• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Observing with our senses). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Which sense would you use to notice a rotten egg? (sight (eyes) / hearing (ears) / smell (nose) / touch (skin)) → smell (nose)Prompt: Which part of your body would notice it?
2. Which of these would you notice using touch (skin)? (the colour of a leaf / how many legs a beetle has / how rough tree bark is / whether it is dark outside) → how rough tree bark isPrompt: Imagine doing each one. Which body part would you use?
3. Sam looks at the sky each morning and writes down if it is sunny, cloudy or rainy. What is Sam doing? (observing and recording / building a model / measuring mass / guessing) → observing and recordingPrompt: Sam is looking and then writing down what he sees.

• Show a simple experiment with one thing changed and ask what makes it a fair test.
• Share the objective: Choosing a measuring tool. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which tool would you use to measure how tall a sunflower has grown?
• Step 1: A ruler or tape measure measures length (how long, wide or tall).
• Step 2: So the answer is: a ruler or tape measure
• Answer: a ruler or tape measure
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which tool would you use to measure how heavy an apple is? (a measuring jug or cylinder / a thermometer / a ruler or tape measure / weighing scales) → weighing scalesPrompt: Is it a length, a temperature, a mass, a time or an amount of liquid?
2. What could you measure with a thermometer? (how hot a cup of tea is / how tall a sunflower has grown / how long a worm is / how much rainwater was collected) → how hot a cup of tea isPrompt: What does this tool measure: length, temperature, mass, time or volume?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Zara wants to know if her bean plant grows taller each day. What should she use? (a thermometer / weighing scales / a ruler / a stopwatch) → a rulerPrompt: She wants to know how tall it is.
2. What could you measure with a measuring jug or cylinder? (how long an ice cube takes to melt / how heavy a pet hamster is / the temperature outside / how much rainwater was collected) → how much rainwater was collectedPrompt: What does this tool measure: length, temperature, mass, time or volume?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-1.