How to Create my Own Scientific Inquiry Lessons
Unit Overview
Topic(s) Covered:
- How can I implement scientific inquiry into my science instruction?
Learning Outcomes:
- You will be able to explain ways to improve upon current science lessons.
- You will feel more confident in your understanding of how to implement scientific inquiry into your classroom.
- You will be able to discuss how your learning applies to their current/future career.
- You will be able to successfully complete a self-checklist to reflect on your understanding of scientific inquiry.
- You will complete and reflect through a Q & A about any remaining questions you have about scientific inquiry.
What You Need to Succeed:
- A willingness to learn and engage in content.
- A familiarity with Google Jamboard and Google Docs in order to be able to reflect on your current understanding.
- In the Jamboard, you have the option of creating either a sticky note or a text box to reflect on your learning.
Where Should I Start?
If you are unfamiliar with scientific inquiry teaching, the thought of implementing, let alone creating, scientific inquiry lessons can be daunting. However, you have already gained many of the useful skills that you need in order to do it. Despite the next few units delving into how to implement scientific inquiry across multiple learning environments, there may be instances where you as the educator need to start from scratch. In many cases, the curriculums that are in use in elementary schools are not utilizing scientific inquiry. So, it is important to know how to create your own scientific inquiry lesson using just a standard.
The first task that is required in being able to successfully create a scientific inquiry lesson for your elementary students, is to work backwards. Start by considering what the end goal is of your instruction, then work step-by-step to unravel the necessary pieces of instruction that will be required to ensure students reach that goal. As with the instructional design (ID) process, starting with the end goal first, the instructional/learning outcomes will align and ensure that the learners gain the proper amount and depth of instruction necessary to succeed (Larson & Lockee, 2020). Therefore, you need to work to break down what it is you want your students to know. It is vital that you understand what you want your students to know so you can then work to creating an inquiry-based lesson.
Money Problems
The next step would involve the process of actually creating an inquiry-based lesson for your students to engage with. However, teachers are regularly not provided with adequate resources for standard lessons, let alone with the implementation of new science lessons. Thankfully, this is not the end of the story. There are many affordable ways to create inquiry based science lessons without having to put a strain on your own bank account. As an example from the first unit, if students are learning about the water cycle they can either read about it and look over diagrams or they can get a chance to experience it through a hands-on activity such as the water cycle in a sandwich bag. This experiment is simple, affordable, and allows students to see the science that they are learning about.
Another method that can be employed is seeking out student-driven questions for a lesson. Student-led inquiry is one of the pillars of scientific inquiry and can be a stepping stone in the right direction, without coming at a high cost. When students are given an opportunity to explore their own questions, it automatically turns a limited inquiry lesson into a guided or open-ended inquiry lesson. Students can decide what is to be explored or how the determined driving question can be explored.
Your Responsibilities
When you are deciding on how to incorporate scientific inquiry into your lesson plans, it is important to remember certain aspects that will make it successful. First, you should work to understand what type of inquiry it is that your lesson will have. Are you going to give your students a question and have them work to come to their own solutions? Or, are you going to allow your students to be given full control over what science concept it is that they want to investigate? Once you have decided on that, then it is important to ensure that the the necessary resources for a successful lesson are present. This could be computers, or access to one, or books for research purposes, supplies to conduct an experiment, and collaborative opportunities with their peers. It is also vital to remember that any steps towards incorporating scientific inquiry into the classroom are steps into the right direction. When you are working to create a lesson that utilizes the important pillars of scientific inquiry, there is a checklist that can be utilized to help in remembering the pieces that work towards scientific inquiry lesson. It is provided below, feel free to use the copy throughout the next few units or whenever you are writing science lessons in your elementary classroom.
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
- How To Use Scientific Inquiry In the Elementary Classroom
- Methods for Incorporating Scientific Inquiry
- 4 Levels of Inquiry
Show Me What You Know:
Take a few minutes to completely reflect on your learning. Consider answering these questions:
- How does this learning connect to my current/future career goals?
- In what way did the learning from this unit benefit my understanding and confidence about incorporating scientific inquiry instruction?
If you have any remaining questions regarding scientific inquiry, place them into the Jamboard below. Additionally, it could be beneficial to read through the questions other learners have placed and feel free to answer any questions that you know the answer to.
*Important Note*
The next three units, 3-5, you have a choice in whether or not you choose to complete all or just some of them. Work to complete whichever unit that best fits your current or future career goals or the topics that interest you most. In the next three units you will be working towards adapting a lesson to model scientific inquiry within a specific learning environment, online, special area, or traditional classroom, however, it is not necessary for you to complete all three if you feel that it would not apply to you.
Unit 1 ↔ Unit 3 (K-5 Special Area); Unit 4 (Traditional Classroom); Unit 5 (Online)
References:
4 levels of inquiry. Inquiry in Education. (2014, October 29). https://inquiryineducation.wordpress.com/4-levels-of-inquiry/
Edutopia. (2015b, December 16). Inquiry-Based Learning: From teacher-guided to student-driven. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAYh4nWUkU0&t=24s
Larson, M. B., Lockee, B. B., Erlewine, M., & Fuchs, M. L. (2020). Streamlined ID: A practical guide to instructional design (2nd ed.). essay, Routledge.
Murdoch, K. (2015, November 29). What does it mean to be an inquiry teacher?. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlX32gB_e-w&t=17s
Toro, S. (2021, April 12). Promoting scientific inquiry inside and outside of the classroom. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/promoting-scientific-inquiry-inside-and-outside-classroom/
Victoria. (2023, November 6). How to use scientific inquiry in the elementary classroom. Learning by Inquiry. https://www.learningbyinquiry.com/how-to-use-scientific-inquiry-in-the-elementary-classroom/