From Activity to Inquiry Reading Assignment Chapter 7 in Teaching Science to Every Child: Using Culture as a Starting Point

From Activity to Inquiry Just because an activity is hands-on, it does not mean that it is inquiry-based. “ For activities to qualify as inquiry-based, five essential features need to be present. The five features of inquiry and the level of are discussed in the following slides.

Developing Investigable Questions Learners are engaged by scientific questions. Investigable Question – questions that students can investigate. The best ones allow students to use several of the process skills. Students may adjust one factor (the independent variable) to see how it affects another factor (the dependent variable). Level of Inquiry Continuum (See Table 7.1) Level 4 – Learner poses a scientific question Level 1 – Learner engages in question provided by the teacher.

Collecting Evidence Learners give priority to evidence as they plan and conduct investigations. The culture of science is unique in that it insists on evidence to support every knowledge claim. Data – an unbiased observation. With multiple observations and measurements about a certain situation, the evidence is stronger. Means, medians, and modes are most often used to describe the typical value. Level of Inquiry Continuum (See Table 7.2) Level 4 – Learner determines what is evidence and collects its. Level 1 – Learner is given the data and told how to analyze it.

What Counts as Evidence? The evidence must address the question being asked. The process of gathering the evidence or collecting the data should be free of bias (objective). The evidence would be the essentially the same even if someone else collected it. The experiment could be repeated. If other scientists could not repeat the experiment in similar conditions, the results would not be very reliable.

Generating Explanations from Evidence Learners develop descriptions, explanations, and predictions using evidence. The transition from evidence to explanation is where scientists make their mark in the field. The story of Mary Anning, who became a leading paleontologist, began her work as a child when she first explained the rocks as fossils of ancient living things. The tongue twister, “she sells seashells by the seashore” refers to her childhood business selling fossils. Level of Inquiry Continuum (See Table 7.3) Level 4 – Learner formulates explanation after summarizing evidence. Level 1 – Learner is provided with evidence and explanations.

Making Connections to Scientific Knowledge Students need to learn how to construct explanations based on the evidence that they collected, but they also need to connect these explanations to the scientific knowledge developed by professionals. We should help the students develop scientific explanations and not just hope that they stumble on them through using the process skills. Level of Inquiry Continuum (See Table 7.4) Level 4 – Learner independently examines other resources and forms links to explanations. Level 2 – Learner is given possible connections.

Justifying Claims and Explanations Learners engage in critical discourse with others about procedures, evidence, and explanations. Students should recognize that the best explanations are supported by the evidence. Argument – several different meanings, but in science, the controversy focuses on how data were collected and what data should be included, and what inferences can be made based on the evidence. The focus is on the strength of the experimental design, evidence, or the explanations. Level of Inquiry Continuum (See Table 7.5) Level 4 – Learner forms reasonable and logical arguments to communicate explanations. Level 1 – Learner is given steps and procedures for communication.

Making the Leap from Activities to Inquiry Activity-based science is not sufficient by itself, but you can create inquiry- based lessons from good activities. Read about the Cartesian Diver on pages 172. You may want to try this activity if you have not. Continue to read about how to translate this activity into an inquiry lesson.