Investigative skills worksheets
How do seeds grow?
Read these instructions about growing a seed into a plant carefully. Can you match them with the picture cards and put them in the correct order? Cut out the cards or rewrite the instructions.
How cool are you?
Go for a hunt around your house and find which places are the warmest and which are the coolest. Write the names of each place on these cards, or can you draw a picture showing the place? Can you put the cards in order from the warmest to the coolest place?
Fatty foods investigation
Ask an adult to help you select different foods that you think may contain more fat than others. Carefully rub each food in turn in one of the circles. Label each circle so that you can see which food was in which circle. Leave the paper to dry. When dry hold it up to the light. You should be able to see which foods contained more oil and fat as this will be left on the paper!
Electricity in our homes
Choose a room in your house and find all the things that use electricity to make them work. Can you find and draw the electricity source (the plug, switch or battery)? Remember: things that run off batteries also use electricity! If you are drawing light switches, add lines to show the wires which must run up to the light to make it work (even if they are hidden)
Dissolving salt investigation
In this experiment we will be investigating to see if the temperature of the water affects how quickly salt will dissolve in it.
Condensation investigation
There is water in air! This simple experiment will help you to quickly see this.
Cleaning water experiment
In this activity you will learn how to clean some water!
Bird watch
Have a look at the different trees in your neighbourhood and find one birds like to land in. Why might the birds have chosen that tree? Does it have a nest in? Then draw a picture of the tree and label your picture with all the reasons why you think this is a good tree for birds to nest in.
Be an animal detective
Go for a walk in your neighbourhood and make a chart listing 5-10 different places (park, shops, wood, garden, road). Can you see evidence of animals, birds or insects that live there? What might they eat? Where might they live?
Be a poo detective
Poo is always a fascinating subject for children and definitely gets their attention! Why not go for a nature walk and find out which animals have left their smelly remains then answer these questions?
Be a leaf detective
Go into your garden and see how many different plants you can find. How could you find out the names of these plants? Who could help you find out? Now play the find my leaf game!
All about worms
Go into your garden and dig up two earthworms. Put them next to each other and see if you can find things that are the same about them and things that are different. Look at their length, their patterns, their colour Can you draw pictures of them both, showing the difference between them? You could also try building your own wormery.
Air resistance investigation
Air resistance is a force which slows moving objects down. When things move through the air, they are slowed down. Planes can move more quickly through the air by having a more streamlined shape – this means less surface area for the air to resist against. Do you fancy having a go at running your own simple investigation into air resistance?
Planning a healthy diet
A simple but effective worksheet that will introduce your child to the idea of a balanced diet.
Investigating forces - air power
A worksheet to suggest a fun experiment looking at the effect of air power on different objects.
Using data to reach a conclusion
This worksheet shows the results of an experiment into friction. It has questions below to prompt children to think about what the results mean and draw their own conclusions.
Reversible and non-reversible changes
This experiment that you can do at home helps your child to understand the difference between a reversible change and a non-reversible change.
Shadow spotting
This activity is a fantastic opportunity to introduce your child to the concept of light and dark.
Investigating static electricity
Worksheet giving ideas for showing the effect of static electricity by using a balloon and various objects.
Using observation in investigations
A worksheet showing the results of an experiment into plant growth with encouragement for children to carry out a similar experiment and think about the results.