KS3 Science lesson on recording data: continuous, discrete and categorical data, means and graphs. Editable Year 7 PowerPoint with starter and answers.

About this lesson

Lesson 5 of 8 in the Year 7 Working Scientifically unit. Pupils classify data as continuous, discrete or categorical, calculate a mean without the outlier, and plot a graph with a title, axes and a regular scale.

Built into every lesson

• Retrieval starter: five questions check the prior knowledge pupils need for the lesson (answers in the notes)
• A concrete, surprising hook to get pupils talking
• Learning objectives pupils can act on, each with a ‘Show it’ task
• Formative assessment throughout: checks, hinge question, plenary and exit ticket
• Common misconceptions targeted: a hidden teacher slide and hinge questions from documented KS3 misconceptions
• Command words always come with a sentence starter or writing frame
• Four Tier 3 key words, with pronunciation and warnings about everyday meanings
• Booklet task slides, each followed by an expected-answers slide, so all the answers are in this PowerPoint
• Interactive tool made for this lesson: Graph It. An ‘Explore’ slide and a ‘Check it’ slide link to a tool built specifically for this series, so pupils practise and check their graph skills. Not a generic web activity
• Written for KS3 reading levels: one short idea per bullet
• Fully editable PowerPoint (the lesson only: the printable workbook is a separate, paid resource)

The full series

This lesson is part of a complete KS3 Science series that follows Activate 1 and 2, covering Years 7 and 8. Lessons carry their Activate topic code. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Oxford University Press. Practical lessons include an Equipment Request slide for your technician.

What is free and what is paid

• Lesson 1 (Safety in the Lab) is FREE. This lesson is £2.50.
• The Scheme of Work (SoW) that goes with these resources is FREE.
• The Working Scientifically student workbook is NOT free and is NOT included in this lesson. It holds the pages pupils write in when the slides say ‘Turn to Page…’, and is sold separately for £5.00 per topic. It is designed to cut down copying from the board, so lesson time goes on checking understanding.
• A Practical Requisition Database is sold separately for £5.00. It makes requesting practicals and demos with your technicians seamless.
• Save on the whole topic: all eight lesson PowerPoints plus the workbook are available together as a bundle for £15, about a third off.

Last updated: October 2026 (first release).