Going Into Depth About Science Inquiry

The 5 steps of inquiry-based learning

1. Ask questions
2. Probe into various situations
3. Conduct analyses and provide descriptions
4. Communicate findings, verbally or in writing
5. Think about the information and knowledge obtained

Inquiry-based learning is not a technique or practice, but a process that has the potential to increase the intellectual engagement and deep understanding of learners, urging students to:

• Develop their questioning, research and communication skills
• Collaborate outside the classroom
• Solve problems, create solutions, and tackle real-life questions and issues
• Participate in the creation and amelioration of ideas and knowledge

Click this link to read all about the Inquiry Process!

"Learning through inquiry means that the students construct knowledge through the process of asking questions, seeking evidence, formulating explanations based on evidence, and justifying their explanations."

Mock Mystery Bag

• Pass around bag and have 5 seconds to feel what is in the bag
• Felt different objects, heard a squeaky noise and when the bag was shook, the bag made a sound like a maraca 
• Gained an informed guess on the possible answers of what could be in the bag and we shared our findings as a class
• Formulate a statement on what you think is in the bag and create a hypothesis
• Devise a method to obtain information; what would help to evaluate whether your hypothesis is SUPPORTED or NOT supported
• Each test will have two predictions on what to expect; if hypothesis is correct and if hypothesis is wrong
• Restate the hypothesis and predict what would happen
• A hypothesis is NOT just a guess, it is a TENTATIVE EXPLANATION

Collaborative Inquiry Presentation

• Fish is Fish Video
• Children resemble "fish" when they come to class with their misconceptions and through time, they grow and learn who they are as a student
• Common Misconceptions Presentation Topics
• Space Travel
• The sun disappears at night
• Black holes are like vacuums
• The Earth is larger than the sun
• The Earth is round like a pancake
• The moon can only be seen during night time
• Rocks & Minerals
• Rocks must be heavy
• Rocks are the same color on the inside as they are on the outside
• Humans can make rocks and minerals
• Minerals and Rocks are the same
• Minerals are always shiny and metallic
• Life in the Desert
• Deserts are always in a drought, it is dry land with no water or vegetation
• The desert always has a warm/hot climate; no change in weather patterns (Example: Antarctica is the biggest desert)
• Temperatures in the desert do not fall below freezing
• There is no rainfall in a desert