The ability to represent the world like a scientist is difficult to teach; it is more than simply knowing the representations (e.g., graphs, words, equations and diagrams). For meaningful science learning to take place, consideration needs to be given to explicitly integrating representations into instructional methods, linked to the content, and supported by explanations as to why the representations play an important role. Unfortunately, developing instructional materials for representations is not trivial. While there is substantive research on student understanding and use of representations, this effort is not reflected in the design of representations-based instructional methods. The purpose of this research is to create research-based worksheets which aid student learning of representations, demonstrate their impact on student practices and extract a framework for developing further worksheets. The method draws on work on teaching science concepts to iteratively develop simple, interactive worksheets that can be used in a school setting with immediate results. We present worksheets that support Year 12 physics students engaging with (1) free-body diagrams and (2) equations of energy. Pre- and post-responses are compared, and reflection questions and focus group data are analysed. A framework that can be used to teach a wide variety of representations from various science disciplines is proposed. Throughout this process we endeavoured to research how instructional design can be done effectively.