Resources by Best Evidence Science Teaching

The water cycle (age 7 to 9)

A big idea in chemistry is the idea of how substances behave and change, including how we can explain changes in the air, land and ocean. It is important for children to learn about how water moves through the environment, connecting sources of water on land including oceans, rivers, lakes and puddles with water in...

Thermal Conduction

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Describe the speed at which the temperature increases along a thermal conductor compared to a thermal insulator

• Identify materials that are good thermal conductors or...

Thermal Store of Energy

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Identify which of two objects or substances has the most energy in its thermal store when the only difference between them is temperature

• Identify which of two objects...

Transfer of energy by conduction

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Describe how the sensation of hotness is caused by vibrating particles.
• Describe the mechanism of thermal conduction that can occur in all solids.
• Explain why metals are...

Transmitting electricity

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Describe the heating effect of current on a conducting wire.
• Predict changes to current through transmission lines using P = I x V. 
• Calculate power dissipated by a wire...

Trends in Physical Properties

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Distinguish a physical from a chemical property
• Use the location of metals and non-metals in the Periodic Table to predict the properties of an element.
• Describe the trend...

Trophic levels and biomass transfer

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Recall that consumers depend upon biomass that is transferred along food chains.
• Describe the different trophic levels in a food chain or web.
• Use diagrams that represent...

Turning effects

These diagnostic questions and response activities (contained in the zip file) support students in being able to:

• Recall that a bigger applied force and/or a longer lever gives a larger turning effect.
• Identify levers and their pivots, and describe what they do.
• Predict the relative...