TDA Explination

• Science
• Lower Secondary (Key Stage 3)

Unlocking the Secrets of Scientific Experiments

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson you will understand the key components of a successful scientific experiment and be able to apply them to a teacher's devised assessment. 

What do you already know about conducting scientific experiments?

What am I trying to find out?

This section focuses on defining the purpose or aim of the experiment. It is looking at factors such as  reaction time, age, quantity and concentration of chemicals. 

It is an aim, question or title, this might be given to you. 

Prediction

Students learn about making an educated guess or hypothesis about the experiment's outcome.

It is also important that you explain why you think this might happen. 

Method

Here we outline the step-by-step procedure for conducting the experiment.

It could be as a flow chart, bullet points even a paragraph. 

Equipment

This section highlights the necessary tools and materials required for the experiment.

use the tick sheet to identify what you have used or what you will be using. 

Fair Test

Explains the concept of a fair test and how to control variables in an experiment.

in this section we will be talking about variables. 

Independent variable: what you change 

Dependant variable: what are you measuring.

Control variables: The things you will keep constant, will not change. 

How I work safely

Focuses on the importance of safety measures and protocols during scientific experiments.

What are the risks and how will they be managed? 

Results 

This will be shown in a table format followed by a graph, either a line or bar chart. 

Table of results

Bar graph. 

Conclusion

The process of drawing conclusions from the experiment's findings and observations.

Explain your results in terms of trends in the data and with scientific ideas and vocabulary.  

What could be done better?

This section encourages self-reflection and critical evaluation of the experiment, focusing on areas for improvement.

discuss your strengths, weaknesses, and how we could improve the methods. 

Can you name me three sections in the Teacher devised assessments?

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.