: Sorting
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Approach:  One to one Level: Year 4 and year 8
Focus: Classification 
Resources: 3 bags, nail, balloon, coin [bag 1: rubber band, plasticine, foam cube;
bag 2: metal spoon, magnet, metal paper ring; bag 3: stone, wooden cube, plastic counter]
708KB

Questions/instructions:

In this activity you will be looking at some groups of things and deciding why they have been grouped together. Then you will be adding some more things to the groups. You can touch the things.


% responses
y4
y8
Place objects from bag 1 on top of the bag.
   
1. What is something the same about the things in this group?
soft/flexible
69
70
Place objects from bag 2 on top of the bag.
2. What is something the same about the things in this group?

hard
13
14
metal
69
84
magnetic metal
49
38
Place objects from bag 3 on top of the bag.
   
3. What is something the same about the things in this group?
hard
51 45
not metal
0 1
not magnetic metal
0 1
Now I would like you to put one of these things into each of the groups.
Choose a thing that fits best into each group.

Hand out nail, balloon and coin.
   
4. Where would you put the balloon?
Allow time.
bag 1
94
96
5. Why did you put it there?
soft/flexible
69
68
6. Where would you put the nail?
Allow time.
bag 2
84
84
7. Why did you put it there?

hard
11
7
metal
52
63
magnetic metal
40
33
8. Where would you put the coin?
Allow time.
bag 3
70
68
9. Why did you put it there?
hard
38
31
not magnetic
9
9
Is there anything you would like to change?
Allow time.
10. Why did you change that?
[some students had not included “magnetic” as a factor for bag 2 and needed to change that]
not marked
•
•
 
Total score:
11–16
8
6
9–10
28
29
7–8
30
26
5–6
18
23
3–4
10
12
0–2
6
4
Commentary:
Year 8 students performed no better than year 4 students on this task.
 
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