Science Waves, Light & Soundusually ages 9–10

Waves & How They Move

Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength, and understand that waves can cause objects to move

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Describe a wave using the terms amplitude (height) and wavelength (distance between peaks)
Demonstrate that larger amplitude means more energy (bigger waves move objects more)
Model wave patterns using a slinky, rope, or water and describe what they observe

🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.

Try this together

Can your child use a slinky or rope to show how waves work, and explain that bigger waves have more energy and can move things more?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Sound Travels Through Materialsages 8–9Must understand sound travels through media before modelling wave properties

Wave Behaviour Vocabularyages 9–11Developing a wave model using amplitude and wavelength requires this technical vocabulary

Volume & Vibrationsages 8–9Volume-vibration strength pattern supports understanding amplitude

Waves & How They Movethis skill · ages 9–10

Unlocks

Wave Properties & Typesages 11–12Wave properties and the wave equation build directly on the wave model (amplitude, wavelength, frequency) introduced in upper KS2/early secondary

Patterns & Codes for Informationages 9–10Wave model supports understanding patterns used for information transfer

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 1 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1).

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

ST2-DAT-01low confidenceScience and Technology K-6 · Stage 2

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2TDE6C01low confidenceDesign and Technologies · Levels 5 and 6 · Technologies Contexts strand

VC2S6U03low confidenceScience · Levels 5 and 6 · Science Understanding strand

VC2S6I04low confidenceScience · Levels 5 and 6 · Science Inquiry strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

How We See Objectsages 9–11 Patterns & Codes for Informationages 9–10 Wave Behaviour Vocabularyages 9–11 Light Travels in Straight Linesages 10–11

All Waves, Light & Sound skills →