This document shows how the summative task Egg-Drop Design Challenge assesses the mandated WA Curriculum (SCSA) Year 4 Science content, and explains the design of the task and marking key. It is for teacher planning and moderation and is not given to students.
Curriculum content assessed
| Strand / sub-strand | Content description (SCSA Year 4) |
|---|---|
| Science understanding — Chemical sciences | "Processed materials, including fibres, metals, glass and plastics, are made from raw materials, such as wool, ores, sand and oil, and have a range of physical properties that influence their use." |
| Science inquiry — Collaborating and applying | "Use science knowledge to propose explanations for observed phenomena and solutions to problems." |
| Science inquiry — Communicating | "Communicate ideas using scientific vocabulary." |
Alignment with the Year 4 achievement standard
The Year 4 achievement standard states that students "investigate different materials and their properties and relate these to their use." The egg-drop challenge assesses precisely this relating of property to use: students must select materials because of the properties that suit the job of protecting an egg.
| Task part | What it asks | Content / standard link |
|---|---|---|
| Part A — Plan and choose materials | Select materials and justify each by its physical property. | "Relate materials and their properties to their use" — the core Chemical sciences content. |
| Part B — Labelled design | Draw and label the design, showing each material's placement. | Design and Technologies "labelled drawings, technical terms"; communicating scientific ideas. |
| Part C — Safety | Identify a risk and how to manage it. | Inquiry: "consider the material and equipment risks." |
| Part D — Test and reflect | Test the design and evaluate which property worked, then improve it. | "Use science knowledge to propose explanations and solutions"; evaluating and proposing improvements. |
How the marking key reflects the standard
The criterion carrying the most weight — Choosing materials by their properties (35) — targets the mandated understanding that properties influence use. Design, labelling and safety (30) covers the applied design and the inquiry requirement to consider risks. Testing, evaluating and improving (20) assesses the "propose solutions" and evaluating content. Communication and scientific vocabulary (15) assesses the communicating content. The High / Sound / Limited descriptors mirror the SCSA judging-standard language for defensible, moderatable judgements.
Why this task is valid and fair
- It builds on the taught sequence. Students learn property vocabulary and fit-for-purpose reasoning (Lesson 5), raw vs processed materials (Lesson 6) and fair testing of a property (Lesson 7) before applying all of this in the design challenge — so the task assesses developed learning.
- It is a performance of understanding, not recall. Choosing and justifying materials for a real problem is a more authentic measure of "properties influence use" than a definition test, and it gives able students room to reason while remaining accessible to all.
- It is inclusive. The labelled diagram lets students show understanding visually; group building with individual written responses supports collaboration while still producing individual evidence. Adjustments (sentence starters, scribing, a partly-labelled template) support access without lowering the demand of the science.