Lesson 7 · Report and defence — Year 6 Chemical Sciences

Teaching notes

Read before the lesson. Hidden from students when teacher mode is off.

Where this sits The last lesson. Everything collected since Week 1 gets turned into one page that a real person will read and reply to. The defence is what makes the writing honest — students who know they will be asked "how do you know that?" write differently from students who only have to hand something in.

The thing that makes this lesson work

The client is real, and they reply. That single fact does more for the quality of the writing than any amount of scaffolding. If the reply has not been arranged, arrange it before this lesson — even three sentences back from the groundsman is enough. A recommendation nobody reads is just another worksheet.

Confirm before the lesson That [CLIENT NAME] is expecting the recommendations, knows roughly when they will arrive, and understands that a short written reply is all that is needed. Tell them the students have been at this for seven weeks and that a few specific sentences will land better than a long thank-you.

The two moments that matter

1 · When a group is asked how they know

The gap between "we think jelly works best" and "jelly kept three out of three jars at zero rust for thirty minutes, and the bare control was at three" is the entire Communicating criterion. The challenge questions exist to open that gap in public, where everyone can hear the difference.

2 · When a group names their own weakness first

Watch for it. A group that says "our coatings were not the same thickness, so this result is less certain than it looks" is doing the highest-level thing in the evaluation criterion — and doing it before being caught. Say so out loud when it happens; it teaches the room faster than any instruction.

Running the defence

Six groups, five minutes each. Three minutes to present, two for challenges. It is tight and it needs to be — the discipline is what keeps the room listening.
Challenge cards drawn at random. Groups cannot rehearse for a specific question, which is the point. Two cards per group.
The audience has a job. Every student writes down one thing they would challenge about another group's claim. It keeps them listening and it generates more evidence for the evaluation criterion.
Every group member answers at least one question. Nominate if the group defaults to one confident speaker.
Note against Communicating as you go. You are listening for whether the answer contains evidence or just conviction.

If a group's data was inconclusive Some groups will find that every jar rusted about the same, or nothing rusted at all. That is a legitimate result and it can score well. Steer them toward: what we found, why our test could not separate the options, what the class data suggests instead, and what we would change. A report that honestly says "our test did not work and here is why" demonstrates the evaluation criterion better than a confident recommendation built on nothing.

What you are collecting

Criterion	Where it comes from
Finding	The Lesson 6 observation grid, already done.
Analysing	The report's results section and its graph.
Interpreting and Evaluating	The confidence section, the named weaknesses, and the answers under challenge.
Communicating	The report as a whole, plus the defence.
H01 and H02	What the report says about using the other class's work, and the recommendation itself. No separate task.

The discriminator in the report A C-grade report states a recommendation. An A-grade report states a recommendation and how much to trust it — and the confidence is proportionate to the evidence, neither hedged into uselessness nor oversold. Look at the confidence paragraph first when you mark; it tells you more about the student's understanding than the results section does.

If the term has collapsed

If this lesson gets cut short or lost, CP1 and CP2 are already banked and give a defensible judgement on Science Understanding, Questioning and predicting, and Planning and conducting. The Lesson 6 grid covers Finding. What you would lose is Analysing, Interpreting and Evaluating, and Communicating — so if you only have half a lesson, run the writing and drop the defence. The report carries three criteria; the defence deepens one.

Afterwards

Send the recommendations to the client the same day if you can.
Share the reply with both classes when it arrives, whenever that is.
Nails, jars and steel wool disposed of as per the risk assessment — sharps in a rigid sealed container.
Complete the Evaluate band of the unit plan while the term is still fresh.

Overview

Seven weeks of work comes down to one page and three minutes.

What we are doing today

Today you write to [CLIENT NAME] and tell them what to do about the rust.

One page. What you tested, what happened, what you think they should do, and how sure you are. You have your own steel wool results, your nail data from the first five weeks, and the other class's results to use.

Then you present it to the class and they ask you hard questions, drawn at random. Everybody in your group answers at least one.

Your report gets sent. They will write back.

Shape of the lesson

Phase	Time	What happens
Final reading	10 min	Last look at the jars from Week 6. Rate, photograph, add to the table.
Write it	40 min	One page to the client. Written individually.
The defence	30 min	Three minutes each, then challenge questions drawn at random.
Send it	10 min	Reports collected and sent. Benches cleared.

If you are short of time Run the writing and drop the defence. The report carries Analysing, Interpreting and Evaluating, and Communicating. The defence deepens one of them. Do not sacrifice writing time to fit presentations in.

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. Final reading 10 min	Jars out from last week. The week-long reading matters more than the 30-minute one, because the client’s problem runs for years.	Rate, photograph, compare with their 30-minute reading.
2. Write it 40 min	Individual writing. Scaffold available for anyone who needs it. Remind them the client will actually read this and write back.	One page: what we tested, what we found, what it means, what we recommend, how sure we are, what we would do next.
3. The defence 30 min	Six groups, three minutes each, then two challenge cards drawn at random. Make sure every member answers at least one. Audience fills in the listening sheet.	Present, then answer the challenges with evidence rather than opinion.
4. Send it 10 min	Collect the reports and send them to the client. Share the reply with both classes when it comes.	Hand in reports and data sheets. Benches cleared.

Everything you need

Prepare before the lesson

Confirm the client is expecting the reports and will reply
Return every student's Lesson 6 data sheet
Have both classes' rust datasets displayed or printed
Print the report scaffolds and challenge cards
Cut the challenge cards and put them in something to draw from
Have the Week 5 graphs available
Photograph of the client's asset on the board

Per student

Their Lesson 6 investigation record, returned
Report scaffold — core or supported
Audience listening sheet for the defence
Their Week 5 graph

Whole class

Challenge question cards, cut and shuffled
Both classes' pooled rust data
The criteria chart from Lessons 1, 2 and 4
Timer visible for the three-minute presentations

Teacher

CP3 marking guide — from the Assessment Pack
Lesson 6 observation grids, already completed
Class list for noting the defence

Clearing up

Liquids down the sink with running water
Steel wool and nails into a rigid sealed container
Jars washed and returned, or discarded if chipped
Coverage scale and criteria chart kept for next year

Not needed today

Any equipment beyond the jars already set up
Scales, thermometers, heat sources
Safety glasses — no practical work today

What we are learning

Learning intention

We are learning to communicate findings for a particular purpose and audience.

I will be successful when I can…

write a recommendation the client can actually act on
support my recommendation with evidence I collected myself
say how confident I am, and why
answer a challenge question with evidence rather than opinion

Stretch

I can name the weakest part of my own method before somebody else does.
I can use the other class's data and say where I did not trust it.

Curriculum AC9S6I05 — compare methods and findings with those of others, recognise possible sources of error, pose questions for further investigation and select evidence to support reasoned conclusions.
AC9S6I06 — write and create texts to communicate ideas and findings for specific purposes and audiences, including selection of language features.
AC9S6H01 — examine why advances in science are often the result of collaboration.
AC9S6H02 — investigate how scientific knowledge is used by individuals and communities to identify problems, consider responses and make decisions.

Who you are writing to [CLIENT NAME] has a real problem with rusting metal at this school, and will read what you write and write back. Your recommendation could be wrong. That is why you have to say how sure you are.

Your goal for today

Final reading 10 min

One week on. Last look.

Collect your jars without moving or opening them.
Rate all three separately against the scale, one last time.
Photograph from the same angle you have used all along.
Add the readings to the bottom row of your table.

Compare with your 30-minute reading Has the order changed? A treatment that looked strong after half an hour may have given up over a week. That is worth knowing — and worth telling the client, because they care about months, not minutes.

Before you start writing

Which treatment is ahead after a week?
Is it the same one that was ahead at 30 minutes?
If it changed, which reading matters more for the client's problem?

Thinking about question 3

The client's gate has to survive years, not half an hour. A coating that works brilliantly at first and then fails is worse than one that starts slower and holds. If your two readings disagree, the week-long one is the better guide — and saying so shows you understand what the evidence is for.

Keep this to ten minutes Readings, photographs, back to the desk. The analysis belongs in the writing, and writing time is the thing that cannot be compressed.

Write it 40 min

One page. To a person who has to decide something.

You each write your own, but you share the group's data. Six sections, in this order.

The six sections

Section	What goes in it
What we tested	Your question and what you changed. Two sentences.
What we found	Your results as a table and a graph. Include the other class's data where it helps.
What it means	The pattern, in words. Not a list of numbers again.
What we recommend	One clear thing the client could do on Monday.
How confident we are	What could have gone wrong, in your method and the other class's.
What we would do next	One question your data cannot answer.

Write it for them, not for me The client is not a scientist and is not marking you. They need to know what to do and how much to trust it. Use scientific words where they earn their place and plain words everywhere else.

The section people get wrong

How confident we are. Two ways to lose marks here:

Hedging so hard the client cannot act — "it might work but we're not sure about anything". Or overselling — "this definitely stops rust forever". Neither is honest. What you want is: here is what we found, here is what would make it more certain, here is how much weight to put on it for now.

Using the other class's work

What did you take from their data?
Where did you not trust it, and why?

Say both Using someone else's results without saying where they came from is not honest. Using them without saying what you thought of them is not careful. Do both in a sentence each.

Circulate for the confidence paragraph That is where the marks separate and it is the section most students leave until they have run out of time. Prompt for it at the twenty-minute mark. A student with three sentences of confidence writing and a thin results section will score better than the reverse.

Need a hand

Use the scaffold with section headings and sentence starters.
Write the recommendation first, then work backwards.

Keep going

All six sections, your own graph, evidence from your own data.

Push me

Name the weakness in your own method before anyone asks.
Say what result would have changed your recommendation.

The defence 30 min

Three minutes to present. Then two questions you have not seen.

Three minutes: what you tested, what you found, what you recommend, how confident you are.

Then two challenge cards, drawn at random. Everyone in the group answers at least one.

The kind of question you will get

How do you know that?
The other class got a different result. Why?
What would change your mind?
What is the weakest part of your method?
Why should the client believe you rather than a website?
If you only had one of your three jars, would you still say the same thing?

A good answer contains evidence "We think jelly is best" is an opinion. "Jelly kept all three jars at zero after thirty minutes, and the bare control was at three" is an answer. If you do not know, say so and say what you would need to find out — that scores better than guessing.

While other groups present

Write down one thing you would challenge about another group's claim. You may get to ask it.

Why the cards are drawn at random Groups cannot prepare a rehearsed answer for a question they have not seen, so what comes out is what they actually understand. It also removes the sense that you are picking on anyone — the card did it.

Timing discipline Six groups at five minutes is exactly thirty. Use the timer and hold it. If a group overruns, the last group loses their turn, which is unfair and avoidable. Announce the format before the first group starts.

What to note You are listening for whether answers contain evidence or conviction. Note the moment a group names their own weakness unprompted — that is the top of the evaluation criterion and it is worth saying aloud when it happens.

Send it 10 min

Collecting

Reports in, with your name and your group on them.
Data sheets in as well — they are part of the evidence.
Jars emptied and cleared as directed.

What happens next Your recommendations go to [CLIENT NAME]. They will read them and write back. You will hear what they said — including if they disagree.

Seven weeks, looking back

What is the most surprising thing you found out in this unit?
What would you do differently if you started again?
Where else have you noticed a reversible or irreversible change since we started?

Where we got to

You started by sorting cards into two piles with nothing to go on but instinct.

You finished by weighing oxygen out of the air, arguing with another class about their method, and telling an adult what to do about a real problem — with a number to back it up.

The idea worth keeping An irreversible change is not automatically a bad thing. Cooking, setting concrete, curing glue, and a cross at a school entrance are all changes somebody chose. What matters is understanding them well enough to decide.

Before you close the unit Send the reports the same day if you can, and share the reply with both classes whenever it lands. Complete the Evaluate band of the unit plan while it is fresh — particularly whether the rust investigation survived the term, whether the mass gain registered, and whether the cross-class swap produced genuine critique or politeness.

Resources

Print before the lesson.

PDF All student sheets Report scaffolds, listening sheet and challenge cards in one file.

Student sheets

PDF Report scaffold Core version. Six sections with space for each, and a graph frame. PDF Report scaffold — supported Same six sections with sentence starters and a word bank. PDF Defence listening sheet One thing to challenge about each group's claim. Keeps the audience working. DOCX Editable master All sheets in one Word file. Tables import into OneNote as typeable cells.

Teacher printable

PDF Challenge question cards Twelve cards to cut and draw from. Two per group, unseen. DOCX Challenge cards — editable Add your own questions before printing.

CP3 is not published here The task sheet and marking guide are deliberately absent from this site. Print them from the Assessment Pack on your own machine.

lessons/ └── 07-report-and-defence/ ├── lesson-07-report-and-defence.html this page └── resources/ ├── l7-00-all-student-sheets.pdf ├── l7-01-report-scaffold.pdf ├── l7-02-report-scaffold-support.pdf ├── l7-03-listening-sheet.pdf ├── l7-04-challenge-cards.pdf ├── l7-student-sheets-EDITABLE.docx └── l7-challenge-cards-EDITABLE.docx