INQUIRY with Anything

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INQUIRY with Anything

• San Antonio Science and Mathematics Saturday
• October 7, 2006
• Presented by
• Virginia Malone

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Learning That SticksTakes Time.

• There Are No Short Cuts.
• by Rafe Esquith

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• People only see what they are prepared to see.
•  
• Ralph Waldo Emerson. 1863

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Planning Ahead For Inquiry

• Know the TEKS to be covered.
• Formulate questions before class.
• Reflect.
• Keep a record.

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• TAKS Obj 2.Make a prediction based on an
  understanding of properties of a system.
• 5.5B describe some interactions that occur
• in a simple system
• 5.7A classify matter based on its physical
• properties...
• 2.9A identify the external characteristics of
• different kinds of plants and animals
• that allow their needs to be met
• 2.9B compare and give examples of ways
• living organisms depend on each
• other and on their environments.

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Ask As Many Questions As Possible

• What is it? Expert
• Why is it shaped like this? Great question
• Where does it come from? Expert
• Who grows them? Expert
• When did you find it? Expert
• What is its mass? Inquiry only you will know
  the answer

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Inquiry Question Starters

• What will happen if I ...
• What are the effects of ...
• Will it ... if I do ...
• How will... affect ...
• How many ...
• How much ...
• How does it ... (any sense except taste)

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Ask a question you can answer by experimenting.

• What will happen if I
• Will it
• How much
• What are the effects of on
• Etc.

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Experiment

• Choose one question that can be answered in
  the next few minutes.
• Complete your experiment using only the
  materials available.

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Report Your Results

• How is related to survival of the plant?
• How is what we did like the things scientists
  do?
• What if groups do the same thing and get
  different results? Same results?
• How reliable are the results?

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Reflections

• What did we do first?
• What did we do second?
• Etc.

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• I hear, I forget.
• I see, I question.
• I do, I learn.
• I teach, I understand.
• I reflect, I improve.
• Adapted from
  Chinese Proverb
• by Virginia Malone

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Flower
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Maturing ovary
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Green Devils Claws before Splitting
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Properties

• The devils claw is well suited to holding
  onto a horses tail for a long time because it
  has long claws which are
• A. ductile and smooth
• B.  flexible and curved
• C.  brown and sharp
• D.  soft and pliable
• E.  malleable and brittle

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Adaptive Characteristic

• The shape of the devils claw is an example of
  an adaptation for
•    A. root development
•         B. leaf protection
•        C. plant growth
•        D. seed dispersal

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Adaptive Characteristics

• Which of these is the best supporting evidence
  that the devils claws can be carried by an
  animals fur?
• A.  The shape of the claws
• B. The color of the claws
• C.  The number of seeds in the claws
• D.  The size of the seeds in the claws

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Going beyond direct teaching

• How does this seed pod probably travel?
• A. By blowing in the wind
• B. By floating on water
• C. By catching on to animal fur.
• D. By passing through the
• digestive track of birds.

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• Which hypothesis is best supported by these data?
• Different types of dogs will carry the devils
  claws different distances.
• Bigger dogs will carry the devils claws longer
  distances.
• C. Devils claws will rarely get caught in the
  fur of dogs with curly hair.
• D. Running will cause the devils claws to fall
  out of a dogs hair.

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Floating Clip
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Ask a question you can answer by experimenting.

• What will happen if I
• Will it
• How much
• What are the effects of on
• Etc.

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What Might Students Learn?

• Shaking the water causes the clip to fall.
• More than one clip will come together like a
  magnet (ask to place two close together on the
  desk top)
• The clip cannot float if water has soap in it.

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Reflections

• What did we do first?
• What did we do second?
• How was this activity like the first?

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• The fatal pedagogical error
• to throw answers like stones at the heads of
  those who have not yet asked the questions.
• Paul Tillich

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Learning That SticksTakes Time.

• There Are No Short Cuts.
• by Rafe Esquith

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• Every Student Can Learn.

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• Every Teacher Can Improve.

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• Every school can become a center of excellence.

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The Road to Success Is Always Under
Construction.
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• For text version go to http//www.wetheteachers.co
  m/plan.php?id37