Once the students determined their personal interest within the fields of science and within a specific field, like chemistry, botany, earth, life sciences they were still not yet ready to design an experiment. These young scientists first had to learn about their topic, understand some basics about it, and some important details related to their interests.  So students set out to become informed in the first of two Gather phases.

Here they read articles and watched videos about their topic of interest. They learned about information literacy from their librarian, and got a foundational understanding of their topic of interest. At the end of this phase, they each wrote a background research paper to summarize what they had found.  This proved to be a critical part of the success of the science fair project.

These deep understandings that students learned here, were evidenced in their final products. Through learning about the topic of their choosing and having time to understand it, they were building content specific vocabulary, learning the factors that might become variables, in their yet to be determined experiment, and forming an understanding that scientific knowledge comes from research and experimentation, but first with deep knowledge of what has already been discovered about the topic.  Part of the big picture learning the teachers wanted all students to understand was how the body of scientific knowledge develops and grows as scientists contribute to that body of research.  In their searching, students were examining information on their chosen topic, taking notes and pulling multiple ideas together.

Next, they spent some time locating, and evaluating sources to add to their understanding.  The librarian supported this learning through targeted  information literacy lessons. (See the unit plan in Gather)

They also had lessons on taking notes and extracting important information from texts from teachers and librarians.  (See the unit plan in Gather)

• Students will gather specific sources about their topic from the body of knowledge that already exists- Images below of student work from the final share of projects- a short paragraph from the larger report that came out of this phase. 

Once they completed the literature review report, that showed that they had built knowledge from information, they began to think about and design their experiment.

• Students will research their specific investigation, including similar experiments and their results, materials needed, and types of data collection

• Students will refer back to KWL chart to think about what they still need to know in order to fill in background knowledge and help design their experiment. Possibly create a new KWL chart to reflect progress.

• Students will construct their project “glossary” to include vocabulary that is crucial to their topic and experiment (ex. Biology-specific vocabulary, experimental data vocabulary) 

The research in their final products looked like this on their “virtual tri-boards”

Without time to research the topic, the experiments would be designed based on prior knowledge and perhaps misconceptions and false understandings about how things work.  This research step was critical to building an understanding over time, valuing using research as a way to make informed decisions (what will I investigate), and having a high quality research question.

Leslie Maniotes, PhD

Author Guided Inquiry Design

So the team looked to the community and they got wonderful support from experts willing to zoom in for a quick chat with students and more. They also used unique tools for students to collect data for their experiments. Listen to Raquel, the veteran science teacher explain…

Not so with GId. We know that together we are better.

Guided Inquiry Design workshops and strategies support teams of teachers and their librarian to work together. As they collaboratively design the unit they each recognize the strengths in their team members. They then make plans to leverage those strengths to support all students’ learning.  As a GId facilitator it is amazing to watch people say- “I didn’t know you did that!” as they learn the possibilities in the collaboration.  

Sometimes that looks like switching out students.  Once students identify an area of interest each teacher can take a group that has a topic related to some larger umbrella aspect and the students can work with those students and that teacher for a time period.  Sometimes they switch based on what they decide to Create, but in this case the team used the content area expertise of each teacher on the team to support the students who were doing experiments on that topic. One of the teachers on the team, Raquel described it this way.

 One of the challenges that I’ve seen over many years teaching science was connecting students with mentors or role models that could support students with their science projects. Students with family or friends who are scientists have been able to interact with scientists to ask questions or get advice. In the past, each science teacher only has had the time to meet with her own students. With the structure we designed for the science project using GId, each Earth Science teacher was able to support any Earth Science student. For example, I met with all of the students who were interested in Astronomy.

In these new groups the teachers wanted to set students up with content area experts. During the remote learning when many people were working from home- experts had more time to Zoom with students.  This team used this opportunity to connect to the local community. Raquel describes how they thoughtfully sought out women and BIPOC experts so the students could see themselves in the work.

More importantly, we were able to host a variety of guests to meet with our students over Zoom to support our students with their projects. The visiting STEM experts included undergraduate and graduate students and staff from Harvard College, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and UMass Boston. Students had their questions answered by experts, got ideas on how to conduct their research and gained access to remote telescopes and other resources. All of the guest scientists were women and some BIPOC. The projects show the influence of the guest researchers. These women gave our students important advice on how to design experiments while also serving as role models to students.

Taking time to design the unit gave these teachers time to think about all the aspects that they wanted to incorporate in the learning.  They used each others’ expertise and strengths to create an impact for all students.  Courtney made the handouts, Raquel worked on the experts and arranged for them to Zoom with students, and Susan created the curated set of materials and video lessons on information literacy and loaded them on the library page libguide.  Everyone had a role and working in concert the students were the beneficiaries of that collaboration.

I’m so glad Guided Inquiry Design supports teams to accomplish this high level of collaboration to meet the needs of all learners, and beyond!

Leslie Maniotes, PhD

Author Guided Inquiry Design

“It’s not always science and it’s not always fair.”

This sums up my reaction to science fairs generally in my career as a school librarian. Before coming to BLS, I worked at an elementary school in an upper-middle class suburb of Boston, populated by parents who worked in the medical profession, in R & D, in software development, and in graphic design. I saw some great projects triggered by genuine interest (I’ll always remember fondly the display of “Rocks I found in my backyard”, complete with kid-produced signage) and ones obviously completed by students with doctorates. We definitely had our share of the latter in BLS, but to me, the phenomenon of students replicating experiments they found online, without evidence of genuine interest, posed a far greater problem. Because they chose projects without much attempt to identify personal interests, and because they sometimes caved to what a partner wanted to do, the science project seemed to work against cultivating the passion the students would need to persevere through the arduous timetable. 

The 7th grade science project forms the bedrock platform for information literacy learning at BLS.

In years past, the science teachers have been very generous in ceding some of their precious class time so that every BLS sixie (sixth grader) gets the same three foundational lessons in identifying keywords/searching databases, evaluating sources using the CRAAP test, and creating citations using Noodletools. I cannot stress enough how important these lessons are in setting students up for future success. But, I also observed that three lessons taught parallel to the science project but not collaboratively planned with the team, left something to be desired. I imagined an ideal world in which the search for background information formed the basis of the student’s decision making process, introducing them to the world of experimental possibilities in their day-to-day routines. 

I think Courtney’s stated learning goal for the reconceived project really set the tone. Understanding that thoughtful experimentation contributes to a common reservoir of science knowledge meant that students now leaned toward an area of interest first, gathering information about their topic and hopefully funneling that knowledge into a project. Compared to years past, I found that far more students came to me looking for meaningful resources, rather than coming with an experiment in mind and then scrounging around for articles to pad their bibliographies. They did still struggle with developing keywords, especially once they moved from the concrete (their topic) to the abstract; one student ended up (memorably) with 4 almost identical reference articles on yeast. Some also struggled to progress from their content immersion to imagining a workable project. Going forward, I would like to see us add more whole group readings or videos during the Explore phase that would illuminate the process. Having some common sources on experiment design, or explaining independent/dependent variables would also be a great entry point for citation practice!

Initially I was skeptical about having the students find four articles from the databases (see the above yeast example.) But, reading through their projects, I was pleased to see that corralling them into that playground (predictably) resulted in far fewer totally inappropriate resources, possibly less reliance on premade experiment sites (i.e., Science Buddies), and probably facilitated citation. It allowed sixies to concentrate on the easier aspects of the CRAAP test (currency, relevance), which ended up being a more age-appropriate (read, less overwhelming) task. Meanwhile, looking forward, 8th grade science and social studies focused on current events projects this year, which allowed us to collaborate with those teachers on lateral reading skills to discern authority and purpose. This progression makes sense in terms of the larger scope-and-sequence for middle school information literacy skills.

Lastly, I think the role of technology really shone this year. Although we were thrown into pandemic panic, in the end, that made the use of Google Classroom and the library’s Libguide imperative and forced us to rely on them in a completely new way.  Both tools and the timetable coordination of the 15 classes gave incredible scaffolding support for students, some of whom had no science or library exposure before coming to BLS. And the Libguide will serve as a repository for all the collected materials, which will make organizing next year’s project much more convenient as well as helping with potential staff transitions. 

Susan Harari, Librarian

Harry V, Keefe Library

Boston Latin School

In this video the middle school librarian at Boston Latin School, Susan Harari empathizes with the struggle that the teachers went through, but recognizes the value that is named in the original ISP research.

https://vimeo.com/543252702

In the unit, the students completed background research on their topic to build working knowledge of the topic so that they could create a science experiment to test some aspect of their interest.  The research that they did went into essays, after they had constructed some basic understanding from researching multiple sources.  This was the learning.  Synthesizing the information from a variety of sources in a coherent way was challenging for the students.  But you will see that the science experiments that came out of these interests, curiosities, and research were worth the effort by all.  The background knowledge they gained allowed them to extend their understandings into creative science experiments for lasting learning.

Leslie Maniotes, PhD

Author, Guided Inquiry Design

The science fair is often a time where we see great inequities in school.  When projects are sent home with the students and they are left to fend for themselves, its copy and paste or brilliant parents do the work.  These are of course exaggerations of the extremes, but this often happens. Not so in this unit.

One big reason this team wanted to use GId was to ensure that every student identified an interesting topic for deeper research.  In these videos veteran science teacher Raquel Jacobson Peregrino describes how it played out – curiosity, equity and identifying their interest.  It is fantastic what they were able to accomplish with GId.  As it should be.

Enjoy!

Leslie Maniotes, PhD

Author of Guided Inquiry Design

 This is a core principle of Guided Inquiry Design.  Students need time in the beginning to think, wonder and investigate a little through exploring some ideas, and interests.  They also need some ways to capture their thinking.

Many middle school teacher teams have commented that middle school students need more structures within an inquiry process to support them. Middle School students are still developing their understanding of self as learner and structures to scaffold and support that learning a a tremendous help.

Courtney created a set of resources for all the teachers and students in this team.  These are wonderful examples. Courtney was able to apply the principles of the GId Process and strategies to help organize and provide structure for the middle school science fair unit. In these Courtney found an amazing balance with use of note catchers that accomplish the engagement of that phase and capture the original intent of GId.  These are a wonderful model for any unit and could be adapted in all kinds of ways. (Each form is offered here in Google doc format.  You’ll need to make a copy- please leave Courtney’s attribution on the bottom of the form if you use it, or share it in any way. Credit attributed to GId is also appreciated. Thanks in advance.)

Designing the Science Fair Project with GId

Here Courtney generously shares the templates she created to map what the students were doing for class onto the GId Process.  The activities and resources she created with her teammates worked to support students to find their interests over the first week of the project in the Open, Immerse, and Explore phases of Guided Inquiry Design. (See process model to the right.)  These are exemplary and paired with teachers who have a deep understanding of the process, work together to guide student learning to exceptional outcomes.

OPEN

# 1 – Scientific Thinking and Observation

SWBAT explain the components of the science fair project and begin brainstorming ways that scientists follow their interests

Questions/Observations lo
g

IMMERSE

#2 Branches of Science

SWBAT identify and describe two different branches of science.

Branches of Science Instructions

Branches of Science worksheet

EXPLORE

#3 Interest Survey Explore with Stop and Jot

SWBAT connect their extracurricular interests to science concepts

What Are Your Interests?

Interest Stop & Jot

EXPLORE

#4 Sharing Ideas Generates New Thinking

SWBAT articulate ideas from their mindmaps in Inquiry Circles

Pair Share Protocol

Student Worksheet

EXPLORE MOVING TO IDENTIFY

#5  Presenting my Idea and Getting Peer Feedback

SWBAT articulate their science project topic to their peers in order to give and providing feedback in Inquiry Circles

Identifying Inquiry Circles

The entire unit plan is here 

Thank you Courtney for your hard work on these documents and for sharing them with our GId community!

Leslie Maniotes, PhD

Author Guided Inquiry Design

Students come to us with their own experiences and mental models of how things work. Sometimes their preconceived notions are incorrect.  These are called misconceptions.  In order to build scientific knowledge, students have to be open to changing their mind.  That’s one big reason why inquiry based learning is such a great platform or methodology for learning about/from science.  If you want to learn more about misconceptions in science, one place to start is the school of education Science Professors at UCal Berkeley created this website from a grant back in 2010.  And on this page they list many common misconceptions in understanding science

At Boston Latin School, by designing the unit using the Guided Inquiry Design process and beginning with personal observations, the teachers uncovered student misconceptions early in the process.

The process gave students time to think, read, research, reflect and REDEFINE what they thought they knew.

When we are hoping to change misconceptions and change people’s minds through learning, a canned curriculum will not likely get us there.  It was through listening to students, understanding their perspective, questioning and wondering with them, pushing them to find out more and work through new information that students misconceptions were addressed through this unit.

Listen to Science Teacher Kelly Bagdonas talk about it here.

In the video, Kelly describes this one interaction with a student. She knows the student is wrong in their thinking, but instead of saying- “No, that’s not right!”  she takes an inquiry stance and instead says “Well, what makes you think that?” And the student responds with an honest, “I’ve actually never thought about it.”  Kelly recognized that “there was something here,” meaning this is a great nugget of information a place where this student has an interest and yet also a misconception.  This is a great opportunity for real learning!

Often times science teachers feel the need to be that subject matter expert at all times, but in this case, Kelly recognized the value of talking and listening and having an inquiry stance.  Because she did that, this student moved through the inquiry process about his idea, and changed his mind.  What a great lesson for us all about how to approach our students misconceptions with co-wonder, and opening space and time for them to read, reflect, talk to peers and find out more.  Through his process he was able to construct new understandings.  He needed nudging and permission to dig, for himself.  Most kids would want you to just tell them “the answer”, but Kelly opened the path for him to discover on his own, he had to work for it, and he was motivated to know more, so when he dug, it made for lasting learning.

If there weren’t already enough reasons to try GId in your science class, this one is a biggie, opening the space for students to address their interests and misconceptions about science and how things work.

Until next time!

Leslie Maniotes, PhD

Author Guided Inquiry Design

The team planned for this Science Fair Project project to open up their school year.  Unlike so many teachers who wait to do inquiry until AFTER all the “content is covered,” this team chose to start with inquiry, setting the tone for the year.  Of course deadlines were considered, as well as  how much time they had to give to these projects.  They wanted the students to share their projects before winter break and wanted to ensure students had the time to do the work necessary to get there.  With all of those factors playing in, they decided to start on Day One of school! And they discovered a few things along the way as they implemented their newly designed project.

What they found was that not only was Guided Inquiry Design a great way to guide students to find their own interests through curiosity, it served to create community as well.  For the Open of the unit the team decided to draw on student’s Third Space.  They wanted to help students think about what interested them about science by connecting their curiosities in their lived experiences.  So they began with a weeklong observation.  Science Teacher, Kelly Bagdonas describes it really well in this short video.

http://https://vimeo.com/542806232

As a result of this wondering and sharing, the students came to know each other through talking about the scientific observations they each had.  They learned about each others families, their home lives, their pets, but not in a “icebreaker” forced kind of way.  It occurred as interests arose and students got excited to tell about the connections that they were making. As they shared with peers and in the whole group.

As they connected their lives to science, they spoke intelligently about their observations and got to know one another and built community. What they learned was that, not only does GId serve the learning goals of thinking like a scientist, but relationships can be built through inquiry learning and through listening to others.

This also served as a culturally responsive practice. Students were connecting school to home in meaningful ways. Talking about their lives from their own personal perspective and recognizing that their input is valued in the school setting. This was particularly important for Covid times but, this will carry over to when the students come back to be with us as well.  Taking time to know students builds community increases cultural awareness, and provides the open space for the deep learning to follow.

Leslie Maniotes, PhD

Author, Guided Inquiry Design

]]> https://52guidedinquiry.edublogs.org/2021/04/27/more-time-in-the-beginning-of-the-process-really-paid-off/ https://52guidedinquiry.edublogs.org/2021/04/27/more-time-in-the-beginning-of-the-process-really-paid-off/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2021 06:00:58 +0000 https://52guidedinquiry.edublogs.org/?p=2323 READ MORE]]> Today on the blog is Courtney Garside, BLS Science Teacher- talking about how GId provided the roadmap they needed to structure the learning so students would find and stick with their own interest.

Last year, navigating the science fair project as a first year teacher, I noticed that a lot of my students had taken experiment ideas from various websites that had databases of pre-made ideas. Few of them had found a topic they were genuinely interested in and stuck with through the experiment process.

My goal for this time around was to expand on the brainstorming phase of the project development and guide students to find something they were really interested in. I wanted them to see it through to the end. I spent a lot of time over the summer thinking about ways to expose students to different topics that might lead them to find one that they would enjoy learning about.

Then, during the Guided Inquiry Design Institute, it all clicked.

The first phases of the GID were the perfect roadmap to facilitating the brainstorming phase of our science project. We focused much of our time in the Open and Immerse phases to expose students to the science that is all around them. They completed an observations and questions log over the course of a week to see how the things they interacted with on a daily basis connected to science concepts. They looked at different topics within an activity they are interested in to see how science plays a role in the things they do outside of school. They engaged in Inquiry Circles to discuss and develop their ideas.

Throughout the Explore phase, we compiled a set of resources that gave the students the information they needed, but left a lot of the thinking to the students. Our greatest challenge was creating these resources. It is much easier to make a worksheet where every student does the same thing and has the same outcome, but generating activities with the depth and breadth that would make the brainstorming really effective took a lot of time and effort.

In the end, the work paid off. Almost all students stuck with the topic they were interested in and created a unique and creative experiment from it. Students were actively engaged in the research process because they were interested in what they were reading. 

Courtney Garside

7th Grade Science Teacher

Boston Latin School