1 Inquiry Investigable Questions

2 Goals Develop an understanding of the importance of giving students opportunities to ask their own questions—ones students can then investigate on their own. Developing students’ questioning skills so the questions students ask lead in productive directions

3 Purpose To explore the kind of questions learners ask To find ways to move these questions in the direction of investigations To help learners use questions to devise investigations

4 Purpose To enable learners to distinguish the kinds of questions that can lead to investigation from those that cannot To practice turning non-investigable questions into investigable questions

5 Questioning is the basis of all inquiry

6 Inquiry Starting Points Explore and raise questions. Participants: explore engaging materials and phenomena raise and record questions

7 Doing the Activity Observe the balloon. Write your groups’ questions on the cards.

8 Examine the Range of Questions 1. Write questions on sentence strips 2. Sort questions into groups that explore similar phenomena 3. Determine if the questions are investigable

9 Range of Questions – Why does salt melt the ice so quickly? – Are there substances other than salt that will melt ice? – How long did it take the ice balloon to freeze? – Does the range of freezing temperatures affect the formations? – How can we determine the makeup of the “ice hairs?” – Does the ice balloon float?

10 An Investigable question is one that: leads to a plan of action, doing something that helps answer the question by working with materials (and the materials are available.) can be investigated in the here and now (time) frequently begin with “What will happen if,” or the phrase “does the____ make a difference?” or “How does ____ affect ____ ?”

11 Non – Investigable Questions questions that do not lead to taking hands-on action requests for information or explanations questions that begin with why—such as “Why is most of the ice balloon underneath the water?” or “Why are parts of the ice balloon cloudy?”

12 Focused Investigation 1. select a question to investigate in more depth 2. plan the investigation 3. record investigation (when appropriate) In your group focus on investigating a question.

13 Investigate Your Question Choose a group question to investigate with more/different materials

14 Take Action Find out where your question will lead you

15 Reflecting On Your Question What was your question? Where did it lead you? Did it allow you to take action? If so what was that action?

16 Examine the Investigated Question QuestionActionLead To I wonder if……

17 Investigable Questions How much does the temperature of the water change over time? Does the heat from the flashlight cause the ice to melt faster than it would otherwise? Is there a core inside the ice balloon?

18 Non-investigable Questions Can you make an ice balloon without bubbles? Why does salt make a popping sound when it hits the ice? Why doesn’t the light pass through the bubbles?

19 Non – Investigable Questions “Turning A Question” A “variables scan” results in the development of productive question that can be explored by the learners. ~ Primary Science – Taking the Plunge Edited by Wynne Harlen

20 Turning Questions: A Variables Scan The Situation... Second grade students are exploring how paper towels absorb water. They notice that paper towels seem to “suck up” the water. Someone asks, “Why does the water go into the paper towel?”

21 The Scan ■ When you “scan” the situation, what variables can you find? ■ The explanation must have something to do with how the water and the paper towel interact, so those are the variables we can change to help us learn more.

22 “WHY DOES THE WATER GO INTO THE PAPER TOWEL?” The Variables Water (or other liquid) 2. Paper towel (or other material)

23 How can the question be turned into practical action? CONSIDER VARIABLE 1: The liquid being absorbed. What could be changed about the liquid? The kind of liquid (tomato juice, motor oil, etc.) The amount of liquid The temperature of the liquid

24 “WHY DOES THE WATER GO INTO THE PAPER TOWEL?” Turned Questions... Would something different happen if the water were very hot or very cold? Would salt water be different from fresh water? Would something different happen if we used tomato juice?

25 Turning Questions Select a non-investigable question to turn into an investigable question

26 Interesting phenomena can stimulate a rich variety of questions Take-Home Message #1

27 Take-Home Message #2 Questions drive the investigation process

28 Take-Home Message #3 Questions can either be investigable or non-investigable

29 Take-Home Message #4 Non-investigable questions can be turned into investigable ones

30 This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EHR Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the granting agency.

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