COSEE California Communicating Ocean Sciences Session 4: Building Towards Inquiry

COSEE California Session 4 objectives Become aware of how inquiry science looks in the elementary and middle school classroom Gain experience with kit-based curricula Experience inquiry-based, hands-on ocean science activities used in elementary school classrooms Practice designing lessons to become more aware of looking for the presence of inquiry and learning cycles within hands-on activities Determine which grade level you would like to teach during the course See examples of the kinds of materials that are available for use when designing your own lesson

COSEE California Quick write Have you had a chance to experience inquiry science in your academic career as described in the reading? If so, please describe. If you haven’t had a first hand inquiry science experience, what do you think the value of such an experience might be? What do you think the most difficult part (or stumbling block) of the inquiry process might be for students including grad., undergrad., K-12?

COSEE California Introduction to the essential features of inquiry science You will be participating in a 3rd grade inquiry-based activity Purpose: doing this activity will help you get familiar with what an elementary school inquiry-based activity might look like

COSEE California Crayfish Investigations

COSEE California Crayfish Investigations Inquiry Journal

COSEE California “I wonder”--generating the questions Write questions on sentence strips Categorize your questions Teacher adds questions if students don’t include some key questions independently Categorize the entire class’s questions on the wall

COSEE California What happens next? Rules for Investigations Determine criteria for investigations-- what can you actually investigate? Small group discussions regarding what would make good rules Whole class discussion with teacher recording student comments Teacher circles rules that everyone agrees on Class and teacher go through sentence strips to find questions that fit and don’t fit the rules

COSEE California Class Rules About What We Can Investigate 1.Animals are not harmed in any way. 2.The question isn’t too big--it can be answered by just one investigation and within one class period 3.The materials needed are easy to get, inexpensive or already available in the classroom 4.The investigation is a what-happens-if, comparison or measuring question, not a why or how 5.The question is interesting to the investigator 6.The question is important (or relevant) to the crayfish in its real life 7.The question isn’t a “Lookup” question 8.The question can be answered by something you can do in this classroom

COSEE California About the Class Rules If a question or investigation fits within the class rules it is investigable If a question does not fit within the class rules it is not investigable Just because a question is not investigable in this class does not mean it could never be investigated Students copy the class rules down (page 5)

COSEE California Looking at our questions? Travel around the room with a partner to pick 2 questions with the following criteria:  One is a “Lookup” question  One is not investigable according to the class rules

COSEE California The Lookup Questions Students use resources to learn more about crayfish --> more information for their own investigations

COSEE California Which questions can we answer from the wall? Using the information they just learned and prior knowledge, which questions can they now answer from the wall? Students record answers together in their journals (page 5)

COSEE California Our questions to investigate! Students pick the question they would like to investigate They may have the chance to turn non-investigable questions into investigable ones if possible Students stand in front of the category in which their question is located Students discuss the question they selected with other students who have chosen that category Students at each category decide together which question they would like to investigate

COSEE California So, you chose a question… now what? Students write down the question they have chosen in their inquiry journals. Questions may need to be revised to make them more focused. (page 6) Students also describe their hypothesis (page 6) Students explain if their questions fit the Class Rules About What They Can Investigate and then explain why (page 6)

COSEE California So, you chose a question… now what? Why is your question interesting? Relevance to crayfish? Feelings about the inquiry process? (page 7) Materials and procedures (pages 8 and 9) Students would continue with the investigation

COSEE California Essential Features of Classroom Inquiry Learners are engaged by scientifically oriented questions Learners give priority to evidence, which allow them to develop and evaluate explanations Learners formulate explanations from evidence to address scientifically oriented questions Learners connect their explanations to scientific knowledge Learners communicate and justify their proposed explanations Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards, p. 25

COSEE California Essential Features of Classroom Inquiry and Their Variations

COSEE California ShiftedCookbook Sense of freedom and focus when asked to design own data sheets “Another Worksheet” We didn’t know what we were looking for so there was a broader range of what we could discover Gives results before you even have the experience Higher order thinking skills requiredDidn’t have to think, just look and write Detailed descriptions, analysis and summarization Record, list, describe I wound up writing more than I expectedFour lines on the worksheet equals four sentences Student ownership--empoweringTeacher ownership--”When the teacher tells you what to discover you don’t have ownership” Discovery orientedKids don’t want to be told what to discover Kids have to think for themselvesNot asked to think, just do Anticipation kept us involved“Oh, do we have to do all this work?” Teacher Identified Benefits of Shifts Toward Inquiry

COSEE California What about what we do in the classrooms? Why do you think that they are not full open-ended inquiries? What do you think inquiry- based means?

COSEE California The Learning Cycle Invitation Application & Reflection Exploration Concept Invention

COSEE California Reviewing the Learning Cycle How would the lesson start? What would the students be asked to do next? How would new content information be presented? How would the lesson end? What materials would be used and are they easily accessible? What are the learning objectives-- what do we want the students to understand and be able to do?

COSEE California What’s important for students to know and understand? What’s important for students to know about the content area? What do we want the students to learn from the activity (the student learning objectives)? Compare to the National Science Standards

COSEE California Jigsaw Activity Invitation Exploration Concept Invention Application Reflection

COSEE California Kit Carousel Look for evidence of the Learning Cycle, learning objectives, and inquiry Think about which grade you would like to focus on

COSEE California Quick Write What are your overall impressions of the kits and curricula? What was the most intriguing activity to you and why? What grade level do you want to focus on?

COSEE California Homework Ask at least 3 friends, classmates or faculty the following question:  What causes the seasons? Write down their responses and bring the notes to class next week to turn in