1. Year 8 Transfer Revision
Learning Objectives:
Experimental Skills and investigation
Analysis
Evaluation

2. 1. Name equipment then say what do you use it for
Show a range of common lab equipment to clarify their proper names, and ask them specify exactly what can be measured (e.g. measuring cylinders do not measure liquids, they measure volumes of liquids;ammeters do not measure electricity, they measure current; a balance does not measure a substance, it
measures the weight of a substance etc.)
• Ask students to identify, and put into words to explain,
why some methods involve a fair test and others do
not. Do not allow pupils to loosely refer to ‘fair testing’,
without also explaining what it means in that specifi c
situation i.e. what is being varied, what is being
controlled and what is being measured
Name the variables in an experiment and give an example using one of the practical's you have done before
How can you make an experiment a fair test?

3. 2. What is a hypothesis? How would you make this experiment a fair test?
What are you independent dependent variables?
• Ask students to identify, and put into words to explain, why some
methods involve a fair test and others do not. Do not allow pupils
to loosely refer to ‘fair testing’, without also explaining what it
means in that specifi c situation i.e. what is being varied, what is
being controlled and what is being measured.
• Stress that one of the purposes of controlling variables is to be
able to compare one condition (in this case, one
washing-up liquid) with another, so that the possible effect of
any other differences has been removed. The method chosen
therefore has to be able to reveal the effects of different
conditions being investigated.
• Ask students to be critical of the method used in the question:
– asking them to list any factors at all that would need controlling
as Alan and Aysha carry out their investigation, and
– asking them to generate ways that one could quantify the
results (e.g. counting bubbles, measuring bubble height or
volume), and how this could be carried out in practice.
Why is it important to drink the same amount of coke?
What other factors would you need to control?

4. 3. Nutrients of the body – give examples.
• Present students with multi-column/multi-row tables
such as this (e.g. food labelling, data about countries,
the properties of elements etc.). Set tasks to get
practice at extracting data from a table e.g. What is
the value of ‘column Y’ for ‘row X’? Which row has the
greatest value for a given column? etc. Ask them to
calculate differences between values provided (e.g.
how much more is A than B?)
• Having taught about the parts of a diet, carry out
matching activities to match part of the diet, to its use
by the body, and to the activity or phase of life where
it is most likely to be in demand.
What are the name of the nutrients and describe the importance of these nutrients in the body.
Explain which nutrient is important for growing teenagers.

5. 4. Sampling distribution of organisms
• When they are suggesting reasons for anything,
encourage fuller explanations by asking ‘… and why might
that be?’ or ‘… and that is because…why?’, or similar, so
that they are as specific as they can be. Reward these
specific explanations, rather than shallow ones – in both
discussion and in writing.
• When they are providing answers to written or verbal
questions about trends and patterns, if the answer is
simplistic, such as ‘more’, ‘it gets bigger’, ‘it gets lower’
etc. push them to provide more detail about the conditions
e.g. ask them ‘…more/bigger/lower than what?’, ‘…over
what timescale/range?’, ‘… compared with what?’
• When looking at sampling techniques, stress that the
ideas of trying to control variables is just as important as it
is in other investigative approaches. Ask what ‘fair testing’
means in sampling situations i.e. what is being varied,
what is being controlled and what is being measured.
Describe an experiment to show how many ladybirds you have seen in the brook area.
Explain your variables.

6. 5.The Periodic table – Which are metals and non metals?
Why would some metals rust more quickly than others?
• Present students with multi-column/multi-row tables
such as this (e.g. food labelling, data about countries,
the properties of elements etc.). Set tasks to get
practice at extracting data from a table e.g. What is
the value of ‘column Y’ for ‘row X’? Which row has the
greatest value for a given column? etc. Ask them to
calculate differences between values provided (e.g.
how much more is
A than B?)
• Using tables of data, set questions that require more
than just reading the data from the table, but involve
another step or element of understanding, as parts
(a), (b) and (d)(i) do here. Whenever they provide
answers based on tables, ask them to be explicit in
explaining how they got there – i.e. which information
they used and how it led to the answer.
Give examples of metals and non metals.
What conditions are needed for rusting?

7. 6. Anomalous results – How could this happen?
• By referring to the X- and Y-axes labels, ask students to simply
read data from a range of different graphs (e.g. in this case,
‘When the amount of starch eaten is …, what is the number
of people per with cancer of the large intestine?’). Do
this in both directions i.e. from X axis to Y axis, and vice versa.
• Using graphs with X- and Y-axes labelled, ask students
to agree/disagree/not sure with a number of suggested
conclusions, giving reasons.
• Encourage students to describe results in the form
‘The …er the X, the …er the Y’, or similar.
• Having taught about the parts of a diet, carry out matching
activities to match part of the diet, to its use by the body, and
to the activity or phase of life where it is most likely to be in
demand.
What is an anomalous result?
Describe what you can do if there is an anomalous result.

8. Changes of state Name the 3 states of matter
• Clarify the meaning of the terms ‘independent’ and
‘dependent’ with reference to variables. Use the words
‘factor’ and ‘variable’ – both are required at KS3 and
GCSE.
• Before carrying out investigative work, ask students to
suggest possible sources of random error, so that they
learn to actively look out for them. At this stage, ask
them to consider what they would look for if they had
any anomalous results, and what they might do about
them.
• By referring to the X- and Y-axes labels, ask students to
simply read data from a range of different graphs (e.g.
in this case, ‘When the mass of salt added is …, what
is the length of test tube above water level?’). Do this in
both directions i.e. from X axis to Y axis, and vice versa.
• Encourage students to describe results in the form
‘The …er the X, the …er the Y’, or similar.
• Using graphs with X- and Y-axes labelled, ask students
to agree/disagree/not sure with a number of suggested
conclusions, giving reasons
Name the 3 states of matter
Describe what is happening in this graph.

9. Which variable goes into which column?
Results tables
• Present students with tables such as this, using
unfamiliar data. Ask them to tell each what they
can work out from the table – what do the columns
headings mean? What are the rows?
• When teaching changes of state, use the ‘states’ of
matter i.e. less ‘Is it solid, liquid or gas?’, more ‘What
state is it in?/How is it changing state?’’. Do not
focus on water only. Using melting and boiling point
data, ask students to tell you the state of different
substances at given temperatures.
• Provide various line graphs with changing slopes, and
ask students to “tell the story of the line” as they see it
(e.g. “fi rst it goes up gradually, then it levels out, then
it goes up more steeply” etc.). Then ask them to put
values on the places where the story changes, and
explain the signifi cance of the change, and what may
be happening at that point.
Which variable goes into which column?
If you were investigating the effect of light on a plant in water producing oxygen bubbles what would the results table look like?

10. Plan an investigation What are the variables of this experiment?
• Clarify the meaning of the terms ‘independent’ and ‘dependent’
with reference to variables. Use the words ‘factor’ and ‘variable’
– both are required at KS3 and GCSE.
• Using variables to plan investigations:
– Ask students to generate questions in the format
‘How does X affect Y?’ (The questions generated do not have
to be actually investigated in class.)
– Ask them to plan a table as if they were to be recording
results. In most cases the X (independent) is in the
fi rst column of a table, on the left hand side, and the Y
(dependent) in the later columns, towards the right hand side,
with repeat results included in multiple columns before the
average. They must label all columns with variable and units.
– Although this question does not require it, the next logical
step is to ask them to plan a graph as if they were to be
plotting results. In most cases the X (independent) is on the
X-axis, and the Y (dependent) on the Y-axis. They must label
both axes with variable and units.
Describe how you would carry this experiment out.

11. Draw a food chain of animals or your own choice.
Food chains
“reactants (A+B etc.) react-to-produce (i.e. to translate
the meaning of the arrow) products (C+D etc.).”
• When they are suggesting reasons for anything,
encourage fuller explanations by asking ‘… and why
might that be?’ or ‘… and that is because…why?’,
or similar, so that they are as specifi c as they can
be. Reward these specifi c explanations, rather than
shallow ones – in both discussion and in writing.
Draw a food chain of animals or your own choice.
Explain why there might be changes if one of these organisms die and become extinct.

12. Acids & Alkalis
• Practice choosing graph axes from tables: In most
cases the independent variable is in the fi rst column of a
table, on the left hand side, and the dependent variable
towards the right hand side. The independent becomes
the X-axis, and the dependent becomes the Y-axis.
They must label both axes with variable and units.
• Practice line graphs skills. For example, ask students to
make up data for each other to plot line graphs (perhaps
by asking them to reverse-engineer from a graph to a
table for someone else to plot). The axes can be simply
called X and Y for this exercise, and data do not have to
be real.
• Explain ‘lines of best fi t’ as being the ‘line that best
shows the trend of the data’. To avoid defaulting to a
straight line, explain them as ‘curves of best fi t’, but
some might well be straight!
• Ask students to read data from a range of different
graphs where the point does falls between easilyidentifi
able lines. Do this in both directions i.e. from
X axis to Y axis, and vice versa.
Draw a pH scale and show where acid and alkali are on the scale
Explain how to neutralise an acidic solution of 25cm3

13. • When they are suggesting reasons for anything,
encourage fuller explanations by asking ‘… and why
might that be?’ or ‘… and that is because…why?’,
or similar, so that they are as specifi c as they can
be. Reward these specifi c explanations, rather than
shallow ones – in both discussion and in writing.
• Provide various line graphs with changing slopes, and
ask students to “tell the story of the line” as they see it
(e.g. “fi rst it goes up gradually, then it levels out, then
it goes up more steeply” etc.). Then ask them to put
values on the places where the story changes, and
explain the signifi cance of the change, and what may
be happening at that point.

15. What are the variables? Plot these results on graph paper.
• Practice choosing graph axes from tables: In most cases
the independent variable is in the fi rst column of a table,
on the left hand side, and the dependent variable towards
the right hand side. The independent becomes the X-axis,
and the dependent becomes the Y-axis. They must label
both axes with variable and units.
• Practice line graphs skills. For example, ask students to
make up data for each other to plot line graphs (perhaps
by asking them to reverse-engineer from a graph to a table
for someone else to plot). The axes can be simply called
X and Y for this exercise, and data do not have to be real.
• Explain ‘lines of best fi t’ as being the ‘line that best shows
the trend of the data’. To avoid defaulting to a straight line,
explain them as ‘curves of best fi t’, but some might well be
straight!
• Ask students to read data from a range of different graphs
where the point does falls between easily-identifi able lines.
Do this in both directions i.e. from X axis to Y axis, and
vice versa.
What conclusion can you make from the results?