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Ideas and techniques to enhance your science teachinq

"Inquirize" Your TeachingA guide to turning favorite activities into inquiry lessons

By Susan Everett and Richard Moyer

onsider the following class-room scenario: After read-ing about cloud formation,

students are given a glass jar with asmall amount of hot tap water in itand ice sealed in a plastic baggie. Theteacher drops a lit match into eachgroup'sjar, creatingparticulates in theair on which the water can condense.Students quickly place the baggieof ice over the opening--creating atemperature gradient-and observethe formation of a cloud in the jar.Students are asked to write how thecloud in the jar is like the clouds theyread about in their text.

Now consider this scenario: Theteacher conducts the cloud demon-stration and initiates a discussionabout what the students have ob-served. Students are encouraged tofocus on the factors that they thinkmay affect the formation of the cloudin their jars. Students then investigatea factor of their choice and discussresults with the class before readingtheir text.

The difference between these twoscenarios is not trivial. While both arehands-on activities, they are not bothinquiry activities. In the first example,students are following a procedurebut are not involved in answeringa question for themselves-a keyelement in inquiry. In contrast, thechildren in the second example areactively investigating a question towhich they do not know the answer.

The first activity is probably likemany you will find in textbooks,

websites, activity books, as well assome of your old favorites that havebeen around for many years. Theseactivities, while hands-on, are pri-manily demonstrations that verifysome science concept. It is usuallypossible to adapt these kinds of ac-tivities into inquiry investigationsthat answer questions for students,as in the second scenario. It has beeninquirized-turned into an inquiryinvestigation.

The National Science EducationStandards (NSES) (NRC 1996) notethat the basic elements of inquiryinclude: ask a question, conduct aninvestigation, make observationsand collect data, use data to developan explanation, and communicateresults. We've found the 5E learningcycle model useful for designing les-sons that include the above inquiry

abilities. The leaming cycle includesfive phases, an engage that focusesstudents on a question, an explorewhere that question is investigated, anexplain where the data from the inves-tigation are analyzed and interpreted,an extend and apply where conceptsare connected to other concepts aswell as to the real world, and finally,an evaluate where the understandingsare assessed.

In this article, we describe how to"inquirize" a demonstration activitywith steps that can be applied to anyactivity (Figure 1).

Explore PhaseYou need to begin with an explorablequestion, one that can be answeredfor students by means of a simplehands-on activity. Check to see if theactivity actually answers a questionfor the students, as this is critical toinquiry. Ifit does not, it must be altered

54 Science and Children

so that it does. Consider the cloud inthe jar demonstration in the first sce-nario above. At first glance it seemsthat this activity answers the question"How do clouds form?" However,the first cloud activity demonstrateswhat components form a cloud butdoes not offer an explanation of howthe components interact to form thecloud. It simply shows that they do.Therefore, we need to alter the activityso that it does answer a question. Wecan do this by having students changeone of the variables to see how it af-fects the formation of the cloud. Forexample, students could manipulatethe temperature of the water andnote the effect on the cloud. Now, theexplorable question becomes "Whateffect does water temperature haveon cloud formation in the jar?" Or,students could vary the size of thejar, number of matches, the amountof ice, the amount of water, and soon. To make the investigation morestudent-centered, you could use theexplorable question, "what factors af-fect cloud formation in thej'ar?" In thatway, the students could investigate avariable of their own choosing.

Teachers should tightly controlmatches at all times whether this

activity is used as a demonstra-A\ tion or as a student inquiry inCAUTON which teachers add the match-

es. Before planningthis activity, checkto make sure matches are allowed inyour classroom. Teacher and studentsshould wear goggles when workingwith matches.

Engage PhaseNext, plan how you will engage thestudents. Note that we are suggestingthat you plan the engage after you planthe explore phase. The reason for this

Ten steps for inquirizing activities.(Moyer, Hackett, and Everett 2007).

Preplanning1. Consideryour concept and objective.2. Identify a possible activity that teaches your concept.

Explore Phase3. Determine whether the activity answers an explorable question.4. Alter the activity into an investigation that does answer a question for

the students. Formulate an explorable question or questions. Considersafety of the original activity and of your modifications.

Engage Phase5. Nowyou can write the engage portion of your lesson. Its main purpose

is to focus students on the explorable question(s) and how they will tryto answer it.

6. Demonstrations, real-world contexts, discussions, discrepant events,photos, and the like are all possible methods to be used in the engagephase.

Explain Phase7. Begin the explain phase of the lesson with a discussion of the students'

results. Students typically discover what happens but are likely to needhelp understanding why it happened.

8. This is an appropriate time for students to read and be introduced toany necessary vocabulary.

Extend and Apply Phase9. Consider how the new understandings relate to other concepts and

applications to the real world.

Evaluate Phase10. If possible, use performance assessment in your evaluation.

is that the purpose of the engage isto set up the explorable question. Inpractice, "engage" will occurfirst, butyou cannot set up a question beforeyou determine what it is.

The most important function ofthe engage phase is to focus studentson the explorable question and howthe investigation will attempt to pro-

vide answers. Consider your students'prior knowledge and understandingsin designing the engage phase. In thefirst scenario, students were intro-duced to the activity by reading theirtextbook. In this case, students werenot asked to use their prior knowledgeof clouds, express their ideas aboutcloud formation, or make predictions

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Inquirized cloud lesson (for Grades 4-8).Engage PhaseDemonstrate the formation of acloud in a jar and initiate a discus-sion. Ask students about their priorunderstandings of cloud formation.Lead them to a consideration of thefactors that might affect the cloudformation. Discuss how studentsmight proceed to investigate oneor more of these factors (e.g., watertemperature, amount of water,amount and location of ice). Forexample, if students select watertemperature, they might determinethe effect on the formation of thecloud when they use ice cold water,room temperature water, and warmtap water. Be sure students areaware of the explorable question:"What factors affect cloud forma-tion in the jar?" To focus students ontheir questions,you mightwritethemon the board, have students recordthem in ajournal, and asyou interactwith each group, ask them to tellyou what question they are trying toanswer with their investigation.

Explore PhaseHave students select a factor to in-vestigate and develop a procedureto answer the explorable ques-tion. Students should have theirprocedures approved before theybegin by individually sharing theirplans with the teacher. At the timeof this discussion, help studentsdetermine what data to collect andhow it might be organized. In thiscase, the results for the dependent

plastic baggiewith ice cubes

variable (cloud formation) will bequalitative-students will write de-scriptions of their clouds and whetherthey formed or not.

Explain PhaseHave students share their resultsfor the factors they tested as theyattempted to answer the explor-able question. Using these resultsas a springboard, help studentsunderstand that three componentsare necessary for cloud formation:sufficient water vapor, a change intemperature (temperature gradi-ent), and particulates in the airon which the water can condense(condensation nuclei). You mayhelp students draw these infer-

ences by asking them to refer totheir observations and note whatfactors are always present when acloud forms in the jar. Or, have stu-dents consider the conditions un-der which no cloud formed in thejar. This is an appropriate time forthe students to read their texts.

Extend and Apply PhaseRelate cloud formation to students'experiences with hot showers and"foggy" bathrooms. In addition toseeing the cloudy atmosphere ofthe bathroom, they will recall see-ing condensation on mirrors andother surfaces. In this case, the wa-ter molecules are condensing ona surface instead of a particulatein the air. Other examples includedew on the grass and seeing yourbreath when it is cold outside.

Evaluate PhasePresent students with a glass of icewater and have them observe theformation of condensation on theoutside of the glass. Have theminvestigate what factors lead to itsformation in much the same way theyinvestigated the cloud formation. Askstudents to explain how the formationof the condensation is similar to cloudformation-both require moist air, atemperature gradient, and a surfaceon which the water molecules cancondense. (Note that in dry climates itis very difficult to get any condensationon a glass of ice water.)

56 Science and Children

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about what might occur in the activ-ity. In the second case, they observedthe (perhaps unexpected) forma-tion of the cloud and were asked tospeculate on the variables involved.These students were asked to considerwhat they already know in light of thedemonstration and use some of theseideas in the investigation. To deter-mine if you have adequately focusedstudents, you might ask them to de-scribe what they are going to do in theexploration. They should be able totell you how their actions are helpingthem answer the explorable questionand not merely that they are on stepnumber three of a procedure.

Explain PhaseThe explain phase should always be-gin with a discussion of the students'results. For example, students mayfind that denser clouds were formedwhen they used warmer water. Stu-dents may deduce that this is due toincreased evaporation. The teacher'srole is to facilitate the students mak-ing these connections by askingquestions and guiding students toconsider prior knowledge.

Note also that in the inquiry sce-nario, students read their text afterthey have explored thoroughly. Theexploring gives students a reasonto read their text. It provides both amotivation and a conceptual founda-tion for the reading. Thus, the readingis set up by the exploration and itsanalysis, resultingin the reading beingmore meaningful.

Extend and Apply PhaseMany of your old favorite activitieswill not have any useable suggestionsfor extension and application of theconcept. Because learning is thought

Connecting to the StandardsThis article relates to the following National Science EducationStandards (NRC 1996):

Content StandardsGrades 5-8Standard A: Science as Inquiry

The abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry"Understandings about science inquiry

Standard D: Earth and Space Science* Structure of the Earth System

Teaching StandardsStandard A:Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program fortheir students.

of as assimilating new informationinto prior knowledge, it is helpfulto make this an explicit part of yourteaching pedagogy. The purpose ofthe extend and apply phase is to relatethe newly learned concept to similarconcepts as well as real-world ap-plications. For example, in the cloudactivity, you can make connectionsto the condensation in a bathroomafter a hot shower, foggy conditions,or condensation on a cold glass ofice water.

Evaluation PhaseAgain, most of the demonstrationideas you may find will not includeassessment ideas. Many of the ideasyou considered for your real-worldcontexts or applications can serve asuseful performance assessments. Inthe cloud lesson here, you could pres-ent students with a glass of ice waterand have them investigate factors thatresult in condensation forming on theglass. They would then be asked toexplain how this process is similar tothe cloud formation.

Inquirized InvestigationsThe lesson outlined in Figure 2,shows how the above steps leadto a complete 5E learning cyclelesson. Following the above pro-cesses, you can inquirize all of yourold favorite activities.

Susan Everett (everetts@umd.umich.edu) is an assistantprofessor of science education at theUniversity of Michigan-Dearborn.RichardMoyer (rhmoyer@umich.edu) is a professor of scienceeducation and natural sciences,also at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

ReferencesMoyer, R., J. Hackett, and S. Everett,

2007. Teaching science as investiga-tions: Modeling inquiry through learn-ing cycle lessons. Upper Saddle River,NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

National Research Council (NRC).1996. National science educationstandards. Washington, DC: Na-tional Academy Press.

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TITLE: “Inquirize” Your TeachingSOURCE: Sci Child 44 no7 Mr 2007

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