THINKING FOUNDATIONS
Cause and effect
Build a chain from cause to outcome. A description of what happens is not yet an explanation of why or how. The word “therefore” does not supply the missing link.
1. Everyday example
Everyday: a flat bicycle tyre
“The tyre is flat therefore it will not roll” names two facts and a joining word. The causal chain is: air left through a puncture, pressure fell, the tyre no longer holds the rim off the ground. Each link has to be possible. “Therefore” is not one of the links.
2. A level example
A level: enzyme rate
“The temperature rose and the rate fell, therefore the enzyme denatured” still misses the mechanism. The useful chain is: bonds holding the active site break, the site is no longer complementary to the substrate, fewer complexes form, less product is made per second. That is cause and effect. The first version is a description plus a label.
3. Show me
Show me. A supported chain for wilting in salty soil.
- The soil solution has a lower water potential than the root cells.
Following the sequence is practice. It is not recorded as mastery.
4. Guide me
Practice question
Guide me. Which sentence is an explanation rather than a description?
5. Let me try
Independent transfer. My Progress records this only when the reasoning holds.
Practice question
Let me try. A student writes “The valve closed. Therefore the heart is efficient.” What is the missing logical link?