Upper Shirley High School

During key stage 3 students are required to develop their scientific ability in two key areas:

Explaining skills:

To be able to use a model or analogy to explain a scientific concept
To recognise that scientists from different backgrounds work together to produce explanations but science can not explain everything
To be able to use scientific evidence to prove or disprove a theory
To be able to explain the benefits and drawbacks of scientific discoveries and how decisions are influenced by society
To be able to use key scientific words in your descriptions and direct those descriptions to different audiences.

Investigation skills:

To be able to answer a scientific question using limited information, observations and measurements
To be able to decide on a range of variables and controls when designing an investigation
To recognise the health and safety procedures during practical investigations
To be able to record data and present results using tables and charts
To be able to describe patterns and trends and link these to a prediction
To be able to suggest and explain ways in which an investigation can be improved
To be able to explain different conclusions from different sets of data