Inquiry labs for science

INQUIRY LABS FOR SCIENCENightingale Middle School

Science Department

Soraya Drew May 2011

WHAT DO WE DO ALREADY?

Brainstorm

Provided by Lisa Kramer, LD 5 Science Expert

DO INQUIRY BASED LABS LEAD TO DEEPER STUDENT UNDERSTANDING?


“In teaching him botany, he must handlethe plants and dissect the flowers forhimself: in teaching him physics andchemistry, you must not be solicitous to

fill him with information, but you must be careful that what he learns he knows of

his own knowledge. Don’t be satisfied with telling him that a magnet attracts iron.

Let him see that it does; let him feel the pull

of the one upon the other for himself.”

Thomas Huxley


WHAT IS INQUIRY?

Four level model of inquiry

Level of Inquiry

Question?

Methods?

Solution?

123

4

From Simplifying Inquiry Instruction, The Science Teacher October 2005

Essential Features of Classroom Inquiry and Their Variations

Essential Feature Variation A Variation B Variation C Variation D

1Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions (SQ)

Learner poses a question

Learner selects among questions, poses new question

Learner sharpens or clarifies questions provided by facilitator, materials, or other source

Learner engages in question provided by facilitator, materials, or other source

2Learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions(PE)

Learner determines what constitutes evidence and collects it in responding to questions

Learner directed to collect certain data in responding to questions

Learner given data and asked to analyze in responding to questions

Learner given data and told how to analyze in responding to questions

3Learner formulates explanations from evidence (FE)

Learner formulates explanation after summarizing evidence

Learner guided in process of formulating explanations from evidence

Learner given possible ways to use evidence to formulate explanation

Learner provided with evidence and how to use evidence to formulate explanation

4Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge(EE)

Learner independently examines other resources and forms the links to explanations

Learner directed toward areas and sources of scientific knowledge

Learner given possible connections

5Learner communicates and justifies explanations(CE)

Learner forms reasonable and logical argument to communicate explanations

Learner coached in development of communication

Learner provided broad guidelines to sharpen communication

Learner given steps and procedures for communicatio

More Learner Self-Direction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Less Learner Self-Direction

Less Direction from Facilitator or Material------------------------------------------ More Direction from Facilitator or Material

COMPARING INQUIRY WITH SCIENTIFIC METHOD From page 2

Science Inquiry: The Link to Accessing the General Education Curriculum

Scientific Method

Question or Problem

Hypothesis

Experiment

Record

Data Analysis

Conclusion

Inquiry Process

Inquiry Phase

Data gathering phase I

Data gathering phase II

Implementation phase

Delve and DialogueInformation Processing: Exploring and Discovering

PROCESSRead a selection of text and make connections to some aspect of your work. In groups, share some of your connections. Honor the spirit of inquiry with pausing, paraphrasing, and inquiring

ALTERNATIVESAssign this to trios instead of a group.

TIPSReview the principles of dialogue prior to starting this process. Because not listening is a common default pattern, you might want to periodically stop the action and ask people to notice what is happening in the conversation, or engage them in the Round-Robin Reflection described in this appendix.


REFORMING COOKBOOK LABS Read article section- we will count off to assign sections 1 Students take on roles 2 Mix up the steps 3 Give only the procedure 4 Student/teacher round-robin 5 Student/student round-robin 6 Data table only 7 Concept Map 8 Report results in paragraph form for replication 9 Independent variable and dependent variable 10 Only the first few steps 11 Only the problem statement

SETTING UP LABS What do you need to consider as you implement

more inquiry activities? What set up in your room will help you? Think about: • arrangement of desks, • location of materials, • how the materials are organized for the students, • how the students access the materials, • where the students work• how the lab groups are organized• how clean up occurs• your location(s) Pair Share
