Inquiry in Inquiry in ScienceScience

"In the science classroom,"In the science classroom, wondering wondering should be as should be as

highly valuedhighly valued asas knowing," knowing,"F. James Rutherford and Andrew Ahlgren in

“Science for All Americans”

Scientific InquiryScientific Inquiry• Addresses the California State

Standard for:

Developing Explanations Based on Evidence

The Big PictureThe Big Picture

• Inquiry is the common thread in a student-centered classroom: Used in

–Cornell notes–Tutorials–Socratic Seminars–Philosophical Chairs–Learning Logs–Critical thinking & decision-making

• Often begins with a question

• Encourages students to think critically

• Creates the opportunity for students to problem-solve & share analyses

• Inquiry promotes COLLABORATION

The Big PictureThe Big Picture

• Inquiry immediatelyengages students with their own thinking processes.

Why Use Inquiry as a Why Use Inquiry as a Teaching Methodology? Teaching Methodology?

• What results isstudent ownershipfor enlargedunderstanding ofconcepts and values.

Why Use Inquiry as a Why Use Inquiry as a Teaching Methodology? Teaching Methodology?

• Encourages students to think critically about inferences and logical relationships between cause & effect

• Often begins with a question about a natural phenomenon.

Scientific InquiryScientific Inquiry

Scientific InquiryScientific Inquiry• Once asked, a process of scientific

inquiry begins– Eventually a proposed

explanation

• Experimental design is also part of the inquiry process.

From “Teaching About Evolution & the Nature of Science,” N.A.S.

“You can’t get students to think critically without asking critical questions”

Carmen Serret-Lopez

1. REMEMBER: recalling information2. UNDERSTAND: comprehend meaning3. APPLY: using learning in new

situations4. ANALYZE: ability to see parts &

relationships 5. EVALUATION: judgment based on

criteria 6. CREATE: Use parts to create a new

whole

Bloom’s LevelsBloom’s Levels

Level 1 -Level 1 - REMEMBERREMEMBER

• What information is given?• What are you being asked to find?• What formula would you use?• What does _____mean?• What is the formula for...?• List the...• Name the...• Where did...?• What is...?• Who was/were...?• When did...

Recalling Information

Level 2 -Level 2 - UNDERSTANDUNDERSTAND

• What are you being asked to find?

• Explain the concept of...

• Give me an example of...

• Describe in your words what ___ means.

• What concepts does this connect to?

• Draw a diagram of...

• Illustrate how _____ works.

• Explain how you calculate...

Comprehending Meaning

• What additional information is needed to solve

this problem?• Can you see other relationships that will help you

find this information?• How can you put your data in graphic form?• What occurs when..?• How would you change your procedures to get

better results?• What method would you use to...• Does it make sense to...?

Using Learning in New Situations

Level 3 -Level 3 - APPLYAPPLY

• Compare and contrast _____ to _____.

• What was important about...

• Which errors most affected your results?

• What were some sources of variability?

• How do your conclusions support your

hypothesis?

• What prior research/formulas support

your conclusions?

• How else could you account for...?

Ability to See Parts & Relationships

Level 4 - Level 4 - ANALYZEANALYZE

• How can you tell if your answer is reasonable?• What would happen to ____ if ____ variable

were increased/decreased?• How would repeat trials affect your data?• What significance is this experiment to the

subject you're learning?• What type of evidence is most compelling to

you?• Do you feel ____ experiment is ethical?• Are your results biased?

Judgment Based on Criteria

Level 5 -Level 5 - EVALUATEEVALUATE

• Design a lab to show...

• Predict what will happen to ____ as ____ is

changed?

• Using a principle of science, how can we find ...?

• Describe the events that might occur if...

• Design a scenario for...

• Pretend you are...

• What would the world be like if...

Use Parts to Create a New Whole

Level 6 -Level 6 - CREATECREATE

Why Is This Important?Why Is This Important?

• State and National surveys indicatethat approximately 90% of the questions K-12th grade students are exposed to are lower-level questions.

• In college this trend reverses, and students deal primarily with high-level critical questions.

• To increase rigor and give students a chance to study each topic more deeply:– encourage the use of higher-

level inquiry questioning that requires students to use their creativity and imagination.

TIMSSTIMSS RecommendationsRecommendations

Learner performs lab activity

Teacher asks students probing questions

Learner reads about prior scientific investigations

Learner justifies proposed

explanation

Science Science as inquiry is as inquiry is when…when…

Inquiry In ScienceInquiry In Science

Text-Driven InquiryText-Driven Inquiry

• Beluga Whale Article– Read each passage and answer

the questions on Cornell notes

Where Do Belugas Survive?Where Do Belugas Survive?

Passage OnePassage One• Why do you think the number of

whales has not increased?

• What is the question that would best guide a scientific investigation about why the population of whales does not increase?

Passage TwoPassage Two• Based on your understanding, were the

original investigations adequate?• Did scientists use appropriate tools &

techniques to gather, analyze & interpret data?

• Did scientists use evidence to explain that whales died because of pollutants?

• What would be the best approach to design & conduct a scientific investigation that would demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship?

Passage ThreePassage ThreeBriefly identify portions that illustrate one of the

aspects of scientific inquiry.

I.I. Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations.

2.2. Current scientific knowledge & understanding guide scientific investigations.

3.3. Math is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry. 4.4. Technology used to gather data enhances

accuracy and allows scientists to analyze and quantify results of investigations.

Passage ThreePassage ThreeBriefly identify portions that illustrate one

of the aspects of scientific inquiry.5.5. Scientific explanations emphasize evidence,

have logically consistent arguments, and use scientific principles, models, and theories.

6.6. Science advances through legitimate skepticism.

7.7. Scientific investigations sometimes result in new ideas and phenomena for study.

What do the What do the Footprints Say???Footprints Say???

• Reconstruct happenings from the geological past by analyzing a set of fossilized tracks

• Form defensible explanations of past events from limited evidence.

• As more evidence is available, modify or abandon your hypotheses.

MissionMission

Position #1Position #1• Can you tell anything about size or

nature of organisms?

• Were the tracks made at the same time?

• How many animals involved?

• Can you reconstruct a series of events represented by this set of fossil tracks?

• Suggest evidence to support your explanations!

Position #2Position #2• With new

info, revisit first explanation

• MODIFY your explanation and/or add new ones

Interpret What HappenedInterpret What Happened

Questions to Consider...Questions to Consider...• In what directions did animals move?• Did they change speed or direction?• What might have changed the footprint pattern?• Was the land level or irregular?• Was the soil moist or dry?• In what kind of rocks were the prints

made?• Were sediments coarse or fine?• Characteristics of track environment?

Remember!Remember!• Any reasonable explanation must

be based only on those proposed explanations that still apply when all of the puzzle is projected

For Each Explanation...For Each Explanation...• Be sure to indicate the evidence!

If you could VISIT the site, what evidence would you look for to support your hypothesis?

Adapted from a BSCS lab

Constructivist ProcessConstructivist Process• Journey in which the voyagers arrive without a map in hand

• Guided by the questions, "Where are we now?" and "Where should we go next?”

• Teacher initiates & facilitates learning activities that help students create their own maps to the territory

The “Black Tube” Model

Investigate the tube with all your senses

Make a drawing of what the INSIDE of the tube looks like

Post your drawings and take a “museum walk” to look at everyone’s model

Scientific ModelingScientific Modeling

Open-ended InquiryOpen-ended Inquiry• Creates the opportunity for students

to design their own experimental and compare their analyses with groups.–Teaches students to

comprehend science as a process

–Promotes COLLABORATION

Levels of OpennessLevels of OpennessTable 1. Schwab/Herron Levels of Laboratory Openness

LEVEL PROBLEM WAYS & MEANS ANSWERSO Given Given Given1 Given Given Open2 Given Open Open3 Open Open Open

• Level 0 = Students make few decisions-other than deciding whether they got the "right answers."

• Level 3 = Students decide what to investigate, how to investigate it, and how to interpret the results they generate.

• Level 3 activities are what most scientists do

• Whole faculty agrees on what the students in ALL sciences need to do:1. to be able to design an experiment

2. to be able to write a GROUP

lab report

3. to be able to graph

information

Experimental DesignExperimental Design

Example: Example: Pill Bug ExperimentPill Bug Experiment

• Demonstrates experimental design principles and scientific method

• Constructivist ApproachOpen-ended

lab

Title:

Hypothesis:

Independent Variable (IV):

Dependent Variable (DV):

Control:

Constants:1)

2)

3)

ExD TemplateExD Template

GROUPS

Repeated Trials

• Define the problem– “The Effect Of Substrate On

Pillbug Habitat Selection”

• Define the Independent Variable(s)– Time in habitat chamber

• Define the Dependent Variable(s)– Type of substrate

Creating an ExDCreating an ExD

• Define the Experimental Group(s)– Cut grass, wood chips

• Define the Control Group– Chamber with natural humus

substrate

Creating an ExDCreating an ExD

• Make a Hypothesis– If Pillbugs prefer the natural humus

chamber, then they will stay there at least 80% of the time after the first 10 minutes of experimentation.

Creating an ExDCreating an ExD

• Determine the Experimental Constants– Moisture level, temperature, food, lack

of predation

• Choose and Sketch the set-up

Creating an ExDCreating an ExD

• Determine the number of trials or groups needed for validity– 10 pillbugs/chamber– 10 thirty-second trials

• Determine how the results will be quantified– # of pillbugs/ chamber/30

sec– T-test

Creating an ExDCreating an ExD

• 1) Prepare a choice chamber • 2) Cover the bottom of each chamber with

either wood chips, cut grass or natural humus

• 3) Transfer ten pillbugs from the stock culture into each choice chamber

• 4) Cover the chambers

Write Up the ProcedureWrite Up the Procedure

• 5) Count and record how many pillbugs are in each chamber every 30 seconds for I0 minutes

Write Up the ProcedureWrite Up the Procedure

• Quantitatively summarize data– Make a Bar Graph of the number of

pillbugs in experimental and control chambers per 30 second interval.

– Perform a “t-test”

Run the ExperimentRun the Experiment

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

# of Pillbugs.

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300Time (secs)

Substrate Preference in Pill Bugs

Wood Chips Cut Grass Natural Humus

Analyze The ResultsAnalyze The Results

• Interpret statistics properly– DON’T make broad statements from

small samples

– Use P .05 that differences have occurred from chance alone

Analyze The ResultsAnalyze The Results• Compare data with other groups

• Analyze the trends

• Address errors

• Look at all alternative interpretations

• Validate the hypothesis– Decide whether your data fits the:

Null hypothesis or Alternative hypothesis

Come to a ConclusionCome to a Conclusion

• Refine the experiment

– Choose the same size pillbugs

• Re-test

• Write a group Lab Report

RetestRetest

• To show what you know about experimental design, you will design an experiment to test the claims in a magazine ad.

ExD Using AdvertisementsExD Using Advertisements

ExD Using AdvertisementsExD Using Advertisements

1. Select a magazine ad.2. Neatly cut out the advertisement.3. Design a valid experiment that focuses

on what the magazine ad is claiming. 4. Create an Experimental Design Chart

showing the design of your valid experiment. – Neatly written using markers.

ProcedureProcedure

5. Write a complete list of steps to perform the experiment. Things to consider:– How much product to apply– How to choose participants– How to measure the responses/ variables– # of trials– What are the constants and how would you control

them– What is the control– What types of experimental groups are used, etc.

ProcedureProcedure

ConstructExperimental Design Chart

Here

Group Member Names

6. Peer Review your procedure with another group. Redraft your procedure based on the all revisions suggested.

7. Attach the ad and the procedure to the front of your poster.

ProcedureProcedure

Attach AD here

AttachProcedure

Here

Developed byDeveloped by

Anne F. MabenAnne F. MabenAVID LACOE Science CoachAVID LACOE Science Coach