1. Introducing Inquiry Raising Questions
One of the most powerful ways for students to learn science is through questions grounded in their own curiosity.
Raising Questions introduces teachers to ways to stimulate that curiosity, elicit student questions, and move them in productive directions that can ultimately lead to investigations.
The Raising Questions workshop provides teachers with new pedagogical understandings and skills rather than activities they can take back to the classroom.

2. Raising Questions Goals
■ To develop an understanding of the importance of giving students opportunities to ask their own questions—ones
students can then investigate on their own
■ To help teachers realize they can develop their
students’ questioning skills so the questions
students ask lead in productive directions
The Goals of the Workshop
Read these goals

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
Although you’ll learn something about the properties of ice today,
the main focus of this workshop is to examine the process of
raising questions.

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
Questions are the basis of all inquiry. Whether it’s in the classroom or the research laboratory, investigations begin when we encounter materials and phenomena that we don’t understand—that engage our curiosity and draw us into looking at something more carefully.
The purpose of this workshop is to give you an opportunity to think more deeply about the role of questioning in investigating materials and phenomena.

6. Inquiry Starting Points Explore and raise questions.
Participants:
explore engaging
materials and phenomena
raise and record questions
All inquiry begins with a question. Many teachers use kits and other hands-on science curricula as starting points for investigating questions in the
classroom. When students use these curricula, the questions they investigate are often determined by the instructional materials.
As a way of raising and investigating questions of your own, you’ll be working with ice balloons—
spheres of ice made by filling balloons with water, then freezing and peeling them.

7. Doing the Activity Observe the balloon.
Write your groups’ questions on the cards.
About Ice Balloons
Take the next 20 minutes to carefully observe your ice balloon. Talk with each other, and come up with as many questions as you can about what you are noticing and wondering. There are no the ideas that occur to you. Write down each question on an index card, using one side only—one question per card. One person in each group should be the recorder.
Limiting the number of materials participants can use focuses attention on the ice rather than on the use of materials. Giving participants adequate
time for open-ended exploration allows them to notice more and more about the ice.
This workshop is for the purpose of professional development. It is not intended to be replicated in the classroom. It’s meant to provide you with new
pedagogical ideas about questioning that you can apply to your teaching.

8. Examine the Range of Questions
Write questions on sentence strips
Sort questions into groups that explore similar phenomena
Determine if the questions are investigable
By now, participants have had a chance to raise a variety of questions about ice balloons. In this part of the workshop, they sort their questions
into those they think can be investigated and those that can’t. Then they’ll choose one question to investigate.
Distribute two sentence strips and a set of red and blue marking pens to each group.
Tell participants: Select one investigable question and one non-investigable
question from your index cards.
Write your investigable question in red and your non-investigable question in blue on the sentence strips. Then post your questions on the charts with
masking tape.
Take about 5 minutes.
After this sorting, each group chooses one of the investigable questions to pursue, taking note of new questions that come up as they work. They discover the dynamic nature of the questioning process: that one question leads to another, and that over time they may come up with a question that’s completely different from their initial question, which leads them in an unanticipated direction.

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?
Now we want to look at the variety of questions that came up during the exploration.
Each group will look through all their cards and agree on one to read aloud.
This slide lists some possible questions that the group may report.
After 5 minutes, ask participants to report out.
Write the chosen questions on the “Range of Questions” chart. (In the interest of time, you may want to record about six questions, rather
than have every group report out.)

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 ____ ?”
Different Kinds of Questions
Questions that lead to taking action are considered “investigable.”
For example, questions that begin with what will happen if . . .or contain the phrase does the _____ make a difference can be investigated. The way they
are phrased invites one to experiment with materials and phenomena. “What will happen if we put salt on the ice?” or “Does the temperature of the water make a difference?” indicate a clear course of action.

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?”
Questions that do not lead to taking hands-on action are considered “non-investigable.”
For example, 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?”
are considered non-investigable.
They’re stated in a way that does not lead directly to hands-on action that would help answer the question as stated.
Instead, they’re requests for information or explanations.
Answering these kinds of questions will probably require obtaining information from a book, the Internet, or a person who has experience in the area. While investigations can be conducted using such resources, this workshop addresses investigations that take place through firsthand experiences with materials and phenomena.

12. Focused Investigation
In your group focus on investigating a question.
select a question to investigate in more depth
plan the investigation
record investigation (when appropriate)
Criteria for Investigable Questions
– Availability of materials
– Availability of time (can be investigated now or in the near future)
– Age appropriate
– Leads to taking action

13. Investigate Your Question
Choose a group question to investigate with more/different materials
Participants write questions on cards, then they decide which questions they could investigate and write these questions on sentence strips.
In this part of the workshop, participants explore ice balloons, write down questions about them examine the variety of questions generated, and
become aware of how interacting with intriguing phenomena can stimulate new questions.

14. Find out where your question will lead you
Take Action
Find out where your question will lead you
Give participants enough time to investigate their question with the available materials.

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?
Discuss the answer to each of these questions with your group
Write the answer to each on a large post-it note.
Post it on the appropriate wall chart

16. Examine the Investigated Question
Action
Lead To
I wonder if……
Detailed look at:
the questions that groups investigated
the action taken
where it lead/what they found out

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?
Some Investigable questions that may have been investigated
Investigable questions frequently begin with
“What will happen if,” or include the phrase
“does the____ make a difference?” or
“How does ____affect ____ ?”
The phrasing of such questions leads to taking some action that would help answer the question.

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?
Questions beginning with why are requesting information rather
than suggesting an action that can be taken. Generally, these questions can be answered by using a reference book or the Internet or by asking an experienced person.

19. Non – Investigable Questions “Turning A Question”
A “variables scan” results in the development of productive question
that can be explored by the learners.
Turning Questions
■ Why does the ice always float with the same side up?
Scan to see …..
– Does the weight of the ice make a difference? (in how it floats)
– Does the shape of the ice make a difference? (in how it floats)
– What would happen if I floated it in salt water? (in how it floats)
~ 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)
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
Reword on of the non-investigable questions into and investigable question.
Each group will read one revision or
Post the revised question on sentence strip under the original question.

26. Interesting phenomena can stimulate a rich variety of questions
Take-Home Messages
Interesting phenomena can stimulate a
rich variety of questions
Questions drive the investigation process
Questions can either be investigable or
non-investigable
Non-investigable questions can be turned
into investigable ones
Our final goal is that through direct experience and discussion, you are developing an understanding of the ideas expressed by the take-home messages.