KS2 Science textbook

Chapter 1: Working scientifically revisited

Strand Working scientifically
Level Year 4
Practice 83 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 science, Year 4. Content: WS (shared with Year 3): ask relevant questions and use different types of scientific enquiries to answer them, WS: set up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests, WS: make systematic and careful observations, and take accurate measurements using standard units, WS: gather, record, classify and present data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions, WS: report and present findings, and use results to draw simple conclusions, WS: identify differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes.

Open Year 4 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

Ask a question that can be answered by a test, and make a prediction with a reason
Plan a fair test: change one thing, measure the result, and keep everything else the same
Read a measuring cylinder in millilitres and a thermometer in degrees Celsius carefully
Record results in a table, and present them in a bar chart with a title and a scale
Work out an average, and say what a conclusion should be based on
Say how a test could be made more reliable

You should already know

Fair tests, and changing only one thing at a time (Year 3 Science, Chapter 1)
Using a ruler, a thermometer and a bar chart in Year 3 (Year 3 Science, Chapters 1 and 9)

Where this leads

Living things, and how they are grouped (Year 4 Science, Chapter 2)
Every practical in Year 4 uses these skills: keys, circuits, melting and evaporation

Lessons in this chapter

Read the whole chapter on one page (good for printing).