Personalized
Inquiry
Help your students classify,
generate, and answer questions
based on their own interests
or common materials
By Patricia Simpson
H
aving taught K–12 students and preservice teachers for almost 20 years, I know
the problems that arise when students are
asked to generate an investigation of their
own design. Like many of you, I have seen student presentations on the effects of music on plant growth, and I
know how popular science fair idea books become each
spring as science fair season begins.
But in the last few years, I used
some different lessons that
significantly increased the
diversity and quality
of the investigations
students generated. These lessons
helped students
learn the variety of
questions that scientists might use
and strategies to
generate research
questions based on
their own interests or
materials that are commonly available to them.
What follows is a description of three lessons that I introduced to my preservice teachers as they
attempted to generate personal full-inquiry projects and
later successfully tried with students in grades 4–5.
Begin With Observations
The first day of class begins with an introduction to observations, with insects as our subject. I begin class by
asking my students whether they have seen an ant, which
of course they all have. So I ask them to each draw an ant
with as much detail as possible. I visit each table of stu36 Science and Children
dents to review their pictures and ask specific students to
replicate their drawings on the board. I look for drawings
that represent the greatest diversity. The pictures I see
vary most in terms of the number and type of legs, body
segments, and facial features. This activity not only generates interest in the ant’s appearance but also creates an
awareness that we don’t always observe carefully.
Ants are not always available for observation in class,
but because we study mealworm life cycles, I always have
darkling beetles. I supply each group of four students with
a large covered petri dish containing 8–10 darkling beetles.
Remind students to wash their hands after handling insects and to be careful not to injure the insects. I
do a general introduction on criteria for effective
observation, and armed with a plastic spoon and
hand lens, the students write at least 10 observations
of the darkling beetles. Focused observation of a real object
or organism before generating questions is important.
After sharing and critiquing the observations, I ask each
student to write at least five questions about darkling
beetles. I explain that each student will be asked to share
at least one question with the class and that there will be no
duplication of questions while sharing. I have found that
asking students to write an assigned number of question
or observations keeps them focused. Knowing
that the class will have to generate at least
24 questions, one per student, also helps
stimulate their efforts. It also ensures
that I will have lots of volunteers to
share their questions because no
one wants to have to come up
with the 24th question.
Lesson 1: Classifying
Questions
I list the questions on the board,
and then as a group we try to
classify the questions into categories based on how each one might be
answered by a scientist. First is what
we call observational studies, those that
require a well-structured protocol for observation but can be answered with observation of the
beetles. These are questions like “how long do the beetles
live?” The second category we identify as experimental
questions, those that ask about the effect of some factor on
darkling beetles. For example, “does surface make a difference in the speed at which beetles move?” The third
category is literature-based research questions, those that
can be answered through research into what has already
been discovered and reported by others; in this case,
about darkling beetles. A typical question of this type
might be “what is the natural habitat of the darkling bee-
Figure 1.
Examples of darkling beetle questions.
Question
Type of question
How many legs do darkling beetles have?
O
What is the effect of temperature on the activity level of darkling beetles?
E
How many types of darkling beetles are there?
L
Do darkling beetles live in Minnesota?
L
How do darkling beetles reproduce?
O/L
What do they eat?
L/O
Do they lay eggs?
L/O
Can you use them for fish bait?
Do the beetles cooperate with each other?
Why do beetles flip over on their backs?
L
O/L
N
Note. E = experimental question; L = literature-based question; N = question not answered in science; and O =
observational question.
tle?” These questions are answered by contacting beetle
experts or reviewing the published literature. You could
look at literature-based questions as a last resort, and in
some cases, a first step. All researchers do a survey of the
literature to see what is already known and to build on
that information. So, before we test whether mealworms
can live on Cheerios, we might want to know if they eat
grains or nectars. Still, I only use this category for questions that we cannot personally answer in a classroom
setting, like “Where are they found in the world? What
is their scientific name? Do they cause disease?” We also
discover that some questions cannot be answered in
science—largely those that ask why something wants to
behave as it does. Figure 1 provides a sample of questions (with their classification) that a recent class generated about darkling beetles.
This activity is important because it helps my students
recognize that scientists may use a variety of strategies to
gather data depending on the type of question they want to
answer. Many of my students think all scientific research
requires experiments. The National Science Education
Standards (NSES; NRC 1996) point out the diversity of
research strategies used by each science discipline and
also provide examples of how an investigation of a single
phenomenon may involve the use of various questions and
their associated research strategies to fully investigate a
topic. The lesson also helps students recognize that there
are many questions that they can answer for themselves
without having to be told or sent to find the answer online
or in a book.
Lesson 2: Generating Questions
The next step for my students is to pose a researchable
question for an experiment. For this I use another series of questions that Cothra, Giese, and Rezba (2006)
developed. The idea is to take any topic, “X,” and then
generate as many questions about that topic as possible. This process is designed to generate a variety of
research questions on a single topic. The questions are
(1) What materials are readily available for conducting
experiments on X?; (2) how does X act?; (3) How can
you change the set of materials to affect the action of X?;
and (4) How can you measure or describe the response
of X to the change?
I start this lesson by reminding students of the coleus
plants (Solenestemon spp.) we grew from cuttings. We
answer the four questions as a class by using the knowledge we gained from keeping journals on the coleus over
a period of weeks.
In response to question 1, in our classroom some of the
materials we have available include types of soil, different
sizes and types of cups, light sources, water, and fertilizers. Our response to question 2 is that coleus plants grow
roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and buds of various types.
For question 3, we discuss changing the types and relative
amounts of soils; sizes of cups and depth of planting in
cups; the type, amount, method, and scheduling of water;
and various concentrations of fertilizers.
We answer question 4 by discussing our ability to
measure changes in growth of plant leaves by measuring
December 2010 37
Figure 2.
Sample stations.
Station 1. Corn-based foam packing peanuts.
What materials are available?
Books, water of various temperatures, plastic bags,
hard-boiled eggs, hammers, wild cards
How do the peanuts act?
Dissolve, cushion, float, compress
How can you change the materials?
Change the temperature or water, smash peanuts
How can you measure the response of peanuts to
the change?
Measure ability to cushion eggs, observe time to
dissolve
Sample Questions
What is the effect of peanut compression on the ability
of the peanuts to cushion an egg? What is the effect of
water temperature on the rate at which peanuts
dissolve?
Station 2. Gobstoppers.
What materials are available?
Salt, water of various temperatures, spoons, cups, wild
cards
How do Gobstoppers act?
Dissolve, change color, float
How can you change the materials?
Change density of water with salt, change temperature
of water
How can you measure the response of
Gobstoppers to the change?
Measure speed of color change, observe floating
Sample Questions
What is the effect of salt?
Concentration on a Gobstopper’s ability to float?
What is the effect of water temperature on the speed
at which Gobstoppers dissolve?
How do paper plates act?
Roll, fly, stain, decompose, hold food
How can you change the materials?
Reshape the plate, cover plate with wax, cut it into
smaller pieces, cover it with mustard
How can you measure the response of the plate?
Measure distance it flies, measure mass it can hold,
measure rate of decomposition, measure rate for
staining
Sample Questions
What effect does size of paper plate pieces have on
the rate of decomposition?
What effect does depth of wax covering on the plate
have on time it takes to stain the plate?
What effect does shape of the plate have on the
distance it can fly?
Station 4. Mealworms.
What materials are available?
Petri dishes, paper towels, light sources, food sources
How do mealworms act?
Molt, move, grow, reproduce
How can you change the materials?
Change surface, change temperatures, change foods
How can you measure the response of the
mealworms?
Count the number of worms, size of worms, and days
between changes in stages
Sample Questions
What effect does the type of food have on the number
of mealworms produced?
What effect does the temperature of culture have on
the days between stages?
What effect does the surface have on the speed of
mealworms?
Note. Do not allow students to mix Gobstoppers
with any acids (even weak ones like vinegar) or
eat in the lab.
Station 3. Paper plates.
What materials are available?
Scissors, wax, tape, dirt, mustard, wild cards
the size of a leaf, the average size of all plant leaves, or the
number of leaves. We list the length of roots, concentrations of root hairs, and the number of days it takes for roots
to appear on a cutting. Stem growth might be measured
by overall stem length, stem width, or increased length of
internodes. Then we use the information on the board to
form questions. Sample questions include:
•
What is the effect of varying periods of light on the
color of coleus leaves?
38 Science and Children
•
•
•
•
What is the effect of water temperature on the
number of days before roots appear on coleus
cuttings?
Does phase of the Moon have an effect on the
number of days it takes before coleus cuttings
sprout roots?
Does percentage of sand in soil have an effect on the
growth of coleus stems?
Does type of watering, above soil or through soil,
have an effect on the number of leaves a coleus plant
produces?
Personalized Inquiry
It’s one thing to do this as a whole class, but I find that
when students have to transfer this process to a new subject
it can become more difficult for them, so our final step is
to work through a series of stations.
• Does the researcher have necessary skills?
• Is the topic of interest to the researcher?
Lesson 3: Series of Stations
I have used some variation of these questions with almost every one of the classes I teach and with teacher
workshops. It seems to work equally well with students
of all abilities as long as the students are initially familiar
with the object or phenomenon they are working with.
Familiarity with the topic is key. Some teachers suggest
that students will generate more questions if they are
working with an unfamiliar object or novel phenomenon, but in my experience, students spend more time
being surprised or amused by what they see rather than
framing questions.
The more practice students have with this process the
less they seem to need it. Over the course of the semester
I find that students become more aware of the possibilities for research that exist with each topic we examine.
And their questions extend beyond the classroom—my
nephew started to ask his father about the relationship
between the size and shape of logs being cut for firewood
and its effect on burning time after he had learned this
strategy for questioning. A student who was making
Christmas cookies began to ask about the relationship
between the type and temperature of the shortening used
in the recipe and the crispiness of the cookies—how’s that
for personalized inquiry! n
The goal for the stations is to continue assisting students in learning how to create their own research
questions. I select four topics, objects, or phenomena
with which I think most students are familiar, and we
practice within these new areas. Teachers can decide
on the area that relates to their topic of study, using
the NSES as a guide. I establish a station for each
topic at a table. It includes the object or phenomena
along with a list of materials that I tell students we
have available in the classroom. Each list includes
5–10 items along with an opportunity for students to
ask for any other two materials. I call these their wild
card choices. We assume that the classroom also contains any measurement tools they might commonly
find in a science classroom.
As a group of three or four, students spend 30
minutes at the first station and must answer all four
questions in regard to the station and then write five
researchable questions with their answers to the four
questions. The remaining stations take less time to complete as the students improve in writing questions, so I
allow about 20 minutes at each of the remaining three
stations. By the last station they are very comfortable
with the process and seem to be able to transfer their
skills at generating questions to a topic from home. See
Figure 2 for a list of station ideas, material lists, and
student responses to questions.
Assessment
When we first begin using the questions, I assess students’ work by their ability to answer each question and
then use that information to generate questions in an
appropriate format (one that demonstrates the effect of
one variable on another). But eventually, I ask them to
use a checklist to evaluate the questions based on the
following criteria:
• Does the question ask what happens, not why?
• Does the question study something observable?
• Are the materials needed to investigate the question
available?
• Is the scope of the investigation sufficiently limited?
• Are all but one variable being controlled?
• Is there a behavior to measure?
• Do tools (mechanisms) exist for measurement?
• Is there sufficient time for the investigation?
Investigating the Familiar
Patricia Simpson ([email protected]) is a
professor of science education at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Reference
Cothron, J.H., R.N. Giese, and R.J. Rezba. 2006. Students and
research: Practical strategies for science classrooms and
competitions. 4th ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
Connecting to the Standards
This article relates to the following National Science
Education Standards (NRC 1996):
Content Standards
Grades K–8
Standard A: Science as Inquiry
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
National Research Council (NRC). 1996. National
science education standards. Washington, DC:
National Academies Press.
December 2010 39