| Primary Connections

Packaging pioneers

View Sequence overview

Students will:

use a provided scaffold to plan and investigate how to keep food colder for longer.
follow procedures to make and record observations using timing devices.
understand how data from investigations is used to develop scientific explanations about the best materials.
explore the insulative properties of different materials for keeping things cool.

Students will represent their understanding as they:

complete the Keeping cool investigation planner Resource sheet.
record their observations.
interpret data both collected and provided.

Whole class

Class science journal (digital or hard-copy)

Demonstration copy of the Melting scenario cartoon Resource sheet

Demonstration copy of the How fast will it melt? investigation planner Resource sheet

2 x small ice cubes (as close in size as possible). The larger the ice cubes, the longer they will take to melt, especially in cooler weather. We recommend using small ice-cubes.

2 x plates

Timing device

Demonstration copy of the Variables grid Resource sheet

Optional: Demonstration copy of the Keeping cool investigation planner Resource sheet. This resource sheet includes a section where students can create their own data table to record results. You might modify the resource sheet to include a data table before printing it for student use. Alternatively you can model how to create an appropriate data table during Step 3 of the lesson.

Each group

3 x small ice cubes (as close in size as possible)

3 x small resealable bags

A range of materials students can select to act as potential thermal insulators, for example, foil, cloth, plastic, bubble wrap, paper towel

Timing device

Each student

Individual science journal (digital or hard-copy)

Keeping cool investigation planner Resource sheet

Melting scenario cartoon Resource sheet

DOCX • 0.4MB

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How fast will it melt? Investigation planner Resource sheet

DOCX • 0.2MB

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Keeping cool investigation planner Resource sheet

DOCX • 0.2MB

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Variables grid Resource sheet

DOCX • 0.2MB

Download

Lesson

Re-orient

Recall the previous lesson, focusing on how students used comparative testing as material scientists to compare different materials’ properties—specifically, they tested tensile strength.

Revise the following terms, potentially using the Frayer Model if time permits.

Material: The substance that an object is made from, such as plastic, wood, or glass.

Physical properties: The features of a material that can be observed or measured.

Tensile strength: A measure of the force needed to pull or stretch a material to the point where it breaks.

Variable: Something that can be changed, measured or kept the same in an investigation.

Estimated time

5 minutes

Lesson type

Class

Still frozen?

Using a demonstration copy of the Melting scenario cartoon Resource sheet, read about what happened to Naseera and Codi’s frozen treats. Use the think-pair-share strategy to explore and share ideas as to why Naseera’s treat may have remained more frozen, while Codi’s completely melted.

NOTE: In Year 3 students will have learned about changes of state between solids and liquids, as well as about how heat is transferred from a warmer object to a cooler one until they are approximately the same temperature.

Pose the question: Did the location of Naseera and Codi's school bags cause their frozen treats to melt?

Estimated time

15 minutes

Lesson type

Class

Pedagogical tools

Think, pair, share

Think, pair, share is a strategy to encourage discussion and contribution from all students.

Within a classroom there are often students who raise their hands and offer ideas readily, as well as those who are less confident to share their ideas. The think, pair, share strategy can encourage more students to get involved because it allows thinking time and removes fear of being wrong, as students can offer ideas they have agreed upon with their partner.

In the strategy:

Students are prompted with a question, topic, claim or idea.
They are given time to think, typically between 10 and 20 seconds. The time can be extended for complex questions or topics.
Students pair up with someone near them to discuss their answers and ideas.
Invite students to share with the class, starting with (Student's name) and I discussed/thought/talked about...

You can also add the step ‘square’ where pairs team up with another pair to discuss further before sharing. This can be helpful to expose students to a wider range of ideas and vocabulary.

Sun or shade?

Consider the different ways and locations that students store their lunch/school bags throughout the school day. A tour around the school might be one way to see if bags/lunchboxes are stored in sunlight outside the classroom, in internal shaded corridors, in tubs inside the classroom etc.

Discuss how the location of the school bag/lunch box over the course of the day may have caused Naseera and Codi's treats to melt, and why. Ask students if they think that something frozen will melt faster when placed in a warm, sunny location as compared to a cooler, shaded location and why they think that.

As a demonstration, investigate to answer the question: What happens to the time it takes an ice cube to melt when we change its location (a warm, sunny location compared to a cooler, shaded location)? Place two ice cubes of roughly the same size on a plate, putting one in a warm, sunny location, and one in a cooler shaded location, and time how long it takes them to completely melt.

Model how to plan an investigation and record data from it using a demonstration copy of the How fast will it melt? Resource sheet.

Design a simple data table to record the information before undertaking the investigation.

Estimated time

15 minutes

Lesson type

Collaborative team and class

Which melted faster?

As a class, make a claim to answer the question What happens to the time it takes an ice cube to melt when we change its location (a warm, sunny location compared to a cooler, shaded location)? Refer to the evidence collected to back up your claim.

Return to the Melting scenario cartoon Resource sheet to ask students if they can use their evidence to say why they think Naseera’s frozen treat might have remained mostly frozen, while Codi’s completely melted.

Pose the question: How can we stop/slow how quickly a frozen item will melt?

Estimated time

15 minutes

Lesson type

Class

Can we stop the melting?

In groups, ask students to discuss what they might do to keep an ice block from melting after it has been taken out of the freezer.

Consider the broad question: What things might affect how quickly something frozen will melt in a lunch box?

Using a demonstration Variables grid Resource sheet, brainstorm the potential variables. For example, the size of the frozen item, the type of lunch box the frozen item is stored in, if the item is wrapped up in anything, how long it’s been out of the freezer, its size, the temperature etc.

Explain that students will be testing if wrapping the frozen item in different materials will affect how quickly it melts, and compose an investigable question: How quickly will a frozen item melt when we change what it is wrapped in?

Optional: Discuss the difference between broad questions and investigable ones.

Broad questions are designed to gather as many answers, or variables in a scientific sense, as possible. They are often a springboard to further investigation.
An investigable question is much more narrow. It names what is going to be measured—in this case how fast a frozen item will melt—and what is going to be changed—the material the frozen item is wrapped in. A specific claim, backed up by evidence, can be made to answer an investigable question.

In collaborative teams, students use the Keeping it cool investigation planner Resource sheet to plan, conduct, and record data to answer the investigation question.

If required, model how to create a data table to record the time it takes each ice cube to melt. Students transfer this data table to the Keeping it cool investigation planner Resource sheet and use it to record results.

Students undertake the investigation, timing how long it takes each ice cube to melt completely.

Allow students time to analyse their results. Encourage them to, as a group, make a claim about which variable made the ice melt more quickly, referring to their data as evidence.

Teams might complete a sentence stem such as “The ice melted most quickly when... We think this because…”

Estimated time

25 minutes

Lesson type

Collaborative team and class

Pedagogical tools

Using a variables grid to plan a fair test investigation

How might you support students to conduct an accurate fair test investigation, with a clear investigable question?

3:05

All scientific fair tests involve variables. Variables are things that can be changed (independent), measured/observed (dependent) or kept the same (controlled) in an investigation.

When planning a fair test investigation, to make it fair, we need to identify the variables. A variables grid can be used to record the identified variables. We then use these variables to turn a broad question, such as "What affects plant growth?", into an investigable one, such as "What happens to the growth of a plant when I change how much water it gets?".

Investigable questions are characterised by their clear identification of what is being changed and what outcome is being measured in a fair test, supporting students to investigate a specific physical phenomenon.

Investigable questions enable students to plan a fair test investigation. The question they have devised can be answered empirically, and data can be collected to support and justify claims made.

By planning for and conducting a fair test, students can make claims about how the variable they have changed in their investigation may have affected what is being measured and/or observed.

To support students to identify variables, and to use those variables to inform their planning of a fair test, we suggest the handy mnemonic ‘Cows Moo Softly’. This helps students remember the letters C, M and S, representing the three types of variables in a fair test:

Cows: Change one thing (independent variable)
Moo: Measure/Observe the outcome (dependent variable) and
Softly: Keep the other things (controlled variables) the Same

Which material is best?

Each team shares their claims about which ice cube melted the mostly quickly and the most slowly.

Record teams’ claims in a data table in the class science journal. Discuss similarities and differences between the results and materials used.

Show students the ready-made images and data shown below, which replicates the investigation they just undertook. Discuss the difference between how the data was collected. In this instance, the ice cubes were weighed at specific time intervals to see how many grams/milliliters they had lost over that time.

Discuss if this data matches the evidence that students collected with a different measuring method and why that might be.

Determine as a class which materials were the best and worst at stopping/slowing the melting of the ice cube, in reference to all the available evidence.

Introduce the term ‘thermal insulator’: a material that does not allow heat to pass through it easily. Using the data, determine which material was the best thermal insulator by calculating the volume of water that was lost (by calculating the volume of water lost, students are determining which material allowed the least amount of heat to pass through to the ice cube and melt it). Students share their ideas about what they think happened and why.

Consider the materials tested and ask students to think about why foil was not a good insulator, but bubble wrap is.

Discuss how people use this knowledge in everyday life. For example, insulated water bottles keep drinks cool for longer, and insulation in housing keeps out the heat in summer and keeps in the warmth in winter.

Reflect on the lesson

You might:

add to the class word wall of vocabulary related to thermal insulation
re-examine the intended learning goals for the lesson and consider how they were achieved.
discuss how students were thinking and working like scientists during the lesson. Focus on looking at data to provide evidence.
consider how what students have investigated will be helpful in designing their food packaging solution.

Estimated time

15 minutes

Lesson type

Class

Science content

Heat transfer

What makes a good insulator?

Students may have learned about the transfer of heat in Year 3. Heat is a form of energy that can be transferred or transformed. It is important to always talk about heat and the way it moves—coldness is an absence of heat energy rather than a separate scientific concept. In the example used in this lesson, the ice melts because heat energy is transferred to the ice, causing it to transform from a solid to a liquid. This can be shown using an energy arrow pointing from the surrounding environment to the ice.

Some materials act as insulators, preventing the heat energy from moving to the surface of the ice. The bubble wrap contains air. Heat does not easily move through air. The foil is a metal that allows heat energy to easily move to the surface of the ice. It is a conductor of heat. Therefore, the ice melts quicker when wrapped in foil than in bubble wrap.

Another example of this is the heat in a hot oven. If you touch the metal part of a hot oven, your skin will burn. If you put your hand in the oven without touching any surface, it will take much longer for the heat energy of the air particles to burn your skin.

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Our design decisions

Select a lens below to see the design decisions behind each step. Understanding our decisions can give you insight to teach, adapt, and differentiate this task.

Science content

Pedagogical tools

Illustrations of practice

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Packaging pioneers

View Sequence overview

Students will:

recall what they already know about materials and their properties.
classify materials used to package their own lunches.
consider why foods are packaged in different materials.

Students will represent their understanding as they:

participate in a class discussion about materials.
record the materials used to package their own lunches in a table, identifying the properties of each material.

Lesson

What’s in the (lunch)box?

In this activity students will unpack a lunchbox to examine the packaging materials contained within.

Before the unpacking

Using the Frayer Model (see the embedded professional learning The Frayer Model technique below), students consider what they know and understand about the terms ‘material’ and ‘packaging’. Remind them that it is acceptable to have multiple definitions/usages for the terms. The Frayer Model brainstorming technique Resource sheet is available to use if required.

Share students’ ideas and create a shared class understanding of what ‘material’ means in a scientific context: any substance that an object is made from. Record this shared definition in the class science journal.

During the discussion, note the difference between the common everyday use of ‘material’ (often used to refer to fabric, for example) and the scientific use. Also note the importance of differentiating between an object and the material it is made of, such as windows/glass or spoon/metal (or plastic or wood). Refer to specific examples where this might be confusing, for example a ‘drinking glass’ might be called a glass, and can be made of glass, but might also be made of plastic.

Share students’ ideas and create a shared class understanding of what ‘packaging’ means in the context of this sequence (materials used to wrap or protect goods during transport and storage). Record this definition in the class science journal.

List common packaging materials that students already know (e.g. metal, wood, plastic, glass, fabric, paper). Ask students if they know how any of these packaging materials are made, how the materials are used/what they are used to make, and where students would expect to find the materials around the classroom/school.

NOTE: The purpose of this question is to ascertain students’ prior knowledge (if any) about natural and processed materials. It is only necessary to gauge students’ initial ideas here. Students may have some knowledge of how, for example, trees are used to make paper, or that metal is melted and shaped to make other products, however this has not yet appeared in the curriculum, so they may not.

During the unpacking

In collaborative teams, students unpack each of their lunchboxes to examine how the food inside is packaged and/or stored, including the lunchbox itself, any drink containers, and any methods of keeping the lunch cool or warm.

Using the data table found on the Unpacking your lunchbox Resource sheet, students record the names of each food item, list the material/s the item is packaged in, describe the properties of the materials, and consider if the properties were suitable for this purpose.

Model how to complete this table using an example item if appropriate for your students.

After the hunt

Share and discuss what students found. Record students’ observations in the class science journal in an appropriate manner. See the table below for one example.

Estimated time

20 minutes

Lesson type

Collaborative team and class

Science content

Core concepts and key ideas

Where does this sequence fit into the larger picture of science and the science curriculum?

When planning for teaching in your classroom, it can be useful to see where a sequence fits into the larger picture of science. This unit is anchored to the Science understanding core concepts for Chemical sciences.

The chemical and physical properties of substances are determined by their structure at a range of scales.

In Year 4, this involves examining the properties of natural and man-made materials including fibres, metals, glass and plastics and consider how these properties influence their use.

This core concept is linked to the key science ideas:

the observable form of non-living things can change over time as a result of energy and forces. (Form and function)
similarities and differences can be used to sort and classify objects and events. (Patterns, order, and organisation)
components and their interactions can be described. (Systems)
standard units of measurement are used and can enable comparisons to be made. (Scale and measurement)

When your students next progress through this core concept, they will explain the observable properties of solids, liquids and gases by modelling the motion and arrangement of particles (Year 5).

Science content

Adapting to your context

What if students don’t have a lunchbox to unpack?

In this activity lunchboxes are used as easily accessible sources of foodstuffs packaged in different ways and materials.

It is the variety of food packaging and storage materials that is important to the activity.

Providing food packages and storage containers (or even images of these) for students to examine will suffice.

You might gather a collection of pantry staples such as canned goods, pasta, rice etc., as well as food storage containers for students to examine on a rotational basis. Consider how you might show that items that are the same/similar can be packaged in different ways, for example dry pasta packaged in plastic and cardboard, or drinks stored in cardboard cartons and plastic bottles.

Alternatively, students might simply examine the packaging materials of items commonly found in the classroom, such as stationery items and maths/science equipment.

Science content

Vocabulary usage

What vocabulary may cause confusion for students during this sequence?

Taking account of students’ existing ideas is important in planning effective teaching approaches which help students learn science. Students develop their own ideas during their experiences in everyday life and might hold more than one idea about an event or phenomenon.

Students might know a range of meanings for the term ‘material’ (such as fabric or written information) and for the term ‘property’ (such as land, real estate or possessions). This is addressed directly in the sequence by providing opportunities for students to identify all of the potential definitions of these terms, and determining which definitions are suitable for this scientific context.

In this sequence the term ‘material’ refers to what an object is made of, and ‘properties’ are qualities or attributes. Many students might be unaware that the properties of a material determine how useful it is for particular purposes. For instance, students might accept that rubber is commonly used in the soles of shoes without considering the properties which make them suitable for wear including flexibility and durability.

This sequence addresses this idea by highlighting the properties of common materials and making connections between these properties and the manner in which the material is used.

Pedagogical tools

The Frayer Model technique

What is the Frayer Model and how/why should you use it?

Research identifies the importance of explicitly teaching new vocabulary and its meaning, creating opportunities for repeated engagement and use over time (Nunes, et al. 2017). In this case, the term ‘material’ is likely not new to students, but the focus on its scientific definition in this sequence may be.

By using the Frayer Model technique, students have an opportunity to consider all the ways in which they are familiar with and commonly use the term ‘material’, before focusing on the specific scientific definition required by the topic.

The Frayer Model may support students to:

develop understanding of key scientific concepts and vocabulary.
retrieve prior knowledge to make connections among concepts.
make connections to everyday life.
build a word wall for quick reference of word meanings.

Below is an outline of how to undertake the Frayer Model technique.

1. Identify science-specific vocabulary

Pre-select key vocabulary you would like students to explore. Each student requires their own copy of the Frayer Model template for each word they are defining.

2. Model the process

Explain each section of the template—definition, illustrations, examples and connections. Consider modelling how to complete each section with a different term, particularly if student have never used the technique before.

The technique is accessible for all students as it allows them to focus on the section in which they feel most comfortable.

3. Work independently, then in teams

Each student should work independently in the first instance to support retrieval practice, before sharing and comparing their ideas in groups. Ideas and definitions are then shared as a class.

4. Begin/add to the word wall

Acknowledge all potential definitions and usages of a term before identifying the science-specific definition. Include the scientific definition on the class word wall or glossary.

References

Nunes, T., Bryant, P., Strand, S., Hillier, J., Barros, R. and Miller-Friedmann, J. (2017) ‘Review of SES and Science Learning in Formal Educational Settings’, London: Education Endowment Foundation and Royal Society: <https://royalsociety.org/~/media/policy/topics/education-skills/ education-research/evidence-review-eef-royalsociety-22-09-2017. pdf?la=en-GB>

Henrichs, L. F. and Leseman, P. P. M. (2014) ‘Early Science Instruction and Academic Language Development Can Go Hand in Hand: The Promising Effects of a Low-Intensity Teacher-Focused Intervention’, International Journal of Science Education, 36 (17), pp. 2978–995;

EEF (2021) Teaching and Learning Toolkit: Oral Language Interventions, London: Education Endowment Foundation.

Why is it packaged like that?

Using the Same food, different packaging Resource sheet, separately examine each of the images that show a food item in different ways—in this example, pasta is shown in uncooked form, cooked and served hot, and cooked and served cold.
First, identify the different states of the food item, and what is different about them. Note what the foods are packaged in and ask students to share their ideas about why they are packaged in this way. Ask students to consider what might happen if we switched the ‘packaging’ around, for example, we put the cooked, hot spaghetti bolognaise in a thin, clear plastic bag.

After examining all three images, discuss what could happen if you swapped the packaging for something else.

What would happen if I put the uncooked pasta into a paper bag to store it? Why do you think that?
What about the cooked spaghetti that you eat hot? Could you store that in a paper bag? Why/why not?
Why do you think the hot spaghetti has been stored in a foil tray?
What about pasta salad? What material would be best to store that in?

Refer back to the lunchbox ‘unpacking’. Consider how foods were stored in lunchboxes, why they were stored this way, and what other suitable and unsuitable ways they could be packaged/stored. Record students’ ideas on a mind map.

Optional: Discuss different materials/methods to serve and store food at home.

Optional: Explore the methods used by First Nations peoples to ‘package’ food for storage and transportation. Discuss the materials used, why they would have been used, and the differences in how we package things today. For example, look at this wallaby skin water carrier, and this dilly bag.

Estimated time

15 minutes

Lesson type

Class

Science content

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures

How can you explore the different ways First Nations peoples selected and used materials?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples sustainably utilised natural resources from the land to make tools, weapons, food, shelter, and clothing.

With over 500 distinct Nations, the materials selected and used would have varied depending upon the specific geographical location. Each Nation had a deep knowledge of the physical properties of wood, bark, plants, stone, animal skins, shells, etc. that were available to them.

Materials were selected based on their characteristics such as strength, flexibility, and durability, and are often processed to enhance these properties for specific uses, such as steam bending wood for tool-making or shelter construction.

Examples include different types of wood being chosen to make fishing spears or hunting tools. Flexible, buoyant woods are chosen for fishing while denser woods are used for hunting larger game. Plant fibres are used to make string, clothing, and nets, with some fibres being processed through steaming or twisting to increase strength. Rock materials are also carefully selected for tools, such as grindstones and spearheads, using knowledge of the rock’s absorbency, sharpness, and density.

The way that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples used the resources available illustrates a sophisticated understanding of material science and continues to influence their cultural practices today.

This is an opportunity to deepen your school's connections with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Listen and learn on Country about the way local materials are used. Alternatively, consider how you might connect with resources that enable you to explore the First Nations History and Culture of your local area.

Applying to design

Explain that, during this sequence, students will examine the different ways food is packaged and stored, and conduct investigations to determine why certain materials are used and not others.

At the end of the sequence, students will design their own food packaging solution so that all different types of food—wet, dry, cold, and hot—can be transported and stored for a specific purpose. You should select a purpose relevant to your students and context. For example: transporting and storing student lunches, food for a school event such as a fete or cultural day, sports carnival, or a picnic.

Optional: Examine a selection of students’ or other lunchboxes/food storage containers, and list what students think about the way they are designed and what they are made from.

Jointly construct a list of foods (of all cultures) that all students might bring to school. Encourage students to suggest some criteria/properties their containers will need to transport the different types of food, for example, washable, sustainable, light, easy to carry, waterproof, etc.

Estimated time

5 minutes

Lesson type

Class

What do we want to know?

Use the Question Formulation Technique to brainstorm questions students have about packaging materials, the design task etc.

Reflect on the lesson

You might:

begin a class word wall or glossary with relevant terms.
begin a class TWLH chart.

Estimated time

15 minutes

Lesson type

Class and individual

Next lesson

Our design decisions

Select a lens below to see the design decisions behind each step. Understanding our decisions can give you insight to teach, adapt, and differentiate this task.

Science content

Pedagogical tools

Illustrations of practice

Share this page

Image	Attribution
Lunch and lunchboxes	Stock photo ID: 1340287970
Bolts of fabric	Bernard Spragg, in the Public Domain, via Flickr
New Malma packaging 1	Designpasta, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pesto Pasta Salad	Whitney, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
Spaghetti baked	Sebastian Mary, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, via Flickr
Modern Fish and Chips	LearningLark, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
Fish and Chips at Chip In Fish-n-Chips, Sai Kung, HK,	N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fish-and-chips-in-a-paper-bag	russellstreet, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr
Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips at Miami Subs, Hollywood, Florida	Phillip Pessar, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
A young girl wondering	alex, CC0, via OpenClipart
Boy, Cartoon, Fashion	OpenClipart-Vectors, via Pixabay
Vannis	Henningklevjer~commonswiki, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikemedia Commons
Hydration bottles	Rubbermaid products, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
EasyLunchbox piggie lunch for Kindergarten	Melissa, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
Goldfish in a bag	Stock photo ID:153738009

Sub-strand	Content descriptor	AC code	Achievement standard	How the sequence addresses this content
SHE: Nature and development of science	Examine how people use data to develop scientific explanations.	AC9S4H01	Explain the role of data in science inquiry.	Use data about materials to develop scientific explanations about thermal insulators. (Lesson 4)
SHE: Use and influence of science	Consider how people use scientific explanations to meet a need or solve a problem.	AC9S4H02	Identify solutions based on scientific explanations and describe the needs these meet.	Explore how knowledge of the properties of materials has influenced people to change how they design, make, use and dispose of packaging products (Lessons 2-7)
SU: Chemical Sciences	Examine the properties of natural and made materials including fibres, metals, glass and plastics and consider how these properties influence their use.	AC9S4U04	Relate the uses of materials to their properties.	Investigate a variety of natural and man-made materials, identifying their properties and subsequent use. (Lessons 1-7)
SI: Questioning and predicting	Pose questions to explore observed patterns and relationships and make predictions based on observations.	AC9S4101	Pose questions to identify patterns and relationships and make predictions based on observations.	Construct investigation questions to test the properties of different materials. (Lessons 3-6)
SI: Planning and conducting	Use provided scaffolds to plan and conduct investigations to answer questions or test predictions, including identifying the elements of fair tests, and considering the safe use of materials and equipment.	AC9S4I02	Plan investigations using planning scaffolds, identify key elements of fair tests and describe how they conduct investigations safely.	Use an investigation scaffold to design a fair test to identify the properties of different materials. (Lessons 3-6)
SI: Planning and Conducting	Follow procedures to make and record observations, including making formal measurements using familiar scaled instruments and using digital tools as appropriate.	AC9S4I03	Use simple procedures to make accurate formal measurements.	Use appropriate equipment to make and record observations, such as digital cameras, video, voice recorders and familiar scaled instruments with appropriate increments. (Lessons 3-6) Construct tables or graphic organisers to record observations. (Lessons 3-6)
SI: Processing, modelling and analysing	Construct and use representations, including tables, simple column graphs and visual or physical models, to organise data and information, show simple relationships and identify patterns.	AC9S4I04	Construct representations to organise data and information and identify patterns and relationships.	Construct column graphs to compare the types of materials used for lunch snacks, identifying patterns in why different materials are being used. Organise data from an investigation to identify the best material for a particular use. (Lessons 3-6)
SI: Evaluating	Compare findings with those of others, consider if investigations were fair, identify questions for further investigation and draw conclusions.	AC9S4I05	Compare their findings with those of others, assess the fairness of their investigation, identify further questions for investigation and draw conclusions.	Compare designed solutions of fish and chip packaging to determine fitness for purpose of selected materials. (Lesson 2) Compare findings from tensile strength investigations with peers from different groups. (Lesson 3) Identify unexpected findings and posing questions for further investigation. (Lesson 6) Drawing conclusions that reflect their data and information. (Lessons 3-6) Engage in self and peer-assessment, comparing their food packaging solution to determined design criteria. (Lesson 7)
SI: Communicating	Write and create texts to communicate findings and ideas for identified purposes and audiences, using scientific vocabulary and digital tools as appropriate.	AC9S4I06	Communicate ideas and findings for an identified audience and purpose, including using scientific vocabulary when appropriate.	Design a prototype and use scientific vocabulary to explain which materials are best suited to be used for making packaging various types of food. (Lesson 7) Creating persuasive presentations to share why their food packaging solutions should be produced. (Lesson 7)

Invention	The space problem it solved	Adaption for use on Earth
Scratch resistant lenses	To prevent the Moon dust from scratching the astronaut's visors	To prevent scratching on glasses and sunglasses
Infrared ear thermometers	To measure the temperature of the surface of the Sun and planets	To measure the temperature of sick people without touching them
Cordless tools/drill	Drill into Moon rock to collect samples	To build things when there is no electricity
Memory foam	Safer seats for astronauts during lift-off and return	Pillows and mattresses
Water filters	Clean/recycling water for astronauts	Clean/recycled water on Earth.

External evaluation survey

Lesson 6 • Can we make an environmentally friendly plastic?

Packaging pioneers

Key learning goals

Assessment advice

List of materials

Whole class

Each group

Each student

Lesson

Re-orient

Talking about plastic

Bioplastic fantastic

Investigation Part 1

Investigation Part 2

Is bioplastic useful?

Potential discussion prompts

Reflect on the lesson

Our design decisions

For you

Materials

Lesson 5 • Combining materials

Packaging pioneers

Key learning goals

Assessment advice

List of materials

Whole class

Each group

Each student

Lesson

Re-orient

Combined materials

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures

How can we change the properties of fabric?

What happened?

Potential discussion prompts

Potential discussion prompts

Reflect on the lesson

Our design decisions

For you

Materials

Lesson 4 • Keep it cool

Packaging pioneers

Key learning goals

Assessment advice

List of materials

Whole class

Each group

Each student

Lesson

Re-orient

Still frozen?

Think, pair, share

Sun or shade?

Which melted faster?

Potential discussion prompts

Can we stop the melting?

Using a variables grid to plan a fair test investigation

Which material is best?

Potential discussion prompts

Reflect on the lesson

Heat transfer

Our design decisions

For you

Materials

Lesson 3 • Full steam ahead

Packaging pioneers

Key learning goals

Assessment advice

List of materials

Whole class

Each group

Each student

Lesson

Re-orient

Hot food packaging

Potential discussion prompts

Teacher reference—fish and chips packaging

Potential discussion prompts

Adapting to your context