TA Brief
BUILD · Where did the water go?
Autumn 2 · Week 3 · Explore
SoWBUILD Weekly - Autumn!B41, C41
- Test rocks for hardness and whether they let water through.
Aut2·W3; current calendar absolute W11. This Explore exemplar develops evidence for the water-through part. Hardness and carrying out a prepared rock test remain paired lesson work; this single lesson is not the whole weekly outcome.
Prior: Earlier rock work compared scratch marks using the same tool and method. Hardness means resistance to scratching; it does not tell us whether water passes through.
Next: Use the picture evidence to plan and carry out the paired water-through test with prepared samples and adult-checked equipment. Compare results only for those samples and that method.
Preparation
- Print six guided cards/four mats and three independent pictured records.
- Core lesson needs no water or real sample. If demonstrating, use a prepared stable tray and adult-checked apparatus; record genuine observations separately from these model records.
Care and safety
- Use clean prepared classroom materials. No pupils breaking, scratching, tasting or smelling unknown rocks in this lesson. Small-volume demonstration only, with spills contained and powered equipment away.
Teacher response guidance
- Arrival: hardness and permeability are different properties; a water check is needed.
- Starter: not enough evidence from the top view; check below and the route.
- Guided cards: A ON TOP; B SOAKED IN; C THROUGH; D CHECK; E THROUGH; F CHECK.
- Delta: not shown yet; cup remained at 0mL in two minutes although water entered part-way.
- Echo: passage through is supported; 1.5mL reached below via secure route and dry outside.
- Foxtrot: check the test; the water bypassed the sample. Secure the edge and repeat.
- Exit: water reaches below via the sample, not around it; trace top to bottom.
Evidence of learning
Check whether the pupil follows the route and separates “water entered” from “water reached below”. Accept directed arrows or speech. This lesson does not certify that the pupil carried out a practical test.
Access and independence
Show one cross-section at a time. Use large blue paths with labels rather than colour alone. Offer pointing or object placement before requiring writing; fade the adult prompt once the pupil independently checks below.
Lundy Loop
Allow a comfortable response mode. The adult receives the exact observation and names it back. If the pupil confuses inside and through, the next teaching move is to reveal the cup and re-trace one route. No compulsory written close for BUILD.
Arrival · Two different questions
Retrieve the previous method with one picture of a scratch mark. Do not equate hard with waterproof. Accept “we need a water test”. Keep the main topic as water passage; this is not a new scratching practical.
Starter · A drop has vanished
Take a prediction before revealing the cup. Expected next check: look or measure underneath. A dark wet patch alone is insufficient. Avoid implying that all wet darkening proves the whole sample absorbed water.
I do · Follow one drop
Model one route at a time: “The blue route ends inside. I can say water entered, but I cannot yet say it passed through.” Show a sealed collar directing water through a prepared sample. The diagram enlarges pores and is not a construction instruction.
We do · Sort the evidence
Use cards A–F supplied in the interaction. Model only A. For B avoid saying absorption always excludes passage; this record says no water was observed below in that time. For D and F discuss why method or missing observations prevent the proposed conclusion.
I do · Check the route
Think aloud: “I can see water below, but its route went around the sample. I will not call that proof. I need a secure edge and a new check.” This is a method fault, not a pupil fault.
We do · Choose a careful claim
Model is deliberately time-limited. Expected “No passage was observed in two minutes.” Zero does not prove water could never pass under other times or conditions. Pupil vocabulary can remain “none reached the cup yet”.
Independent · Three new records
These are fresh records named Delta, Echo and Foxtrot on screen and paper. Guided cards retain A–F labels. Have pupils give a fresh choice before feedback. Supported route works with Delta and Echo first, then the method fault if core is secure.
Exit · Show what proves it
Expected start at top, path through sample, arrival below with no bypass. Adult names the actual observation heard. BUILD needs no extra pupil-written reflection or signature. Offer a next check based on the response, such as distinguishing inside from through.
Misconceptions
A dark wet patch proves permeability. It may indicate water entered the top; check whether it reached below.
Any water in the tray proves through. Trace the route and rule out the visible edge leak.
0 mL means waterproof forever. Keep the conclusion with the tested time, sample and method.
Sources
British Geological Survey · Permeability
Permeability concerns whether and how water flows through rock; pores and fractures can form routes.
BGS · User guide, Permeability version 8
Water movement depends on rock properties and connected pathways; a single sample test has a limited scope.
Review trace
Science_Teesside/Build/W8-W13_2026-27/SCI_B_W11A_Rock_Permeability_Explore.html
- Keeps the strong surface/absorption/through distinction and makes the three locations visible in one large cross-section.
- Supplies every observation card and a fresh three-record independent task.
- Separates real observation from constructed teaching records and keeps practical completion honest.
- Moves repeated policy prose to staff notes; BUILD closes through an adult receiving the actual response.
Separate review copy. No live lesson or award record has been changed.