YEARS 7–12 IDEAS FOR THE CLASSROOM
Using Cultures of Thinking to Promote an Inquiry-based Approach (continued)
4. The next step in this task is for students to write what they
think about what they see/feel. To begin with I ensure students
answer by literally writing “I think…..” These are their inferences.
In completing this task with my own class I had them complete
this stage as a group. They wrote what they thought about what
they saw/felt, for each image and rock, together. I continue
to use the electric timer, providing them with 2 minutes per
image/rock and informing them when this time is up. I will still
move around the room and ask students “what made you think
that?” this helps them to see this question, not as a judgement
from me, but as a way of encouraging them to explain.
and all geological formations on Mars, students can research
this!
In the past, for classes that require more assistance, I have set
up workstations to model formation of each of the images/rocks
the class were given. I have had students present their group
findings as research posters on other occasions. We have used
the rocks and images used in this task to develop posters of the
rock cycle. Students have developed questions based on what
they observed and inferred, so they feel they have ownership
and a reason to “buy into” this unit of work.
Depending on the class, I will sometimes have students take
5 steps around the room, with an image/rock, and share their
“I thinks” with the person to their right. This is a noisier part of
the activity and still requires a timer!
5. The final part of this task is to have students, as a group, come
up with “I wonders”. These become the research questions for
the unit. Groups need to come up with as many questions as
they possibly can for each image/rock in the time provided.
They then need to narrow down their list of questions to one
question per image/rock. Each group is then provided with a
table to write their research question in and what resources
they are going to use to answer their question.
Additionally I tell the groups that they will need to find ways in
which to model the formation of each image and rock with the
class.
A research table that relates Earth and Mars in terms of their
geology.
Sample 1
In completing this task I have provided the students with a more
open-ended introduction to the unit, an opportunity for them to
seek answers to questions they posed themselves, but I am still
the teacher. I can now utilise their curiosity in any way that I like.
Having said this, you do not need to be an expert on every rock
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 2