S02 · Choose one question and a safe… | Year 2 Science · T1 W5–6 · S02

Optional Science start, 20–35 planning minutes; split or pause under the usual timetable. Select one route. Physical outcomes remain open.

Child invitation · Make a comparison plan

Choose your question. What will you change? What else needs to match? Choose a safe stop. You can plan an action comparison or compare named materials.

You may stop, watch, point, speak, sign, draw or direct a familiar adult. Choose the question, label, arrangement or way to show your finding.

Teacher purpose and setup

Make the learner's question testable and identify what to change and keep, with safety and material history visible.

Selected components: AC9S2I01, AC9S2I02, AC9S2I05, AC9S2U03; whole-year attainment is not claimed.

Two large cloth pieces cut from the same known cloth with matched starting dimensions, a third spare, a flat table and blank plan. Adult prepares pieces; no scissors in the learner task. Model the plan headings on an unrelated large card example, without deciding the learner's predicted outcome.

Sequence

Choose a question about one gentle half-turn twist compared with leaving the matching cloth flat. Record the prediction and experience behind it, then plan same cloth source, starting dimensions and table. Rehearse stop on request and no tying/wrapping. Start a trial only after the adult accepts the practical setup. Suggested 25–35 minutes or two shorter starts.

Route 1 · Own physical investigation

The learner chooses a question such as whether a half-turn makes the cloth's middle narrower in the table view. They place matched pieces, leave one untouched and gently turn one as agreed. They identify the action that differed and note whether their question can be answered by the available view. Their observed result may contradict the prediction; retain both.

Route 2 · Learner directs; adult operates

The learner arranges or points to the comparison plan and tells the adult which matched piece to turn and which to leave flat. The adult confirms the safe half-turn and table position without supplying a result. The learner records what they saw or an unavailable observation; distinguish child planning from the adult's physical procedure and any content prompt.

Route 3 · Provided source reasoning

Use the complete ordinary literal source for this route; reading its words or making the described large outlines is a full no-print alternative.

Provide an original fictional plan in which both action and starting size change. The learner identifies the two differences, then proposes a clearer plan using the same starting material and dimensions with only one action changed. Use movable labels or spoken headings as needed. A corrected paper plan demonstrates planning; it does not establish that a practical test was conducted safely. A fair question may change the action while matching material/source, size, relevant history and viewpoint. A different-material question is also valid: name the two materials as the intended difference, match relevant starting size, action, history and view, and keep each source known. Do not demand one material for every fair test; do not attribute a result to material when other relevant conditions also differ.

First noticing and next teaching

The plan gives a question, prediction with an experience/source, one intended difference (action or named material), two relevant kept conditions and a safe stop. A plan alone does not earn a completed-procedure observation.

If two factors vary, lay out the proposed pieces and mark each difference before testing. If the prediction has no source, invite a remembered observation and allow uncertain. If safety is missing, rehearse the stopping action before a physical trial.

Retain first evidence before scientific feedback. Unused rechecks are named only in the separate staff key, not ordinary practice. Record learner decision, actual operator, evidence/source and neutral versus scientific support.

Preparation and evidence guidance · Child choices · Ordinary paper alternatives