Actively engaging students

Classroom examples of actively engaging students in practices of science through productive investigation.

In productive science investigations, teachers present organized, structured activities that have a purpose: to develop student understanding of important science ideas as they work through complex problems. Over the several weeks or months of an investigation, the teacher introduces knowledge and skills as students need them. This provides a context for students to see the need for these skills and ideas.

A key way students learn from their investigations is by presenting their ideas and arguments to peers in a scientific forum. Teachers plan instruction throughout an investigation to support students in presenting ideas, developing scientific explanations linked to evidence, debating the value of a given observation, or testing their ideas.

1. Online investigations using real-time data (multiple grades)
Students can join a global scientific community by sharing data they generate through investigations and evaluating their data in relation to students from around the world. They also can work with real-time data, share their findings online in a vast forum, and analyze their peers’ data and conclusions. The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at Stevens Institute hosts collaborative projects in which students follow protocols to gather data, share data on the Internet, analyze data and prepare reports. Each project has an annual timeline with specific registration dates. Some examples include:

• Bucket Buddies, Square of Life (elementary school)
• Take a Dip (middle school)
• The International Boiling Point Project (middle and high school)
• The Global Water Sampling Project (high school)
http://www.ciese.org/collabprojs.html

Other examples include:
• “Musical Plates: A Study of Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics” (middle, high school)
Students explore the relationship between earthquakes, plate tectonics and volcanoes as they use real-time data to solve a problem and publish their work. This web site provides lesson plans, implementation assistance, and links to interact with experts online.
http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/musicalplates3/en/projectinformation.shtml

• “Web-based Inquiry Science Environment” (middle and high school)
WISE (Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment) contains dozens of curriculum projects that students complete online as they examine real-world evidence and analyze current scientific controversies. Students take notes, discuss theories, and organize their arguments via a Web Browser. Teacher resources include lesson plans for each project, an assessment area for grading students' work on the Web, and topical communities for teachers and researchers.
http://wise-demo.berkeley.edu/

2. Inquiry-based curricula
Below are a few examples of curricular resources available that engage students in practicing science to learn:

• “Insights” (elementary school)
The units in this kit-based science curriculum support teachers in helping students learn key science concepts and improve their abilities to think creatively and critically. Each unit is structured around a series of investigations, some teacher-initiated and some child-initiated. Students develop necessary science skills in language-rich environments. The kits, which are purchased through a publisher, contain consumable materials that will need to be replenished.
http://cse.edc.org/curriculum/insightsElem/

• “Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry” (middle school)
In this curriculum supplement, students work in teams to learn the value and approaches to inquiry: creating testable questions that can be investigated, working through various methods of scientific inquiry, and how to think critically about evidence that is collected. This is one of several free curriculum supplements created by BSCS and the National Institute of Health. Materials can be accessed online, or printed material can be requested.
http://science.education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/MSInquiry.htm

• “ThinkerTools Scientific Modeling and Inquiry Project” (middle and high school)
This web site includes curriculum, software, and assessment tools geared at making scientific inquiry accessible to a wide range of students. Students use software to formulate and test models of force-and-motion phenomena, with an emphasis on monitoring and reflecting on what they are learning. Another web component guides students through the inquiry process, providing an online research notebook that structures the inquiry process and software advisors who guide students through the process.
http://www.thinkertools.org/

• “Ecology by Inquiry” (middle school)
Students learn ecological principles through inquiry in this teacher guide available online. Many of the lessons are designed around animals and ecosystems found in Western Washington. The lessons can be adapted to incorporate local wildlife and habitats.
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/education

3. Integrate local knowledge in science investigations
Culturally responsive science curriculum acknowledges that students come to school with a whole set of beliefs, skills and understandings formed from their experiences in the world that can be drawn on as resources for science learning. The following resources are relevant:

• “Tlingit Moon and Tide Teaching Resource” (elementary)
This book shows teachers how to present Alaska Native understanding of science and ecology knowledge through a series of lessons. Students learn how to study moon phases and tides using native language and legends as a resource. The resource, available for purchase, guides teachers in inviting elders to the classroom and relates lessons to content standards.
http://seagrant.uaf.edu/bookstore/pubs/SG-ED-33.html

• “Handbook for Culturally Responsive Science Curriculum” (elementary, middle and high school)
This handbook shows biology and environmental science teachers how to make connections to that understanding by creating curricula that integrates Native and Western Knowledge to teach science topics. Teachers can use a suggested learning cycle model that draws on both traditional Native teaching about the environment and inquiry teaching. The handbook is available online at the Alaska Native Knowledge Website.
http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/Publications/Handbook/