# Science choice menu · Year 5 · Days 11–20

**Use:** One optional 12-minute block per day. Set out a tray, pencil, the [inquiry mat](print/inquiry-mat.pdf), and the listed everyday items. The mat has an [accessible text version](print/TEXT-ALTERNATIVES.md). Every demonstration is a *small model*; ask what it cannot tell us about an actual landscape or living thing. Do not collect living specimens or enter waterways. Learner prompts sit in [LEARNER-COPY](LEARNER-COPY.md); keep [staff checks](TEACHER-KEY.md) private.

### Day 11 · What changed the chalk? · AC9S5U02, AC9S5I01, AC9S5I03
**Kit:** two chalk pieces, sealed clear containers; prepare one whole and one already crumbled piece. 0–2: Show both, ask whether breaking in place or moving pieces is happening. 2–4: Learners predict which will make more fine dust if a container is gently tilted ten times. 4–10: Tilt both closed containers equally; record visible fragment count or dust as “none/some/more”, never open near faces. 10–12: Check: “Which observation supports a claim about physical breakdown?” If they say “erosion,” ask whether any material travelled from one place to another. **Routes:** tilt; direct a partner; inspect two labelled before/after drawings. **Next/home:** sketch a cracked pavement from a safe public place, without collecting or attributing its cause.

### Day 12 · A slope carries grains · AC9S5U02, AC9S5I02, AC9S5I04
**Kit:** two trays with equal fresh dry sand patches, spoon, cup and cloth. 0–2: Mark a start and end line on each. 2–4: Predict whether one or three spoonfuls of water will carry grains farther; agree to keep slope and sand amount fixed. 4–10: Teacher pours slowly, one amount per fresh tray, while learners mark the farthest visible grain and record results. 10–12: Check which variable changed and which stayed the same. A paper diagram is a model; only observed tray movement counts as investigation evidence. **Routes:** pour with support; mark grain positions; narrate the comparison. **Next/home:** notice where rain moves loose soil, from a safe dry viewpoint only.

### Day 13 · Where does carried material settle? · AC9S5U02, AC9S5I04, AC9S5I05
**Kit:** prefilled transparent lidded jar with water and a teaspoon of clean sand; teacher handles. 0–2: Recall movement from Day 12. 2–4: Predict top/middle/bottom positions immediately and after five minutes. 4–10: Teacher shakes once, rests jar, class records two labelled observations. 10–12: Check: Ask whether settling in a jar proves how any named Australian river formed (no). Discuss one limitation: grain size or flow differs. **Routes:** watch and draw; use large-position cards; dictate observations. **Next/home:** look for safe photos of puddle sediment and label observation versus explanation.

### Day 14 · Features fit a place? · AC9S5U01, AC9S5I01, AC9S5I06
**Kit:** teacher-created fictional habitat cards: hot open gravel; cool shaded garden; pond edge. 0–2: Read each condition. 2–4: Offer fictional creature A with broad shade wings and B with water-resistant feet; predict a useful match. 4–10: Build “feature → possible function → habitat condition” chains; add a counterexample (wings need not mean heat protection). 10–12: Check that a feature does not guarantee survival; demand observation of a real organism before claiming fact. **Routes:** arrange cards; sketch labels; orally explain. **Next/home:** observe a plant from a path and ask one question, without touching it.

### Day 15 · Review: weathering, erosion, deposition · AC9S5U02, AC9S5I05
**Kit:** three original mini-scene cards in [learner assessment](ASSESSMENT.md). 0–2: Revisit physical breakdown, movement and settling. 2–4: Model one *different* example with beads in a dry tray. 4–10: Learners independently answer Science Check A; do not display key. 10–12: Check: Sort responses privately into correct sequence, mixed terms, or no evidence; next move in [TEACHER-KEY](TEACHER-KEY.md). **Routes:** written; card sort plus dictated reason; large-print oral response. **Next/home:** tell a family member one careful “I observed …; I infer …” pair about a safe place.

### Day 16 · A particle model has limits · AC9S5U04, AC9S5I04
**Kit:** 12 paper dots on a mat marked solid/liquid/gas. 0–2: Explain dots are a *model*, not a photograph of particles. 2–4: Predict which arrangement leaves space for a model gas to spread. 4–10: Arrange dots close and fixed (solid), close and mobile (liquid), far apart (gas); describe movement with arrows. 10–12: Check “Can this model show temperature or exact particle size?” No; ask what additional evidence would be needed. **Routes:** move dots; direct partner; use raised dot stickers or verbal positions. **Next/home:** point to a safe household solid, liquid and gas; do not heat or taste anything.

### Day 17 · Light changes direction at a mirror · AC9S5U03, AC9S5I02, AC9S5I03
**Kit:** small unbreakable mirror, torch, paper target; teacher checks glare and never points at eyes. 0–2: Show target outside the torch’s direct path. 2–4: Predict where the mirror must face. 4–10: In a dim but walkable room, adjust mirror until light reaches target; draw incoming and outgoing paths. 10–12: Check whether light was created by the mirror (no, it reflected). **Routes:** aim with support; place target; read a tactile/large-print path diagram. **Next/home:** notice a reflection in a window without looking toward the sun.

### Day 18 · Bend or apparent bend? · AC9S5U03, AC9S5I05
**Kit:** clear cup of water, pencil, plain cup; no glass required. 0–2: Place pencil behind empty cup; describe. 2–4: Predict how it may appear through water. 4–10: Teacher fills cup; learners compare view through air/water from marked eye positions and draw what they *see*. 10–12: Check: Distinguish observation (“looks displaced”) from explanation (“light refracts when passing between materials”); do not claim the pencil itself bent. **Routes:** look; interpret teacher photograph; explain with a labelled diagram. **Next/home:** find a safe spoon-in-water image and label object versus appearance.

### Day 19 · Choose evidence for a community decision · AC9S5H02, AC9S5I05, AC9S5I06
**Kit:** fictional community garden: two paths, one eroded after rain; evidence cards “dated photos on three days,” “one guess,” “measured slope,” “cost estimate.” 0–2: State decision: where to add a low-cost barrier. 2–4: Rank two evidence types. 4–10: Give a recommendation, evidence and uncertainty; check that cost and accessibility are considered. 10–12: Check that a classroom model cannot establish real engineering safety. **Routes:** card sort; dictate recommendation; draw annotated proposal. **Next/home:** ask a trusted adult what evidence they use before changing a garden path.

### Day 20 · Review: models and observations · AC9S5U03, AC9S5U04, AC9S5I05
**Kit:** new light and particle scenarios in [learner assessment](ASSESSMENT.md). 0–2: Recall the words reflect, refract and model. 2–4: Clarify that an observed effect and its explanation are different. 4–10: Independent Science Check B. 10–12: Staff sorts by evidence for light direction, model limitation, or neither; apply private moves. **Routes:** write; annotate diagram; dictate to scribe. **Next/home:** explain one useful model and one thing it cannot show, using an example of the learner’s choice.