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Asking scientific questions

META
Science›Scientific Inquiry|Ages 5—8|ID: mt_XirhnAB6Ye

Ask simple scientific questions and recognise that they can be answered in different ways including observation, testing, and research

Mastery Evidence

  • Ask at least three 'how' or 'why' questions about the natural world
  • Suggest different ways to answer a question: observing, testing, asking an expert, reading a book
  • Choose an appropriate method to investigate a specific question

Assessment Prompt

“When [child] wonders about something — like 'why do leaves change colour?' — can they suggest how to find the answer, whether by looking closely, doing a test, or looking it up?”

Curriculum Standards2 alignments

K-2-ETS1-1Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) K-5codes only
Standard code — full text not included in this dataset.
KS1.Sci.WS.1The national curriculum in England
Asking simple questions

asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways

Science · Key Stage 1

Prerequisites4

Show full prerequisite tree
  • Asking Questions soft

    Formulating scientific questions builds on the general skill of asking relevant questions to extend understanding, developed in English speaking and listening

    • Question Words hard

      Generating effective questions requires knowledge of question words (who, what, where, when, why, how)

    • Listening and responding hard

      Listening and responding needed before asking questions

    • Exploring Ideas Through Talk soft

      Related speaking skill supports this topic

      • Feeling of not understanding soft

        Using talk to explore ideas and speculate requires noticing what you don't yet understand — the comprehension-monitoring habit in a spoken register

        • Asking for Help hard

          Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck

  • Observation vs Interpretation soft

    Asking good scientific questions requires noticing the distinction between observation and interpretation — a question like 'why did this happen?' only makes sense once you've separated what you saw from what you inferred

    • Feeling of not understanding soft

      Noticing the observation/interpretation distinction requires monitoring your own thinking — the universal comprehension-monitoring habit applied to scientific reasoning

      • Asking for Help hard

        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck

  • Feeling of not understanding soft

    Asking scientific questions is the science-domain expression of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit: noticing what you don't yet understand

    • Asking for Help hard

      Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck

  • Persisting When It's Hard soft

    Scientific enquiry requires persistence through uncertainty — the universal persistence habit underpins willingness to keep investigating

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