Teachers
iPlan involves increasing students skills in:
Recent testing has shown that students have difficulty in designing experiments. This resource is designed to give students opportunities to practise the skill of experimental design. This includes choosing appropriate equipment and using safe working practices. The investigations cover different topic areas and have examples of controlled experiments as well as examples where controls are not necessary. Students will produce an investigation sheet with their plan and then write out the method and risk assessment for the investigation. |
Within this resource there are opportunities for student learning using the context of the quality teaching framework. 
This resource supports the NSW Board of Studies syllabus. The resource would make an excellent basis for the Student Research Project required in Stage 4 and Stage 5. Stage 4 and 5 outcomes 4.14 A student follows a sequence of instructions to undertake a first-hand investigation 4.15 A student uses given criteria to gather first-hand data 5.14 A student undertakes a first-hand investigations independently with safety and competence 5.15 A student gathers first-hand data accurately. |
As with many activities there are a range of formal and informal assessment strategies that can be used with this project. The teaching and learning cycle offers many opportunities when assessment can take place. Prior learning can be assessed at the start of the program to decide on the activities and to show where further teacher input is required. 
The investigation planning can commence as a modelled activity using an interactive whiteboard, as skills develop the planning can be used as assessment activity. 
This resource uses interactive whiteboard technology (IWB) to get students to think about how to plan their experiments. The activities can also be done without a whiteboard as there are alternative exercises. 
Watch the animation that demonstrates how to use the flipcharts. |