Inquiry on board

Helping students to identify variables is the key to learning science. An introduction of inquiry boards which include eight parts is shown in this article. The first step is to brainstorm, ... See More

Helping students to identify variables is the key to learning science. An introduction of inquiry boards which include eight parts is shown in this article. The first step is to brainstorm, in which the teacher will describe a problem to students at the beginning, and then create baggie gardens to help students brainstorm variables. The second step is choosing variables. Students choose one variable to investigate, such as the effect of fertilizers on seeds. Then the students are supposed to using this inquiry board to frame the experimental questions. Students could frame their predictions with the help of the inquiry boards. Also, the setup experiment inquiry board can help students visualize the experiment and understand the need for a control or comparison. Recording observations, looking for patterns and graph of results, and answering questions are also useful for helping students identify variables in experiments. Opportunities for using scientific inquiry and developing the ability to think and act should be provided for students at all grade levels and in every domain of science. As a future educator, I will use the inquiry board, which associated with the processes of inquiry, including asking questions, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques, thinking critically and logically about the relationships between evidence and explanations, constructing and analyzing alternative explanations, and communicating scientific arguments to teach my students how to identify and use the variables.

Identifying Variables

Helping students to identify variables in experiments is essential for learning science. This article provides a view of inquiry boards including eight boards. The first one is brainstorm v... See More

Helping students to identify variables in experiments is essential for learning science. This article provides a view of inquiry boards including eight boards. The first one is brainstorm variables. The teacher will describe the problem to students at the beginning. Inventing a story about the question can draw students’ attention. The teacher created baggie gardens with students to test their ideas. Students brainstorm and share their thoughts about the answers. Each suggestion is written on a stick note and placed at a proper position. The second part is choosing variables. Students choose one variable to investigate. The teacher will move the note to the inquiry board. It is a visual demonstration of how one factor changed affects the whole experiment. Then, students are encouraged to think about a question like “When I change __, what happens to __?” Meanwhile, they should decide what can be measured. All predictions are accepted, and logical explanation is needed. Setting up the experiment inquiry board can help students have a visual recognition of the experiment. Recording observations is necessary to produce a table of results. The table should contain manipulated variable and responding variable. After that, students will look for patterns and graph of results. Answering questions which they thought before facilitates their understanding of the logical flow of an experiment. The ways from this article are useful to students to identify variables in experiments. The completed procedure helps students understand what variables are and how they work in learning science.