Teaching notes
Read before the lesson. Everything here is hidden from students when teacher mode is off.
The one thing to protect
Do not pre-teach reversible and irreversible. They are introduced at the end of the station circuit, as names for categories the class has already built. Introduce them first and the whole lesson collapses into a labelling exercise where students look for the word rather than the evidence.
The two moments that matter
1 · When students name what they looked at
In the Criteria phase, the shift you want is from what happened to how I could tell. A student saying "it went brown" is describing. A student saying "it went brown and it won't go back, so something new is there" is reasoning. Write the class list in their words, not yours — it becomes the reference point for the whole unit and they need to own it.
2 · When someone argues with a classification
The candle station is deliberately ambiguous — the wax melts reversibly while the wick burns irreversibly. If nobody spots it, point at it. A genuine disagreement about a station is worth more than six correct sorts, because it forces the class to ask what evidence would settle it. That question is the whole unit in miniature.
Reading the diagnostic
The card sort is not marked. Photograph each pair's sort and look for three things:
- Dissolving in the "gone for good" pile. Expect this from most of the class. It is corrected by measurement in Lesson 2, not by being told.
- Sorting by appearance. Students who put "banana going brown" and "ice melting" in the same pile because both are visible changes are not yet reasoning from recoverability. Target these students in Lesson 2.
- Melting and dissolving used interchangeably. Very common. Chart the difference explicitly in the Criteria phase if it appears.
Before the bell
- Safety glasses on every student for the station circuit and the setup — no exceptions.
- Set the steel wool in vinegar going first, before the hook, so it has rusted visibly by the time the last group reaches it.
- Bread is entirely pre-prepared — three slices on a plate, untoasted, golden, blackened. No appliance at that station.
- The candle is the only flame in the room and it is teacher-run. Water and a fire blanket within reach.
- Photograph of the client's rusting asset loaded and ready.
Misconceptions to expect
| Misconception | How it shows today | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Dissolving destroys the substance | Salt card in the "gone for good" pile; station B recorded as "it disappeared" | Don't correct it now. Note who. Lesson 2 settles it with scales and Lesson 3 by getting it back. |
| Colour change means irreversible | A confident single-criterion rule applied to everything | Ask about food colouring in water. Changes colour, evaporates back. One piece of evidence is never enough. |
| Melting and dissolving are the same | Used interchangeably in station records | Chart it: melting needs heat and involves one substance; dissolving needs a second substance and usually no heat. |
| Bubbles always mean a new substance | Boiling water classified as irreversible | Boiling makes bubbles of the same stuff. Fizzing makes bubbles of something that was not there before. The test is whether it comes back. |
| Irreversible means bad | Surfaces during the cross discussion | Leave it open today. It is the question Week 5 answers. |
What comes next
Lesson 2 is the conceptual pivot — mass conservation with the scales, and the sealed bag. Carry forward the class criteria list (keep it on display all term) and the names of students whose card sort showed the dissolving misconception.
Overview
Students work out for themselves how to tell whether a change has made something new — then set up the investigation that runs for the next four weeks.
What we are doing today
There is a big rusty cross at the front of our school. Nobody has ever tried to clean it or stop it. Somebody chose for it to look like that.
Somewhere else at school there is something rusting that nobody wanted to rust, and [CLIENT NAME] would like it to stop. In seven weeks you are going to write and tell them what to do about it.
Today you start working out the difference between the two. First you sort twelve everyday changes into two piles: ones you could undo, and ones you could not. Then you go round six benches and watch six changes happen in front of you, and you write down what you actually see, hear and smell.
At the end you build the jars of nails that sit on the shelf for the next five weeks. Get them right today, because you do not get to start again.
Shape of the lesson
| Phase | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | 12 min | Walk to the cross. It was made to rust. Someone chose that. |
| Card sort | 10 min | Twelve changes sorted in pairs. No teaching. This is the diagnostic. |
| Agree what counts as evidence | 18 min | Straight after the card sort, before the stations. Ask what they were looking at when they decided. Build one class list, in their words, on chart paper. It stays on the wall all term. |
| Station circuit | 28 min | Six benches, six changes, roughly four and a half minutes each. |
| Set up the investigation | 17 min | Rust jars built, nails weighed, labelled, sealed. |
| Review | 5 min | Exit ticket. |
If you are teaching this cold
The whole lesson in order. Each step has its own tab above with the detail.
| Step | You do | Students do |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hook 12 min, outside |
Walk them to the rusted cross at the entrance. Ask the four questions on the Hook tab. Do not answer the last one — it gets answered in Week 5. Back inside, show the photograph of the client’s rusting item and name the client. | Look, answer, argue. Nothing written. |
| 2. Card sort 10 min, in pairs |
Say nothing. No hints, no vocabulary, no correcting — this is a diagnostic and steering it destroys the data. Walk around and photograph, or collect the locked-in screens. | Sort twelve everyday changes into “could get it back” and “gone for good”, on screen or with the printed cards. Unsure cards go in the middle. |
| 3. Agree what counts as evidence 18 min, whole class |
Ask: what were you actually looking at when you decided? Write their answers on chart paper in their words. Then press with the three questions on that tab. | Contribute, argue, land on the idea that one observation is a clue and several agreeing is evidence. |
| 4. Station circuit 28 min, six benches |
Safety glasses on. Run the candle bench yourself. Call the rotation every four and a half minutes. | Observe each change against the class list, then commit: could you get it back, and what decided it? |
| 5. Set up the investigation 17 min, in groups |
Hand out jars and labels. Check every lid before they go on the shelf. This part cannot be done next week. | Build and seal the rust jars, weigh the nails, label them, write the one sentence that would let another group repeat it. |
| 6. Review 5 min |
Collect the exit tickets. | Answer: which station was hardest to classify, and what would settle it? |
Everything you need
The full kit for this lesson, so you are not going back to the plan.
Prepare before the lesson
- Toast three slices of bread — untoasted, golden, blackened. Plate them.
- Photograph the client’s rusting item — the gate, handrail, goalposts or whatever you chose. Load it ready to show.
- Take a backup photo of the cross in case of rain.
- Set steel wool in vinegar going before the class arrives.
- Print the station sheets and rust labels. The card sort only needs printing if you would rather they used physical cards — it runs on screen on this page.
- Dispense vinegar, salt and bicarbonate into labelled bench containers.
- Check jars for chips. Set aside any that are cracked.
Whole class
- Safety glasses — one per student, worn from the station circuit onwards
- Board or chart paper for the criteria list (stays on display all term)
- Camera or tablet for photographing card sorts, if using the printed cards
- Paper towel and a spill kit at each bench
- Dustpan, brush and a broken-glass bin
- Water and a fire blanket near the candle
Station circuit — six benches
- Ice cubes, clear cups or dishes, small tray
- Salt, warm water, beaker, stirring rod
- Steel wool grade 0000, white vinegar, test tube and rack
- Bicarbonate of soda, white vinegar, beaker, tray
- Candle, non-combustible holder, heat-resistant mat, matches (teacher only)
- Three slices of bread — untoasted, toasted, burnt — on a plate
Rust investigation setup
- 18 jars per class (six conditions × three replicates), collected in matched sets of three — the sets do not need to match each other. Thursday needs one extra jar for G, and only Tuesday’s A and F need lids
- 65 mm bright steel nails — three per jar. Tuesday 54 (18 jars); Thursday 48 (15 jars, plus 3 for jar G — jar F uses galvanised instead). 102 all up.
- Galvanised nails — ten, Thursday class only (nine for jar F, one for jar G)
- Scales (1 g resolution is fine today)
- White vinegar, cooking salt, cooking oil, kettle for boiled water
- Thursday only: cooking oil, petroleum jelly, electrical tape, clear nail polish, three rubber bands for jar G
- Labels and permanent markers — the markers also mark the halfway line on each nail and the water level on each jar
- Shelf space out of walkways for five weeks
Printed sheets
- Card sort — 12 cards, one set per pair
- Card sort — 8-card version for the support tier
- Station observation sheet — one per student
- Station observation sheet, supported version
- Rust setup and label sheet — one per group
- Exit ticket slips
Not needed today
- The 0.01 g scales — only Week 5 needs that resolution
- Petri dishes — clear cups do the same job
- Evaporating basins, funnels — Lesson 3
- Frypan, thermometers — Lessons 3 and 4
What we are learning
Learning intention
We are learning to work out what evidence tells us that a new substance has been made.
I will be successful when I can…
- describe a change using more than one kind of observation
- sort changes by whether I think the original could be recovered
- explain which evidence I used to decide, not just what I decided
- set up an investigation so that someone else could repeat it exactly
Stretch
- I can explain why one piece of evidence is never enough on its own.
- I can argue that a change belongs in both groups, and justify it.
AC9S6I02 — plan and conduct repeatable investigations, including deciding the variables to be changed, measured and controlled; describing potential risks; planning for the safe use of equipment and materials.
Your goal for today
Before we start, write one thing you want to get better at in this lesson. Nothing here is saved or sent anywhere — it is for you.
Hook — Made to rust 12 min
Outside, at the entrance.
This cross has been here for years. It is covered in rust.
Nobody has ever tried to stop it. Somebody chose this.
Questions, in this order
- What do you notice about the surface?
- What do you think it looked like on the day it was installed?
- Could we get it back to that? How would we try?
- Why would anyone choose to let steel rust on purpose?
Then, inside
Show the photograph of the client’s rusting item — the one with rust nobody wants.
Same reaction. Completely different problem.
[CLIENT NAME] looks after this and would like it to stop. In seven weeks you are going to write to them and tell them what to do. Today you start finding out.
Card sort 10 min
In pairs. Two piles. No talking to other pairs.
Sort the cards below on screen, or use the printed set from the Resources tab — whichever suits the class. On screen, drag a card into a column, or tap a card and then tap a column. When your pair has finished, press Lock in our sort and screenshot it.
Could get it back — you could return it to what it was.
Gone for good — there is no way back.
Drag a card into a column — or tap a card, then tap a column.
Could get it back
Not sure yet
Gone for good
Our sort
Screenshot this and put it in your OneNote. We come back to it in Week 4.
- Use the eight-card set.
- Start with the three you are most sure about.
- All twelve cards.
- Be ready to say why for any card you are asked about.
- Find a card you could argue belongs in both piles.
- Be ready to defend it.
Agree what counts as evidence 18 min
You have all made decisions. Now we work out how you made them.
The question
You put those cards in piles. What were you actually looking at when you decided?
Take answers. Write them on the board in the words students use. Group them as they repeat.
What classes usually come up with
Expect most of these, in roughly this order:
- It changed colour
- It made bubbles or a gas
- It got hot or cold
- It smells different now
- There is something solid there that was not there before
- You cannot undo it — this one usually arrives last and is the most important
If "you cannot undo it" does not come up, ask: what is the difference between the ice and the toast? Somebody will get there.
Then press on it
- Which of these would convince you on its own?
- Food colouring in water changes colour. Is that gone for good?
- So how many of these do you need before you are sure?
Where this is going
The food colouring example breaks the single-criterion rule, and it needs breaking today. Colour change alone proves nothing — you can evaporate coloured water and get the colour back.
The landing point is not a number. It is: one observation is a clue, several agreeing is evidence, and "can we get it back" is the one that decides it.
Station circuit 28 min
Six benches. Roughly four and a half minutes each. Safety glasses on from here.
Ice cubes in a clear cup. Watch, then check again when you come past later.
Is the water that is left the same stuff as the ice?
Stir a spoon of salt into warm water until you cannot see it.
Where has the salt gone? Is it still in there?
This has been sitting since before you arrived. Look closely at the colour and the texture.
What has appeared that was not there this morning?
A spoon of bicarbonate into the vinegar. Watch it, and listen to it.
The bubbles are made of something. Where did it come from?
Watch from behind the line. Two different things are happening at once here.
Is this one change or two?
Three slices, already prepared: untoasted, golden, blackened. Look and smell, do not taste.
At which slice did it stop being bread?
- Use the tick-box sheet.
- Tick what you see, then write one reason at each bench.
- Full sheet. Write observations against every criterion that applies.
- Commit to a classification each time.
- Find a station that belongs in both categories and build the argument.
- Rank the six from most to least certain, and say what made the uncertain ones uncertain.
Naming them
Now, and only now:
Reversible — the change can be undone and you get the original substance back.
Irreversible — a new substance has been made, and you cannot get the original back.
Which of your two piles is which?
Set up the investigation 17 min
These jars sit on the shelf for the next five weeks. Get them right now — you do not get to start again.
[CLIENT NAME] needs to know how to stop the rusting. Between the two Year 6 classes we are going to find out. Neither class can answer it alone.
Aim
| Class | We are finding out… |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | what makes rust happen. Six jars, six different places to be a nail. |
| Thursday | what stops rust happening. Six jars, same water every time, six different things on the nail. |
Equipment — what your group collects
- 3 jars, all the same size as each other
- 9 nails — 3 for each jar
- Permanent marker and 3 labels
- Scales
- Whatever your condition needs — the tables below say
Prediction
Before you build anything, write one sentence: how much rust do you think your condition will make, compared to everyone else's? Most rust in the room, least, or somewhere in the middle? We read these out in Week 5.
Method
- Check your jars. Any chips or cracks, swap it.
- Mark each nail halfway along with the marker. That line is what "half covered" means — not the jar.
- Weigh 3 nails together. Write the number on the label. Do this for each jar.
- Put 3 nails in each jar.
- Set up your condition in all 3 jars, the same way every time. Half covered means water up to the marker line. Fully covered means at least 1 cm over the top of the nail.
- Draw a line on the outside of each jar where the water comes to. You top it back up to that line every week.
- Finish the label: group, condition, nail mass, jar size, today's date.
- Lid on or off? Only Tuesday A and F get a lid. Everything else stays open.
- Write one sentence that would let another group build your jars exactly, without asking you anything.
Three nails in each jar: one nail gains so little weight in five weeks that the scales can barely see it. Three nails give you three times as much to measure.
Conditions — Tuesday. What makes rust happen?
| Jar | Set-up |
|---|---|
| A | Dry, sealed |
| B | Half-submerged in tap water, open |
| C | Fully submerged in tap water, open |
| D | Fully submerged in salt water, open — 2 teaspoons per 250 mL |
| E | Fully submerged in white vinegar, open |
| F | Boiled and cooled water, sealed under 1 cm of cooking oil |
Conditions — Thursday. What stops rust happening? Every jar is half-submerged in tap water, lid off. The only difference is what is on the nail.
| Jar | Set-up |
|---|---|
| A | Bare nail — the control |
| B | Wiped all over with cooking oil |
| C | Petroleum jelly |
| D | Wrapped in electrical tape |
| E | Clear nail polish |
| F | Galvanised nail, untreated |
| G | Three bright steel nails banded tightly to one galvanised nail — the extra jar for group F |
The question to sit with: can a nail protect the nail it is touching?
Expect partial protection: the three nails clearly cleaner than jar A, but not spotless, and the galvanised nail visibly eaten. One small anode is doing a lot of work, and anode sizing is a genuine design decision — a result that says "it helped but not enough" is more useful here than a clean win.
Check the band at each weekly reading. If the nails separate, the protection stops the moment contact is lost, and that is worth telling the group rather than quietly fixing.
Jars go on the shelf. We look at them every week for the next four weeks — five minutes, no more.
Review 5 min
Three things to take away
- To tell whether something new has been made, you need more than one piece of evidence.
- The strongest question is: can we get it back?
- An irreversible change is not automatically a bad thing. Somebody wanted that cross to rust.
Exit ticket
Which station was hardest to classify, and what would settle it?
One sentence each. You are not being asked for the right answer — you are being asked what evidence you would want.
Sorting the exit tickets into piles
Ready to move on — names a station and proposes evidence that would actually settle it. "The candle, because I would need to know if the wax could be re-melted."
Watch in Lesson 2 — names a station but proposes no test, or proposes one that would not settle anything.
Target directly — says nothing was hard, or names a station for a reason unrelated to evidence. These students are not yet distinguishing observing from deciding.
Words we used today
Think back
You wrote a goal at the start. Did you get there? Nothing here is saved.
Next week
The scales come out. We find out whether anything actually disappears when it dissolves — and we weigh a gas.
Resources
Print before the lesson. Everything here also lives in the repository as a separate file.
PDF All student sheets Every sheet below in one file. Print the lot, or pick pages. 10 pages · 63 KBIndividual sheets
resources folder. If a download 404s, the file has not been committed yet — check the structure below.