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Lesson overview
BUILD · Science · Week 3B · Do

Backbone Detectives

🎯 Learning objective: I can classify unfamiliar animals using evidence about their body structure.
✅ Success criteria
  • Use the backbone test rather than appearance.
  • Classify a range of familiar and unfamiliar animals.
  • Explain or demonstrate the evidence behind one decision.
ArrivalStarterI DoWe DoI Do 2We Do 2IndependentExit
🧪 Classification Field Lab⏱ 40 minutes🔁 Live Lundy loop
● BACKBONE INSIDE ■ HARD CASE OUTSIDE
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
BUILD starts with safe participation and a familiar adult.
⏱ 3 min
🚪 Arrival · retrieve last lesson
Retrieve the actual previous lesson: W3A — vertebrate = internal backbone; invertebrates can use shells, hard outer cases or fluid support.
New to this class, or not sure? Everything you need is in the box above — read it, then answer.
◆ Supported

1 · Last lesson: Point to BACKBONE or NO BACKBONE for a robin.

2 · Last lesson: Point to the one with no backbone: the fish or the worm.

3 · Last lesson: Point to the backbone on the fish picture.

4 · Lead-in: Look at the mystery animal card. Point to one thing you notice.

▲ Standard

1 · Last lesson: Classify robin, snail and spider from the Explore lesson.

2 · Last lesson: Name one animal from last lesson with no backbone inside.

3 · Last lesson: Say where the backbone is on the fish picture.

4 · Lead-in: A detective uses clues. Say one clue an animal card could give you.

★ Stretch

1 · Last lesson: Give the rule that separates vertebrates from invertebrates.

2 · Last lesson: How is a snail supported without a backbone inside?

3 · Last lesson: A crab is hard outside but is an invertebrate. Explain why.

4 · Lead-in: Which body clues would help you classify a strange animal?

Arrival retrieves. It does not assume today’s new concept. Questions 2 and 3 retrieve last lesson (W3A).
BUILD Voice can be
☝ point / choose🗣 say / sign🧩 demonstrate / model✍ write / draw🔁 re-attempt
You can change how you answer. The Science goal stays the same.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Predictable retrieval; if access is blocked, change the mode before increasing demand.
⏱ 3 min
🌱 Starter · create the need to know

🔍 Today’s puzzle

Mystery creature: it has a hard outside case, many legs and no visible line of bones inside. Where would you place it — and what evidence matters?

FRAME 1 / 4
DON’T GUESS FROM SIZE
Pause whenever pupil Voice changes what should happen next.
FRAME 2 / 4
CHECK THE STRUCTURE
Pause whenever pupil Voice changes what should happen next.
FRAME 3 / 4
USE A COUNTEREXAMPLE
Pause whenever pupil Voice changes what should happen next.
FRAME 4 / 4
DEFEND THE CLASSIFICATION
Pause whenever pupil Voice changes what should happen next.
BUILD Voice can be
☝ point / choose🗣 say / sign🧩 demonstrate / model✍ write / draw🔁 re-attempt
You can change how you answer. The Science goal stays the same.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Pupil Voice opens the new question before the teacher supplies the explanation.
⏱ 4 min
👩‍🏫 I Do · picture first
🧠 Watch the thinking — picture first, words after the idea lands.
🔤 Key wordsCLASSIFYput into a group using a ruleVERTEBRATEinternal backbone presentEVIDENCEthe feature that supports the decision
Word help shows an everyday bridge under each scientific word — the scientific word always stays. TA route: say the bridge, then fade it as the pupil uses the formal term.
STEP Model the decision process: look inside/at the diagram first; do not guess from size.
STEP Classify a snake: no legs, but an internal backbone → vertebrate.
STEP Classify a crab: hard outside, no internal backbone → invertebrate.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Teacher models; support staff watch regulation, access and the moment the idea lands.
⏱ 4 min
🤝 We Do · everyone commits
Commit before reveal: A snake has no legs. Is it a vertebrate?
BUILD Voice can be
☝ point / choose🗣 say / sign🧩 demonstrate / model✍ write / draw🔁 re-attempt
You can change how you answer. The Science goal stays the same.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Adult genuinely receives the response; the next explanation/question/scaffold changes because of it.
⏱ 3 min
👩‍🏫 I Do 2 · connect the second idea
🧠 Watch the thinking — picture first, words after the idea lands.
STEP Show two misleading cases: bat and lobster. Appearance does not replace structural evidence.
STEP Model uncertainty properly: ‘I need an inside diagram / more evidence’ is a valid scientific next step.
STEP Demonstrate how an adult can scribe a pupil’s exact reasoning without changing authorship.
✅ What this model helps us see

One classification rule stays in view while the animals change.

⚠ What this model does not show

It uses just one rule. Real animals vary far more.

🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Teacher models; support staff watch regulation, access and the moment the idea lands.
⏱ 4 min
🤝 We Do 2 · interactive lab
Interactive exploration: predict → manipulate → explain → adult receives → next move.

🔎 Creature Evidence Lab

CHOOSE EVIDENCECOMMIT A GROUPCHECKEXPLAIN

1 · Choose one evidence card. 2 · Press the group its words support. Every control is a button — no dragging.

Choose one evidence card. More cards unlock as you place them.
BUILD Voice can be
☝ point / choose🗣 say / sign🧩 demonstrate / model✍ write / draw🔁 re-attempt
You can change how you answer. The Science goal stays the same.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Adult genuinely receives the response; the next explanation/question/scaffold changes because of it.
⏱ 15 min
✏️ Independent · evidence of learning

✏️ Independent product / demonstration

Classification field lab. Move round the room. Look at each creature card. And each model. Make two groups. Build your display. Pick two animals. Add your evidence. Say what made you sure.

🧪 PRACTICAL READY · HANDS-ON WHERE IT SERVES THE OUTCOME
EquipmentCreature cards/models; two sorting hoops/mats; internal-structure diagrams; sticky labels; optional school-ground photo cards (not live animal handling unless locally approved).
Safety / sensoryNo live-animal handling is required. Avoid sensory overload from too many cards by using small batches.
Evidence targetYour finished sort and two reasons. A photo with notes, an adult watching you explain, or a voice clip if allowed.
15 minutes. Supported / Standard / Stretch are routes, not fixed identities.
◆ Classify six creatures. Use the anchor pair. An adult reads with you.
Keep two cards out. Match each to the anchor pair. Fish has a backbone. Crab does not. Word bank: backbone · inside · outside · support.
Fade it: remove the first prompt no longer needed.
▲ Classify all eight creatures. Pick two. Justify each choice.
Evidence prompt. Look inside. Is there an internal backbone? Look outside. Hard case? Or soft, fluid support?
Fade it: remove the first prompt no longer needed.
★ Add a creature you do not know. Not sure? Say what more evidence you need.
Use the words ‘not a valid test’. Pick one feature that tricks you. Then reject it.
Fade it: remove the first prompt no longer needed.
1 · Pupil decisionchoice, prediction, plan or classification
2 · Observable Sciencesort, model, demonstration, result or re-attempt
3 · Pupil meaningexplanation, justification or changed response
BUILD Voice can be
☝ point / choose🗣 say / sign🧩 demonstrate / model✍ write / draw🔁 re-attempt
You can change how you answer. The Science goal stays the same.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Pupil authors a choice, model or demonstration; staff fade prompting and receive the Science.
⏱ 4 min
🎫 Exit · adult Audience closes BUILD
◆ Supported

What one thing tells you an animal is a vertebrate?

▲ Standard

Classify a snake and crab and explain both.

★ Stretch

Explain why appearance alone can lead to a classification mistake.

🔁 BUILD Lundy close

The pupil responds in a workable modality. The adult genuinely receives it — reads, listens or watches, and names back the Science they heard. The adult then calibrates the next learning move.

No extra pupil-written closure line is required for BUILD. If local policy uses an R code, it only belongs after genuine Audience; this file never adds it automatically.

BUILD Voice can be
☝ point / choose🗣 say / sign🧩 demonstrate / model✍ write / draw🔁 re-attempt
You can change how you answer. The Science goal stays the same.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
BUILD closes through genuine adult Audience. Influence is the next calibrated learning move.
🧑‍🏫 SUPPORT STAFF · THIS SLIDE

ONE SCIENCE RULE

Compare to the structural rule, not to a stereotype of what a vertebrate ‘looks like’.

Priority now

Move learning forward

Least prompt first
waitself-promptvisual cuegeneral verbalspecific verbalmodeldirect support

Move right only as needed, then fade back left. Support level records access. It does not define ability.

🔁 BUILD LIVE FEEDBACK–RESPONSE LOOP

Response changes what happens next

SPACECo-regulation, familiar adult, time, sensory tools, no public comparison.
VOICEPoint, sign, say, demonstrate, re-attempt, edit or authorised short clip.
AUDIENCEAdult genuinely watches/listens/reads and names back what was received.
INFLUENCECalibrate the next try, instruction, regulation choice, question or scaffold.

Choose the teaching move

Listen first. The response decides the next teaching move.

Uploaded-policy code reference · staff side

VF · verbal feedbackWS · worked with supportI · independentNS+ · one next stepE · evidenceR · responded / Audience happened// · self-edit? · read this back

This lesson stores no code or pupil response. R is never automatic and only follows genuine Audience.

BUILD Science W3B · Backbone Detectives

Name: _______________________________   Date: ______________________

New to this class, or not sure? Everything you need is in the Retrieval box below — read it, then answer.

Learning objective: I can classify unfamiliar animals using evidence about their body structure.

Model: helps us see — One classification rule stays in view while the animals change. Does not show — It uses just one rule. Real animals vary far more.

Previous lesson retrieval: W3A — vertebrate = internal backbone; invertebrates can use shells, hard outer cases or fluid support.

Arrival (Supported forms): 1) Point to BACKBONE or NO BACKBONE for a robin.  2) Point to the one with no backbone: the fish or the worm.  3) Point to the backbone on the fish picture.  4) Look at the mystery animal card. Point to one thing you notice.

Supported

◆ Classify six creatures. Use the anchor pair. An adult reads with you.

Keep two cards out. Match each to the anchor pair. Fish has a backbone. Crab does not. Word bank: backbone · inside · outside · support.

Standard

▲ Classify all eight creatures. Pick two. Justify each choice.

Evidence prompt. Look inside. Is there an internal backbone? Look outside. Hard case? Or soft, fluid support?

Stretch

★ Add a creature you do not know. Not sure? Say what more evidence you need.

Use the words ‘not a valid test’. Pick one feature that tricks you. Then reject it.

Evidence target

Your finished sort and two reasons. A photo with notes, an adult watching you explain, or a voice clip if allowed.

Exit + BUILD Audience

Supported: What one thing tells you an animal is a vertebrate?

Standard: Classify a snake and crab and explain both.

Stretch: Explain why appearance alone can lead to a classification mistake.

Adult Audience: the adult truly receives the response. The adult says back the Science they heard or saw. Then the adult picks the next learning move. No pupil signature is needed.

Evidence capture sheet · W3B · Backbone Detectives

Date: ____________________   PUPIL / EVIDENCE ID: ____________________

Learning objective: I can classify unfamiliar animals using evidence about their body structure.

Optional one-page capture. Point, say, draw or have an adult scribe — writing is never required. This sheet adds to the tiered pack; it never replaces it.

My decision

What I observed

Evidence I used

What the evidence means

What I changed after checking

Audience — who received it

What changed because of my voice

Teacher / TA comment