Working Scientifically Assessment Task
Year 5 Properties and changes of materials - Dissolving skittles
Key Words
Tell the children you want to find out more about
this and in particular what affects the speed it
dissolves. Ask the children to think of variables
they could investigate. (Three possibilities:
temperature of water, colour of skittle, or
changing the water by dissolving sugar in it
before.)
Skittles; petri
dishes or other
clear plastic dishes,
tubs or plates,
stopwatches,
cameras, sugar
and teaspoons
This is a great
experiment for
close observation
and watching the
interaction between
the solvent (the
water) and the
solute (the sugar
and colour which
dissolve).
Planning:
•uses their scientific experiences to explore ideas and
raise different types of questions
•selects and plans different types of scientific
enquiries to answer questions
•makes decisions about what observations to make, what
measurements to use, how long to make them for and
whether to repeat them
•recognises when and how to set up comparative and fair
tests
• recognises and controls variables where necessary
Obtaining and presenting evidence:
•records and presents findings using scientific
diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables,
scatter graphs, bar and line graphs
•reports on findings from enquiries, using relevant
scientific language and conventions, in oral and
written explanations such as displays and other
presentations
Considering and evaluating evidence:
•draws valid conclusions, explains and interprets the
results (including degree of trust) using scientific
knowledge and understanding (e.g. recognises
limitations of data)
•uses relevant scientific language and illustrations to
discuss, communicate and justify their scientific ideas
•makes practical suggestions about how their working
method could be improved (e.g. sample size or reliability)
•use results to identify when further tests and
observations might be needed
•uses test results to make predictions and set up
further comparative fair tests
Ask the children how we can design a fair test
and emphasise we can only change one variable
and control the rest. Ask the children to plan their
investigation and think about how they will record
their observations.
m
Herts for Learning
Resources and
Notes
LA – The easiest
investigation would
be to change the
colour of the skittle
and use photographs
to record how they
are dissolving at
different times (e.g.
after 2 minutes, 4
minutes etc.)
MA –Support children
in designing their
investigation and
thinking about
recording.
Children carry out the investigations and then
explain their findings to the class.
Key Questions
HA- The most
challenging
investigation would
be to change the
water. Children could
use: water with no
sugar dissolved,
water with 1
teaspoons of sugar
dissolved and water
with 2 teaspoons
dissolved and then
use the different
types of water to
see how this affects
the dissolving of the
skittle.
Sa
Dissolving
Speed
Temperature
Working Scientifically Assessment Criteria
pl
Have children place a skittle in the centre of a
clear plastic dish or plate and predict what will
To plan an
investigation of the happen when they pour some water on top. Allow
dissolving of colour the children to pour the water on and observe
what happens.
from a skittle
Differentiation
•What do you think will happen when we add
water?
• Why do you think that?
•Do you think things dissolve at the same
speed?
•What could you change to see if it dissolves
quicker or slower?
• How can you make it a fair test?
• What do you need to control?
• How will you record your observations?
• What have you learnt about dissolving?
© Herts for Learning Ltd - 2015
Herts for Learning
Activity
e
Learning
Objective: