: Use number line; adult-read numbers; move one tactile marker from 24 to 25.

Home/low-material: Read the paper record. Do not create a household heat experiment.

Evidence boundary: The record is fictional. Claim about heat source remains a hypothesis.

Day 17 — Plan a safe temperature check

Codes: AC9S3U03, AC9S3I02. Prepare: Paper bottles and scale; real demonstration only after school risk approval and adult control.

Notice · 2 min. Ask how an adult could compare two approved, sealed, room-safe bottles without children touching a heat source.
Try/make · 7 min. Plan one adult-managed comparison: same bottle size and thermometer method, initial reading, two time readings; one bottle in a warmer approved location and one control. Identify the changed location.
Show · 3 min. Name the safety boundary and one thing that would make the test unfair.

Learner choices: Arrange sequence cards; explain verbally; point to thermometer drawing.

Home/low-material: Use the paper plan only; never ask a family to use hot water or appliances.

Evidence boundary: Paper planning does not show observed transfer or measured temperature.

Day 18 — Read a real or model scale honestly

Codes: AC9S3I03, AC9S3I04. Prepare: Adult-supplied approved reading or printed fictional model; no pupil heat source.

Notice · 2 min. Provide a teacher-approved scaled thermometer reading if a demonstration ran; otherwise give a clearly marked original model: 22, 23, 24°C at minutes 0, 2, 4.
Try/make · 7 min. Write a three-row time/temperature table; draw a simple column graph with a labelled °C scale. Mark REAL or MODEL at the top.
Show · 3 min. Point to the greatest reading and read its time and units aloud or by AAC.

Learner choices: Large scale and high contrast; tactile number tiles; adult transcription directed by learner.

Home/low-material: Use the model numbers with paper blocks and still mark MODEL.

Evidence boundary: Model graph cannot be counted as real instrument use; note actual route.

Day 19 — Compare before concluding

Codes: AC9S3I05, AC9S3H01. Prepare: Printed invented tables; no claim that a child collected them.

Notice · 2 min. Show two labelled fictional data sets: A 22→24°C; B 22→22°C after four minutes. Ask what the contrast supports.
Try/make · 7 min. Compare change in each set (+2°C and 0°C). Check whether both used the same four-minute interval and whether their locations are stated; they are not.
Show · 3 min. State a limited conclusion and one missing detail for a fair explanation.

Learner choices: Counters on a number line; two spoken sentences; table annotations.

Home/low-material: Use paper arrows for both changes and name one missing condition.

Evidence boundary: Do not infer a cause from these invented numbers.

Day 20 — Explain with an evidence boundary

Codes: AC9S3I06, AC9S3H02, AC9S3U03. Prepare: Printed fictional records; no actual product or storage decision.

Notice · 2 min. Fresh prompt: an invented school needs to decide where a closed, temperature-sensitive art material box could be stored. Two fictional records: shelf 24→26°C; cupboard 24→24°C over four minutes.
Try/make · 7 min. Compose a three-part note: data, cautious choice and what real measurement/safety approval would be needed. Use ‘temperature’, ‘change’ and ‘evidence’ accurately.
Show · 3 min. Present to a chosen adult/partner privately; distinguish paper model from a real school decision.

Learner choices: Three sentence frames; voice note on school-approved offline device only; AAC or drawing plus explanation.

Home/low-material: Tell an adult with the paper data; no home materials needed.

Evidence boundary: Fictional data cannot set a real safety or storage policy.