Preview · the opening missionRead this to the class:
Leo gave his bean plant plant food. After three weeks it was 30 cm tall, and his sister's was only 12 cm. "Plant food works!" he said. His sister wasn't convinced. "Your pot was on the sunny windowsill. Mine was on the bookshelf. And you watered yours every day." Nobody can tell whether Leo is right. Your team's job: be fair-test inspectors. Find what makes eight tests unfair, fix them, and then plan a test nobody could argue with.
Teams of three, with rotating jobs: Reader, Inspector (points to the problem), Recorder.
Look inside the PDF
Sample pages, stamped “preview”. The download is the clean, full lesson.
In the full lesson PDF
8 printable pages
- Predict (5–10 min)
- Hunt (20 min)
- Reveal (10–15 min)
- Act (10 min)
- Background for the teacher
- Assessment
- Student sheet
- Worksheet: Label it
- Worksheet: Try it at home
On the student sheet
- My prediction
- Case cards (stations, or one set per team, cut apart)
- Our inspection
- Fair-test planner
- Exit ticket
- Label it
- Try it at home
US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white. The student sheet is on its own page, ready to photocopy.
Free with an account (any 3 lessons), or US$19 for all 4 lessons in this unit.
What students show by the end
- Finds unfair tests
- Names the variables
- Plans a fair test
From the lesson’s rubric, which scores each one as not yet, getting there or got it.
Questions teachers ask
How long does “What is a fair test?” take?
45–60 min. Group size: teams of 3.
How much prep does it need?
10 minutes. Print the Case cards. Either tape one set around the room as eight stations (two sets for a class of more than 24), or give each team a set, cut apart. Print one Fair-test planner per student.
What materials do I need?
None. No materials needed: just the printed sheets.
Which curriculum standards does it cover?
NGSS (US): 3-5-ETS1-3 (partly). It also matches NGSS Science and Engineering Practices, Grades 3–5; England National Curriculum, Working scientifically, Years 3 and 4; England National Curriculum, Working scientifically, Years 5 and 6 and Cambridge Primary Science (not endorsed by Cambridge).
What’s in the lesson PDF?
A teacher guide that walks you through predict, hunt, reveal, act, background for the teacher and assessment, then a student sheet (“My prediction”; “Case cards (stations, or one set per team, cut apart)”; “Our inspection”; “Fair-test planner”; “Exit ticket”; “Label it” and “Try it at home”) on its own page, ready to photocopy. It’s US Letter and prints cleanly in black and white.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. A free account includes any 3 full lessons of your choice, and this can be one of them. After that, this unit is US$19 for all 4 lessons, yours to keep, or every lesson is US$199 a year.