# Twenty worked help-desk contexts These are complete ordinary examples, open for teaching. All numbers, small observations, characters and local situations below are invented unless a context explicitly points to one of the four real FACT cards. A constructed observation is not a real class investigation. Each model states the question, working, conclusion, limit and next job. Calculators, read-aloud and directed marks are welcome. ## C01 · A question for a borrowed display **Job:** A fictional library wants to understand why two bean displays look different. It has starting and final heights but no water record. Can “Which display is best?” be answered? **Worked model:** “Best” needs a criterion. A checkable question is “Which group’s recorded mean height increased more over nine days?” using O2’s start/end/unit. It can be answered: A +18 mm, B +6 mm. The source cannot answer whether light caused the difference because actual water/light/temperature/moisture were not recorded. **Own try:** choose one missing record and say what question it would help answer. No actual library display is described. ## C02 · Height at the finish is not growth **Job:** An invented bean stem starts at 18 mm and reaches 30 mm after six days. Another starts at 26 mm and reaches 34 mm. Which grew more by the height measure? **Worked model:** first `30 − 18 = 12 mm`; second `34 − 26 = 8 mm`, both over six days. The second is taller at the finish, but the first’s increase is 4 mm greater. A final-height ranking and an increase ranking answer different questions. We have no condition controls, alive counts or health measure. **Own try:** write two accurate sentences, one for final size and one for growth. Do not assign a cause. ## C03 · The courtyard trend **Job:** Summarise O2 without claiming every brighter place is better. **Worked model:** A’s mean increases 6 mm every recorded three-day interval; B’s increases 2 mm every recorded three-day interval. A’s listed sequence rises from 20 to 38 mm; B’s from 20 to 26 mm. Both have 4/4 alive at Day 9. A careful sentence is “In this constructed nine-day record of four bean seedlings per group, A’s recorded mean height increased more.” The line between points is a representation, not observations of every moment. **Own try:** add a relevant missing condition and a new question. ## C04 · A count needs its starting sample **Job:** A fictional tray has five alive at Day 7 from eight initially labelled seedlings. A draft says “five out of five survived”. **Worked model:** the original sample is eight. `5 of 8` are alive at Day 7; `8 − 5 = 3` are not recorded alive at that check. Five is not the denominator just because those five remain. This is not lifetime survival or a cause. **Own try:** represent eight marks, identify the five alive and label time. No organism needs to be owned or tested. ## C05 · A graph with an honest scale **Job:** Plot invented heights 12, 15, 18 mm at Days 0, 2, 4. **Worked model:** horizontal axis is days after start with equal spacing 0/2/4; vertical axis is height in mm, for example 0/5/10/15/20 with equal spacing. Plot (0,12), (2,15), (4,18). Height increase is 6 mm over four days. A 12 mm truncated vertical baseline may magnify appearance; if used, it must be explicit. A zero-based scale is clearer for this small opening. Missing Day 3 is not an observed 16.5 mm. **Own try:** annotate “supplied record” and one unknown between checks. ## C06 · One mean, one defined sample **Job:** Check O2’s Day 9 A mean. **Worked model:** `(38 + 36 + 40 + 38) ÷ 4 = 152 ÷ 4 = 38 mm`. The mean summarises the four individual heights; it does not mean each is 38 mm. O2’s B mean `(26 + 28 + 24 + 26) ÷ 4 = 104 ÷ 4 = 26 mm`. Both have four labelled observations, so these supplied means are comparable by that rule. **Own try:** write a sentence that preserves variation and a limit. Mean arithmetic is a support, not a separate claim of statistical mastery. ## C07 · Repair a two-change test **Job:** A fictional team gives shaded seedlings 80 mL daily in big pots and brighter seedlings 20 mL in small pots, then wants to decide about light. **Worked model:** position/light, water and pot size differ, as may temperature/moisture. Revise the paper plan to use the same species/stage/container/mix/water schedule/check times, change assigned light condition, and record height and alive counts over a defined period. Record relevant environmental influences; shade may also change temperature, so review how light is isolated. This is a fairer **proposal**, not a confirmed controlled trial. **Own try:** make a blank record with changed/measured/kept/not observed headings. ## C08 · A sensible precision **Job:** Two paper stem models are measured as 28 mm and 32 mm; a rough note calls both “3 cm”. **Worked model:** `3 cm = 30 mm`. Rounding to whole centimetres can hide the `32 − 28 = 4 mm` difference. A ruler marked in mm and a shared zero/reference/eye-level rule help address this question. More decimal places alone do not improve accuracy. The supplied pair is not the learner’s actual measurement. **Own try:** measure a safe own paper line if a ruler is available; record actual readings or label supplied values without equipment. ## C09 · A reference-point problem **Job:** One invented stem is 28 mm from soil line to tip but 43 mm from pot base to tip. Which number should a recorder use? **Worked model:** neither number describes growth over time. The two rules differ by `43 − 28 = 15 mm`; the difference is a reference point, not a fifteen-millimetre growth event. For plant height choose and consistently state soil line to tip; for container-plus-stem total choose pot base to tip and name that different quantity. **Own try:** rewrite the two column headings so the reader can distinguish them. ## C10 · A permission request is not permission **Job:** A fictional group writes “we will collect park seedlings tomorrow” but has no adult/site review. **Worked model:** stop at the paper proposal. Use supplied O2 instead; no field collection is needed. A real enquiry requires school/site permission, safe access, plant identity, local cultural/intercultural process where relevant and guidance about what may be done. A written request does not show consent was obtained or that an investigation happened. **Own try:** draft a non-invasive question for an educator to review, with result cells “not observed”. No invented landowner voice or local Country knowledge. ## C11 · Building on an earlier contribution **Job:** Explain H01 reasoning from FACT1 rather than just naming a team. **Worked model:** earlier monitoring gives a basis for a later environmental question; measurement and smart-sensing contributions address different evidence needs. The learner links a named contribution in the full card to why another was needed. The historical prototype article does not verify present installation or success. **Own try:** choose a contribution pair and explain the gap if one were absent; cite FACT1’s date/place. Do not attribute invented motives to real scientists. ## C12 · A revised professional design **Job:** Explain why the historical FACT3 design was reconsidered. **Worked model:** performance in one environment did not settle performance in another. The complete card gives distinct development and water-management expertise; their contributions enabled a revision/test proposal. An anticipated final harvest is not a reported outcome. **Own try:** make a labelled “earlier evidence / difficulty / revised test / unknown result” strip. This is historical source analysis, not a performed space experiment. ## C13 · A reef headline needs place and time **Job:** A fictional notice copies a general heat-stress idea into “all reefs near us are bleached today”. **Worked model:** FACT2 supports a bounded historical example and an uneven response, not today’s local observation. Replace the statement with a question for a named reef/date and a dated monitoring source/method. Do not treat an accumulated heat measure as a single temperature reading or import unopened numerical thresholds. **Own try:** identify the missing place, period and biological observation. No swimming, sample collection or coral care advice is offered. ## C14 · A reviewed lighting enquiry **Job:** Use FACT4 to advise a fictional coastal school committee without claiming it has caused turtle harm. **Worked model:** request adult review of the current local guidance, where light reaches the nesting environment, period and safe/legal permissions. The source knowledge supports an enquiry/possible response, not a measured local effect or unauthorised electrical action. **Own try:** write “We should ask… because…; we do not yet know…”. The school/site/lighting details are invented; the actual reference remains Mon Repos/Bundaberg. ## C15 · Two legitimate criteria **Job:** Choose between O4 trays for a fictional keeper. **Worked model:** growth priority favours Q’s recorded `36 − 20 = 16 mm` over P’s `31 − 20 = 11 mm`; alive-at-Day-8 priority favours P’s 6/6 over Q’s 4/6. Neither ranking proves a water treatment is best or safe for all plants. Both mean definitions must remain attached. **Own try:** choose a criterion, justify it for an invented reader and name a missing condition before a real decision. ## C16 · Neither option meets a full requirement **Job:** A fictional brief requires mean increase at least 10 mm **and** all four initially labelled plants alive at Day 6. A: +12 mm, 3/4 alive. B: +8 mm, 4/4 alive. **Worked model:** A passes increase but fails alive count; B passes alive count but fails increase. **Neither** meets both. Adding A’s height to B’s survival invents a third option. Recommend more evidence or a reviewed retest, not silently drop a requirement. **Own try:** show a two-criterion table and an exact unknown. These ordinary values are not fresh-check inputs. ## C17 · A missing height is not zero **Job:** An invented group’s final height entries are 18, 22, blank, 20 mm for four initially labelled seedlings. May it report a four-seedling mean of 15 mm? **Worked model:** `18 + 22 + 20 = 60 mm`, but treating blank as zero without evidence invents a measurement. A mean of the **three recorded heights** is `60 ÷ 3 = 20 mm`, labelled as three of four with one missing. A complete four-seedling mean is unknown. Do not compare the three-record summary as if it has the same original sample rule as O4. **Own try:** choose recover missing record / show incomplete sample / defer, with a reason. ## C18 · Different durations deserve a warning **Job:** Two invented samples each increase 12 mm, one over four days and one over eight. Can “same change” mean “same speed”? **Worked model:** total recorded increase is equal. A simple interval-average is `12 ÷ 4 = 3 mm per day` versus `12 ÷ 8 = 1.5 mm per day`; this is a constructed period average, not proof of steady daily growth. Actual individual days are unrecorded. Different biological contexts may also matter. **Own try:** label the period on each total and write one next question. Rate arithmetic is optional support, not a required Year 6 Science outcome. ## C19 · Compare methods before pooling records **Job:** Fictional groups check paper stems at 9 am and 3 pm and use different height reference points. They want to combine their results. **Worked model:** make a method table before pooling: source/group, reference point, unit, check time, sample and deviations. Standardise or keep sets separately labelled; a precise-looking mean of incompatible quantities is misleading. A pooled number cannot repair the older measurements. **Own try:** ask a specific clarification and propose the next consistent check. A peer comparison is actual interaction only if observed, not inferred from this example. ## C20 · A useful final guide **Job:** Rewrite “brighter is always best; move the plants tomorrow” for the fictional courtyard team. **Worked model:** “O2 records greater mean height increase for A over nine days: 18 mm versus 6 mm. Both groups had four of four alive at Day 9. Actual light, temperature and moisture were not recorded, so we cannot isolate light or predict later survival. Ask for a reviewed comparison with consistent measurement and recorded conditions before choosing a real change.” The choice may be defer/retest, not a product recommendation. **Own try:** make your own reader-specific next-step guide and document one meaningful revision.