Good Science Victorian Curriculum Year 7

INVESTIGATIONS
Investigation 2.1
Observing and classifying
KEY SKILL
WRITING A RESEARCH QUESTION
Turn the aim of this investigation into a question that
asks what you are trying to discover. This is called a
research question.
Hint #1: Make sure that your research question has a
question mark at the end.
Hint #2: Your research question can also be used as a title
for an experiment report.
AIM
To investigate different ways of classifying living things
MATERIALS
• notebook
• camera
• paper
120 min
QUESTIONS
1 What features did you use to sort the organisms?
2 Were there any organisms that could have fitted
into two or more groups? If so, how could you have
changed the groups so that each organism only fitted
into one group?
3 Compare your sorting groups to those of other
students. How did they sort the organisms
differently?
4 Why do you think it’s important to be able to classify
things into groups?
CONCLUSION
Copy and complete:
‘The results show that: (respond to the aim)’.
Level 1
METHOD
1 Visit an area near your school or home where there
are animals and plants. This could be a natural space,
such as a beach or area of bushland, or a built space,
such as a park.
2 Record at least 10 different plants that you find
in the area. Photograph each one if possible.
3 Record at least 10 different animals that you find
in the area. Photograph each one if possible. If the
animals belong to other people, such as pets being
walked, ask permission before taking the photo.
4 In class, print out each of your photos and label it
with the name of the organism. Alternatively, write
the name of each animal or plant you recorded on an
individual slip of paper.
5 Sort all of the organisms you found into 3–5 different
groups. The organisms in each group should have
similar features.
142 GOOD SCIENCE VICTORIAN CURRICULUM 7