Introducing Inquiry to Your
Students on a Shoestring
Budget
Shannon Bowen
sbowen@wakefieldschool.org
www.geocities.com/bowenclass
 Wakefield
School, The Plains, VA
 Classical Education
 120 students in grades 9-12
 Student profile
 Science “Lab”
Different Facets of Inquiry….
 Attain
specific science skills (Process
focused)
 Development of the ability and
disposition to investigate (Process with
content)
 Construction of knowledge through
active learning (Content with process)
 Presentation and explanation of ideas
(Content)
How do I start?
 Start
with small steps! Don’t feel like
you have to do everything at once
 Examine your current labs, see where
you can insert inquiry
 Be organic in your approach
 Be patient with your students - and
yourself!
Inquiry Analysis Questions
 Do
questions guide the lab?
 Do students generate, refine, and focus
questions for investigation?
 Do students have opportunities to
decide what data to collect and how?
 Do students generate explanations from
evidence?
 Are students asked to revise their
explanations in light of evidence?
Easy (and Inexpensive)
Ways to Start
Introducing Inquiry
Today!
Design a Slow Flyer
 Question:
 How
can you design a paper airplane
that flies slowly for the farthest
distance?
 Materials
Needed:
 Paper,
tape, staples, paper clips,
timers, meter sticks
 Time
requirement: 70-80 minutes
% of Filling in an Oreo
 Teacher
posed question:
 What
is the percent (by mass) of filling in
an Oreo Cookie?
 Student
 Too
generated questions:
many to list!!
 Materials
 At
Needed:
least four types of crème filled cookies
 balance
% of Water in Popcorn
 Teacher
 Which
posed question:
sample of popcorn is the “best”?
 Materials
Needed:
 Three
samples of popcorn (20 kernels
each sample per group), hot plates, scales,
foil, oil
 Student
generated questions &
procedures:
 What
is “best”?
 How will we test the samples?
% of Water in Popcorn
 Interdisciplinary
opportunities:
 Business
letter/report
 Writing an abstract
 Time
Requirement:
At least two
full block periods!
QuickTime™ and a
Photo - JPEG decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Conservation of Mass
 Start
with a “bad” test design
 Have
students use an open beaker set up
to try and ‘verify’ the law of conservation
mass
 Teacher
 What
posed question:
went wrong here!?
 Student
generated explanations
 Students
“redesign” the test
Conservation of Mass
 Materials
Needed:
 Baking
soda, vinegar, beakers, sandwich
baggies, other odds and ends you have in
your classroom (foil, thumbtacks,
paperclips, twist ties, etc.)
 Time
Requirement:
 45-50
minutes
3-D Periodic Tables
 Teacher
posed question:
 Not
so much a question, but a challenge!
 Using ONLY the materials in your kit,
design a 3-D periodic table that
demonstrates one of the periodic trends
 Materials
Needed:
 Cardboard
rectangles, glue, copies of the
periodic table (s and p block only, first 4 or
5 periods), Smarties candies (12-15 rolls
per group)
Penny Boats

Teacher posed challenge:
 Identify the independent and dependent
variables, graph class results
 Using only the materials in your packet,
fashion a boat that will hold as many
pennies possible before sinking

Materials Needed:
 8cm2 foil sheet, bag of pennies, tub or
bucket to float the boats in

Time Requirement: 45 minutes
Rate of Dissolution
 Teacher
posed questions:
 How
can you test factors that effect the
rate dissolution? (Temperature, surface
area, and agitation)
 Materials
Needed:
 Granulated
sugar, sugar cubes, water,
timers, hot and cold water, stirring rods
 Time
 As
Requirement:
little as 1 hour, as much as 3 hours!
Copies of Labs and Rubrics:
Shannon Bowen
sbowen@wakefieldschool.org