Learning any new skill requires scaffolding and practice, and inquiry is a skill that students must develop over time in order to implement effectively into their exploration of science. I definitely agree with the article in regards to the steps necessary to construct a stable foundation for inquiry- building community, modeling, practice, building process skills(questioning, predicting, hypothesizing, investigating, observing, interpreting, and communicating), questioning, and the “Do, Talk, Reflect Write” Cycle. In addition- before allowing them to engage in inquiry based activities, I agree it is important for students to get their feet wet while still guiding their inquiry with open ended questions as well as group discussion and reflection. In my own teaching, I sometimes find that I forget how on earth I acquired the skills I have as an adult; I therefore think this text is a valuable resource for any teacher. It allowed me to step back and consider the fact that while children are innately intelligent and curious, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we can just throw science in their face and expect them to impulsively have the investigative skills to ask appropriate and leading questions.
I thought the last chunk of this article was extremely valuable because if offered ideas for ways to extend a lesson to suit the needs and questioning of students, especially those based on kits or controlled materials. Some extensions mentioned that I also believe are important were: modifying kit activities to reference student’s questions, focusing on the direction a class can take after using the kit, and allowing students to base further inquiry investigations based on certain concepts expressed in the kits.
All in all- I think the topic of inquiry applies to all grade levels, and is something that should be practiced year after year after year.
I thought the last chunk of this article was extremely valuable because if offered ideas for ways to extend a lesson to suit the needs and questioning of students, especially those based on kits or controlled materials. Some extensions mentioned that I also believe are important were: modifying kit activities to reference student’s questions, focusing on the direction a class can take after using the kit, and allowing students to base further inquiry investigations based on certain concepts expressed in the kits.
All in all- I think the topic of inquiry applies to all grade levels, and is something that should be practiced year after year after year.
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