Communicating Findings

Overview

This lesson (17 of 20) continues developing students’ understanding of Earth science by focusing on how to communicate scientific findings clearly. Students will use tectonic-activity evidence from the unit to plan, draft, and refine a short communication for a specific audience.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• communicate scientific ideas using appropriate structure, language and visual features
• summarise evidence for plate tectonics and the formation of features at plate boundaries
• justify claims using cause-and-effect reasoning from collected or provided data
• practise revising their work to improve clarity, accuracy and audience fit

Success criteria

Students can:

• state a clear claim about tectonic processes and outcomes
• include relevant evidence (patterns in earthquakes/volcanoes, landforms, mapped features)
• explain scientific reasoning linking evidence to the claim
• present information in a suitable format with correct scientific terms and readable visuals

Curriculum links

• Science — AC9S8U03: investigate tectonic activity, including geological features at divergent, convergent and transform plate boundaries, and describe scientific evidence for plate tectonics
• Science — AC9S8I08: write and create texts to communicate ideas, findings and arguments for specific purposes and audiences, selecting appropriate language and text features using digital tools as appropriate
• Science — AC9S8U03 elaborations used in task design: constructing explanations from evidence (patterns over time) and modelling interactions at plate boundaries

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–3 min · Retrieval hook. Teacher displays a prompt: “What evidence supports plate tectonics?” and asks for one sentence from students about earthquake/volcano patterns or landforms they remember. Students write a quick single-sentence response in their notebook.

2. 3–8 min · Model a strong communication. Teacher shows an anonymised example (1 minute read) of a short “scientific findings” paragraph with claim, evidence and explanation, plus a simple label diagram (e.g., convergent boundary features). Teacher points out: scientific terms, linking words, and one visual supporting the message. Students highlight the claim (underline), evidence (circle) and reasoning (box) using three colours.

3. 8–15 min · Plan for an audience. Teacher introduces today’s task: create a 1-minute spoken script OR a 6–8 sentence written report (student choice) communicating one finding about tectonic activity and plate boundaries to a specific audience card (e.g., “Year 7 students”, “community safety team”, “school science newsletter”). Teacher gives a planning template:

• Claim (what you found)
• Evidence (what you noticed)
• Explanation (why it makes sense)
• One visual or labelled diagram idea Students complete the plan using the template, selecting divergent/convergent/transform and one piece of supporting evidence.

4. 15–23 min · Draft (with structure). Teacher circulates and checks for three elements: claim, evidence, reasoning. Mini-lessons as needed: how to use precise terms (e.g., “subduction”, “ridge”, “transform fault”) and how to link evidence to the claim with because/therefore statements. Students draft their script or report, adding a simple diagram with labels (hand-drawn or digital).

5. 23–27 min · Improve with feedback. Teacher provides a checklist on the board:

• Clear claim stated early
• Evidence includes a pattern or observation
• Reasoning explains cause-and-effect
• Audience-appropriate tone
• Visual is readable and labelled Students self-check and then make two improvements (one content improvement, one presentation improvement).

6. 27–30 min · Share + exit ticket. Teacher asks for a brief “live share” (10–20 seconds) or collects the draft for quick review if time is tight. Teacher then gives an exit ticket question: “What changed after feedback and how did it improve clarity?” Students answer the exit ticket and submit/share.

Resources

• Student notebook and pen/pencil
• Audience cards (written prompts)
• Planning template (claim–evidence–explanation–visual)
• Checklist for revision (teacher display)
• Simple boundary diagram handout (divergent/convergent/transform) or blank page for diagram
• Timer for drafting and sharing
• Optional digital tool: tablet/laptop with a notes app or slide creator

Assessment

• Teacher observation during planning and drafting: whether students include claim, evidence and scientific reasoning
• Quick checklist review of the draft for clarity, correct terminology and audience fit
• Exit ticket to gauge how students use feedback to improve their communication

Differentiation

• Support:
• Provide sentence starters: “My claim is…”, “The evidence shows…”, “This happens because…”, “This means…”
• Offer a word bank with boundary terms and linking words (because/therefore/for example)
• Allow choice of response format (spoken script vs short report) to reduce barriers
• Extension:
• Challenge students to add one limitation or uncertainty statement (e.g., “Evidence may be incomplete because…”), while keeping focus on claim–evidence–reasoning
• EAL/SEN considerations:
• Keep the task short and scaffolded with a visible structure
• Permit diagram-first planning (label the diagram before writing) and provide extended time if needed
• For a class of 1 student:
• Provide frequent, targeted teacher feedback during drafting
• Use a rapid cycle: plan → micro-feedback → revise → share, using the checklist as the shared reference