Next Step Inquiry Activity
Inquiry involves all the synthesis that leads the students tools to understanding the content. Implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit them to seek resolutions and to question issues while they construct new knowledge.
On this part we can read an organize a plan that specify step by step the development of an experimental activity in which students propose explanations base on evidence from their own work.
It is divided on moments, which are:
- Testable Questions: The main idea that you want to prove. Does a flower need water to survive?
- Materials : List the materials that you need.
- Focus Questions: What do we know at the moment, it was related to the content. What needs do plants have? (hypothesis)
- Procedure: That details the development of the activity. -Registrate the observation before and after. -Final Results. -Discuss what happen.
Positive:
- Teachers have the guide of the development in the activity. So they focus on the Ss feedback. (opinions, ideas, feelings, questions, etc.)
- Students enthusiasm with this activities.
- Students investigate (hands-on activity)
Needs Improvement:
- The guide don't specify the time that teachers need to develop the activity, we guess it depends of the group.
Recommendation:
- To be a complete experience, it could have on-line or cd tracks with "environmental sounds" in order to recreate a nice background.
- It could be useful for the teacher to have posters or flashcards in order to identify the parts of a plant.