SPED 2 Portfolio: Science Inquiry Resource -Evidence and Explanation!

From Edutopia: The Five Features of Science Inquiry: How do you know?

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-science-inquiry-based

Grade consideration: Applicable to all grades k-12 

      I chose this article because I’m interested in strengthening my teaching through inquiry. 

      Summary: STEM blogger, Eric Brunsell, moves that learning science through inquiry is a great way to spark curiosity in our students and to make science more engaging. As teachers, educating ourselves on how to best introduce and guide inquiry in our classrooms is crucial for achieving an optimal learning environment. Brunsell says that to really understand where to start with inquiry, we must review the key features of inquiry as defined by the National Science Council(NRC) (in Brunsell, 2010):

● Learner Engages in Scientifically Oriented Questions

● Learner Gives Priority to Evidence in Responding to

Questions

● Learner Formulates Explanations from Evidence

● Learner Connects Explanations to Scientific Knowledge

● Learner Communicates and Justifies Explanations

Brunsell highlighted how “explanation” and “evidence” appear multiple times in the definition and how crucial these components  saying, “Helping students use evidence to create explanations for natural phenomena is central to science inquiry.” (2010) He further emphasizes how using explanations with evidence is an important feature constructing or critiquing arguments which students should be encouraged to do. We can support our students' understanding of the importance of evidence-based explanations in our classes by asking our students, “How do you know?” and having them respond orally or in writing with evidence or by presenting and critiquing evidence in science news, reports, and other media. 

Classroom Examples of Collecting Evidence for Explanations:

High school- Lab requirement to document evidence that supports the conclusion and connection of rationale to the claim.

Intermediate grades -collecting evidence from a story to prove why an event occurred

Elementary grades- collecting evidence through activities and observations on a given topic or inquiry question such as “Does air take up space?” and document evidence in a template “evidence bucket” or as a class on chart paper AFTER explicitly teaching what evidence is.

Reference:

Brunsell, E. (2010, September 29). The Five Features of Science Inquiry: How do you know?. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-science-inquiry-based