A: Scientific inquiry is a multifaceted activity; The processes of science include the formulation of scientifically investigable questions, construction of investigations into those questions, the collection of appropriate data, the evaluation of the meaning of those data, and the communication of this evaluation.
B: The processes of science frequently do not correspond to the traditional portrayal of "the scientific method."
C: Scientific argumentation is a necessary part of scientific inquiry and plays an important role in the generation and validation of scientific knowledge.
D: Scientific knowledge is based on observation and inference; it is important to recognize that these are very different things. Not only does science require creativity in its methods and processes, but also in its questions and explanations.
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STEM Lessons - Model Eliciting Activity
Mrs. Thinkwell is a 4th grade teacher, but she is having a hard time keeping her students engaged during the science lessons. The science lectures are just not working. Of course, there are a few students who seem to be doing well, but there are so many who are underachieving. She could not figure out the problem. Her principal suggested giving the students a multiple intelligence (MI) assessment and possibly utilizing small groups for instruction. She decided to try the MI assessment and received the results; but she still was unsure of what that meant for her classroom. Mrs. Thinkwell wants to utilize small groups in her classroom, but did not know the best way to group the students based primarily on their multiple intelligences.
Students will help Mrs. Thinkwell by creating groups of students based on a class data set of MI Assessment results.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.
Original Student Tutorials Science - Grades K-8
Learn to discriminate between observations and inferences in scientific investigations, explore the importance of objectivity in science, classify different scientific methods, and distinguish empirical evidence from ideas and feelings within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in this interactive tutorial.
Discover what a virus is, actions that cause viruses like the flu to spread from one person to another, and strategies to decrease the spread of viruses to others.
This interactive tutorial is part 1 in a two-part series. Click to open part 2.
Discover what a virus is, actions that cause viruses like the flu to spread from one person to another, and strategies to decrease the spread of viruses to others.
This interactive tutorial is part 2 in a two-part series. Click to open part 1.
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorials
Learn to discriminate between observations and inferences in scientific investigations, explore the importance of objectivity in science, classify different scientific methods, and distinguish empirical evidence from ideas and feelings within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Discover what a virus is, actions that cause viruses like the flu to spread from one person to another, and strategies to decrease the spread of viruses to others.
This interactive tutorial is part 2 in a two-part series. Click to open part 1.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Discover what a virus is, actions that cause viruses like the flu to spread from one person to another, and strategies to decrease the spread of viruses to others.
This interactive tutorial is part 1 in a two-part series. Click to open part 2.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Video/Audio/Animation
Watch a demonstration of an experiment which tests the effectiveness of two different insulators. The participants will demonstrate their thinking as they run an experiment, identify variables and collect data.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation