This is a science unit I collaborated on in various versions with three different classes ranging from Grades 1 to 3. The idea was to get the students, working independently or in small groups, to start making connections between information they learn from books and what they experience in the real world, with the aim of helping them to understand research as a recurring cycle of activities–talking and asking questions, reading and doing research, looking at the actual world, and communicating what they’ve learned.
The project was about investigating five types of bugs—spiders, ants, beetles, wood bugs and centipedes—and learning about their roles in local ecosystems.
Below are several slides describing the research process as we used it: Talking, Reading, Looking, and Writing. There is also information about the different levels of support provided in inquiry based projects, and about the roles of the classroom teacher and the teacher-librarian.
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Talking
Talking is one of the most important parts of any learning project. As they proceed with their inquiries, students practice many different ways of talking. Just a few examples taken from this project: the Know-Wonder-Learn brainstorming activity in the chart below, discussions with their partners and table groups, and oral presentations of their findings.