It all starts with a question. When you teach Scientific Inquiry the essential component to enforce with your students is to question everything. All of our big discoveries, innovations, and new ideas come from someone questioning the current beliefs with hopes to gain new knowledge, make something better or different, discover something new, etc. In my classroom, that’s the most important ingredient. When students start to question and wonder, they automatically start creating their own hypothesis, testing it, coming up with conclusions, and even re-testing their hypothesis. Read on for some ideas to get students questioning, teaching the whole scientific process, and ideas for simple less mess science projects!
- How to Introduce the Scientific Method
- I love starting my lessons with videos. I think it really helps get kids engaged and interested, it’s much better than them listening to my voice. 😉 Below are a few videos that kids love.
Hint: Here is a great link to an introductory video that teaches the scientific method as a rap song.
Hint: Here is a link to a Ted-Ed talk about How Simple Ideas Lead to Scientific Discoveries. (Please preview this video prior to showing your class to ensure it is appropriate for your grade level, although I believe the first 1:24seconds is appropriate for all grades.) - Put references materials at the fingertips of your students that remind them of the steps in the scientific process and definitions of each step. This is a great way for students to independently take charge of their learning throughout your lesson.
Hint: Here is a link to a great set of wall posters for easy and quick student reference.
- I love starting my lessons with videos. I think it really helps get kids engaged and interested, it’s much better than them listening to my voice. 😉 Below are a few videos that kids love.
- How to Teach Students to Question– This is the essential step in the inquiry process. All science starts with a question and a “what if”.
- Use everyday objects and ask students for other uses of a common item. I like to get kids thinking by presenting with an everyday object as asking them what is it? I further their questioning and thinking by asking what else it could be? Example: Start simple with a tennis ball. Other uses could be a dog toy, something to go on the bottom of chair legs to make it quiet, a coin purse if you cut a hole in it, etc.
- Use a common read aloud and question why the characters did what they did in the story. A great book that I love to use the Jack and the Beanstalk. There are many things that you can use as examples in the story to teach questioning, and surely your students will being to question too. Example: Why did Jack trade beans for a cow? What was he thinking? Why did Jack think it was safe to climb the beanstalk? Why did Jack break into the Giant’s home? Why did Jack think it was okay to take things from the Giant?
Hint: Here is a link to a youtube video of Jack and the Beanstalk. - Use demonstrations to spark questions. A fun and visual lesson involves comparing densities of different liquids like water, oil, and corn syrup. Have students pour each of the liquids into a jar and see how they layer on top of one another. To add pizzaz, use food coloring to the liquids. Use this to get kids asking questions. Have students do this experiment and walk them through the scientific process as they conduct the experiment.
Hint: Here is a link to a detailed lesson plan for comparing densities of materials.
- Easy to Teach Hypothesis & Scientific Process
- Present students with the question. This takes one of the tasks away from students so they can focus on the hypothesis and experiment. One that I find easy to implement in the classroom is the classic paper airplane. I fold a typical paper airplane, and we measure how far the plane flies. Then I ask students, how can we get the plane to fly further? Students then make their predications/hypothesis. Some ideas I’ve found kids like to test are changing how the plane was folded, the weight of the paper used to make the plane, cutting the wings of the plane, adding weight to the plane with paperclips, etc. Then as a class, we pick a few options to test and again measure the distance. Once we have our distances, we compare and draw conclusions based on the changes we made and either support or refute our hypothesis.
- Present students with the question. This takes one of the tasks away from students so they can focus on the hypothesis and experiment. One that I find easy to implement in the classroom is the classic paper airplane. I fold a typical paper airplane, and we measure how far the plane flies. Then I ask students, how can we get the plane to fly further? Students then make their predications/hypothesis. Some ideas I’ve found kids like to test are changing how the plane was folded, the weight of the paper used to make the plane, cutting the wings of the plane, adding weight to the plane with paperclips, etc. Then as a class, we pick a few options to test and again measure the distance. Once we have our distances, we compare and draw conclusions based on the changes we made and either support or refute our hypothesis.
- Teach Students to Record Evidence as they Conduct their Experiment
- Write it down! Record it! To have a good science experiment it must be repeatable. This means students need to write down the steps precisely and accurately. Start with an expository writing assignment and ask students to explain how to make something like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a veggie wrap, or how to cook French toast, etc.. Then, bring in peanut butter, jelly, and bread. (**Be cautious of peanut allergies before doing this with your class.) Have the student who wrote the steps read them while a classmate follows directions exactly as they were written. Watch the laughs! This is fun and helps demonstrate the need for precise writing.
- Use the analogy of a defendant and his/her attorney in court using evidence to convict or prove the innocence of someone. Before the jury can decide the guilt or innocence of the defendant on trial, the evidence presented by the attorney must be enough to tilt the scales of justice. The evidence in the forms of written statements, photos, physical evidence, data, charts, and anecdotal notes helps build the case in court. It’s the same in science inquiry, you have to have evidence to support your hypothesis in order to support or refute, just like in the judicial system. Scientists don’t just say, “Trust me, I know t’s true.” They have to have PROOF to back up their claims.
- Give Lots of Opportunities to Practice Doing Experiments
- Hand washing: Connect with your school nurse and ask him/her to help you do a hand washing experiment to see how germs are spread. Nurses may have access to a special UV light foam that kids can put on their hands to simulate germs. Prior to touching anything shine the UV light on it to prove how clean it is. Then ask students to touch the object and repeat shining it with the UV light. You can also have kids put the foam on their hands, then wash their hands to see how good of a job they do washing hands. They’ll know they did a good job if their hands don’t react to the UV light, if they do, they need more hand washing! You could also use this as an opportunity to ask more questions, does the length of time washing my hands impact the cleanliness, will just water clean my hands does the kind of soap used change the cleanliness of my hands, etc.
Hint: Here is a link to a CDC lesson on hand-washing. - Another idea is to see how germs on our hands affect bread, a slice of cheese, and a potato slice. Get three slices of bread, three slices of cheese, and three slices of potato and nine zipper plastic bags (three for each food type). Use a glove to place one slice of bread into a bag. This is the control group. For the second slice, wash your hands and then place the bread into a bag. For the third slice, allow each student in the group to touch the bread before placing it into the bag. Repeat this process using a slice of cheese and then again using a potato slice. In students’ science journals, ask them to record the date you began the experiment, the steps you took to do the test, and write daily observation notes in a table. Take photos if you can and post them day by day. Watch what happens!
- Hand washing: Connect with your school nurse and ask him/her to help you do a hand washing experiment to see how germs are spread. Nurses may have access to a special UV light foam that kids can put on their hands to simulate germs. Prior to touching anything shine the UV light on it to prove how clean it is. Then ask students to touch the object and repeat shining it with the UV light. You can also have kids put the foam on their hands, then wash their hands to see how good of a job they do washing hands. They’ll know they did a good job if their hands don’t react to the UV light, if they do, they need more hand washing! You could also use this as an opportunity to ask more questions, does the length of time washing my hands impact the cleanliness, will just water clean my hands does the kind of soap used change the cleanliness of my hands, etc.
- How to Tie it All Together
- Throw a Class Science Fair! Allow students to come up with their own question and hypothesis. Then let them carry out their experiment and draw conclusions. Kids have a blast creating their own project. The key ingredient to this is ensuring that it’s simple enough for kids to complete on their own without parents. Here are a few ideas to spark student interest: . Once students have completed the process, they document their findings, and present their project at your class science fair.
Hint: Need help throwing a science fair but not sure where to start? Here is a link to a science fair lesson ready to use.
- Throw a Class Science Fair! Allow students to come up with their own question and hypothesis. Then let them carry out their experiment and draw conclusions. Kids have a blast creating their own project. The key ingredient to this is ensuring that it’s simple enough for kids to complete on their own without parents. Here are a few ideas to spark student interest: . Once students have completed the process, they document their findings, and present their project at your class science fair.
- Science Reference Helper Charts for Students (Grades 3-5)
- Science Process Posters (teacher and student versions)
- Science Fair Complete Unit Materials
