1) Propose definition of inquiry that you would use with your high school students.
I would have
the students come up with a definition of inquiry in a brainstorming session. I
would start with a Think-Pair-Share. First, I would have students respond to
the question, “What is scientific inquiry?” by writing in their journals.
Students would then share their response with a partner and then the class. I
would jot their responses down on the board and guide them to a class
definition.
The
important things to include in the definition are as follows: Inquiry-based
science mimics the way real scientists think about and investigate scientific
problems. The learning is almost exclusively student-centered and relies on
innate human curiosity about the nature of how things work. The teacher usually
begins with an open-ended question for the class that gets students thinking
(brainstorming). The teacher acts more as a guide to help students develop
their questions, hypotheses, and experimental design. Then, students work
together in teams to conduct their experiments. Each team may have a different experiment.
Finally, students present their findings to the class, and the class reviews
and critiques the explanations.
Inquiry-based
instruction has many advantages to deductive reasoning and direct instruction
of traditional science classrooms. First, students are much more engaged since
they are given complete ownership of their projects, outcomes, and thought
processes. Second, students are challenged to use higher-order thought
processes, such as problem-solving and critical-thinking. Third, students get
to work together in groups, an activity most high school students enjoy. In
addition, this teaches students invaluable collaborative and cooperative
skills. Students must present their findings to the class and review each
other’s findings, giving students a more complete picture of how scientists
conduct investigations. Finally, because students are more engaged and exposed
to new content through different learning modalities, students are more likely
to have long-lasting retention of what they’ve learned.
Mini-Lesson Plan (Biology):
Investigation of Acids & Bases
Acids and
bases can be taught to students using an inquiry-based lab. This would be Level
2 with some teacher guidance. Students will be assessed on their ability to
conduct inquiry based on their lab reports and presentations. In addition, this
will also assess their conceptual understanding of acids and bases. To briefly
summarize, students will do an inquiry-based lab to test the pH of common
household items. Then, they would be asked to design their own experiment to
test the effectiveness of different antacids. For enzymes, the next lesson,
students will do an inquiry-based lab to test the effectiveness of enzymes in
laundry detergent.
Student
Connection:
Students learned
about water the day before. In addition, they learned about ant-acids
dissolving in water last week, during the “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz” lab. We will
connect that to teaching students about how antacids work to quench a
stomach-ache. Students will learn that their stomach has a pH of 1, and, if it
weren’t for the mucosal lining of our GI tract, we would have huge holes in our
stomach linings. In fact, people who suffer from that have “ulcers”. Connecting
acids and bases to our human bodies makes the content interesting to students
because it’s relevant to their bodies.
Rationale:
Enduring
Understanding:
Students will understand what acidic,
basic, and neutral solutions are. Students will understand how antacids reduce the
amount of acid in your stomach. Students will understand how pH is related to
hydrogen and hydroxide ion concentrations.
Essential
Questions:
- What are acidic and basic solutions? What is a neutral solution?
- How would you increase the pH of a solution? How would you decrease the pH?
- What is the hydrogen ion concentration like in an acidic solution? In a basic solution?
- What is the hydroxide ion concentration like in a basic solution? In an acidic solution?
Instructional
Strategies:
Provide content with a PowerPoint
presentation, process (quick write & share in response to questions
embedded in the presentation), and product (Acids and Bases laboratory
activity; Unit 2 Quiz). Graphic organizer for properties of acidic vs. basic
solution.
Student
Activities:
Provide supports for varied readiness
levels (visual and auditory presentation, think-quick-write-share at end of
presentation), learning profiles and interests (visual and auditory
presentation; lab for hands-on learning (kinesthetic)). Complete graphic organizer
on properties of acids and bases. Unit 2 quiz to check for understanding and
identify areas to review before test next week.
Content
Standards:
Grades 9 & 10 Biology
1: “Cell Biology”
b. “Students
know that enzymes are proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions without
altering the reaction equilibrium and the activities of enzymes depend on the
temperature, ionic conditions, and the pH of the surroundings."
h.
“Students know most macromolecules
(polysaccharides, nucleic acids proteins, lipids) in cells and organisms are
synthesized from a small collection of simple precursors.” (State Board of
Education, 2002).
Objective:
By the end of this unit students will
be able to:
· Explain what acidic and basic solutions are.
· Explain what pH measures.
· Compare acidic and basic solutions in terms of their
hydrogen and hydroxide ion concentrations.
Assessment
Plan:
Entry Level—Students will start with a
warm-up activity by summarizing their notes on water from the day before. The
teacher will check for understanding by calling on three students to share
their summaries.
Formative—The teacher will check for
understanding periodically by including questions on slides embedded in the
PowerPoint presentation. Students will “think-quick-write-share” in response to
these questions. In addition, the exit ticket will include calling on students
at random to answer questions written in the margins of their Cornell-style
notes, such as:
a.
What is the difference between acidic and basic solutions?
b.
What does pH measure?
c.
Describe the
hydrogen ion concentration of an acidic and a basic solution.
d.
Do the same for
hydroxide ion concentration.
Summative—Students will complete a lab on Acids and Bases,
which will be peer graded as students present their findings to the class.
Resources:
1.
PowerPoint
presentation, “pH”
2.
Acids and bases
lab
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