Before I read this, I thought, “I’m a biology major, inquiry method should be pretty easy to do.” Then while I read it, I couldn’t really see how to use it. Most of high school science is accepted theories, not things left to be explored. It’s only when you get really weird and specific do you find a possible niche to ask questions in. So I sat down to write this blog about reading circles and realized, that’s how I can do an inquiry method unit.
Let’s say we are learning about Astronomy in an 8th grade science class. I could design an inquiry based unit around a book relating to the life of Galileo and the adversity he faced from the Catholic Church when he announced his theory of Heliocentrism. Through this, students will not only gain meaning into astronomy, but also the life of a scientist who has ideas that are against the status quo of science. Many of the theories that we hold as “fact” today were vehemently rejected by the scientific society when they were first publicised. This is a fairly normal process. A book that accentuates the struggle of a budding scientist progressing against status quo is “The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate” by Jacqueline Kelly. This tells the story of a girl who is introduced to science by her Grandaddy and decides to pursue the field, despite the rejection of women by the scientific elite (who were men).
The inquiry method could also be applied to labs, but it may not be done exactly the way Daniels and Zemelman describe. There are discovery labs that are done quite often, but there is a right answer that the teacher is hoping the students to arrive at, so it’s not a perfect inquiry model. To make it inquiry based, I could do labs where students would make their own hypothesis and then design a way to test it.
The inquiry method is a powerful way to engage students and has implications for all content areas. It may be difficult to find time for this between all the PARCC tests and content we need to cover for NECAP exams, but I think it’s doable, and definitely worth it. Assignments like these will stay with students for a much longer time than taking a test.
Hi Nick!
ReplyDeleteI like how you interpreted the inquiry method to teaching and learning and then applied it within your content-area. I haven't read Kelly's book, but due to your brief summary, I think that you could easily and effectively make it work with your curriculum. It also seems that you have assigned the book with a readability of 8th grade. Having worked with the Fry readability for the textbook analysis, do you think that you would ascertain the readability level before using this book? Or regardless of readability, will you be able to work with the content in a meaningful way for the 8th graders? Just curious...
Finally, I love your final sentence: "Assignments like these will stay with students for a much longer time than taking a test." Brilliant! Taking a formal assessment might be worthwhile in some instances, but a multilayer project that engages students on a critical level will have far greater results (assuming that all students participate each and every day). As a studying English teacher, I'm a big fan of students delving into material to find greater meanings. I feel that inquiry units do this, so it's a valuable way to explore material in this way.