Inquiry: The Path; Discovery: The Destination - Chapter 1

One of my biggest take away from Chapter 1 is that we need to teach our students to think scientifically just as much as we need to teach them about science.  It is easy enough to teach the decomposition cycle or trophic levels through straight memorization activities but like many other memorable lessons it is more meaningful when students have a chance for self-discovery and application. The process of thinking like a scientist can starts as soon as an infant begins to make observations about the faces and sounds around them. Exploration is a natural part of development and one that should continue on into a child’s school years. I’m fortunate enough to watch a 3 year old during the week and he is incredibly inquisitive; constantly asking questions about how things work and experimenting with different solutions to his problems. While he and his parents are all very intelligent and they certainly have created an environment to inspire creative thinking, this is essentially the role the classroom can play for students who may not have those opportunities at home. The first chapter mentions a term “scientifically literate” and this I feel is such an important concept because in science, and life, our students should be questioning instead of taking things at face value and searching for their own answers. As teachers we should be guiding students to ask questions and to think critically even when they are out during recess or driving in the car with their parents. Making real life connections with abstract concepts they are learning in the classroom can help solidify the material and make the difference between cataloging information in short term memory and long term memory.

This is a YouTube video that could be used as a project in the beginning of the year with students. They could brainstorm questions they have and create a video or FlipGrid then throughout the year they could reference the video and leave a comment to themselves if they have learned any of the answers to their questions.

I also found this unit on Study.com which could be used alongside of teaching scientific thinking.   

Lastly, children can be just as powerful teachers or role models. This is a TED Talk is given by a Adora Svitak which speaks to the power behind uninhabited creativity, thinking, and questioning.