The Inquiry School

Curiosity, VA
September 5, 2009
Vo l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

Par ents , ar e you wondering how y our chi ld wil l learn scie nce this y ear?
He re is just a brief samp ling of What, Why and How:

WHY : HOW :
WHA T:

• Scient ifi c In ves tig ati on ,

Reas onin g, a nd Log ic
• Force, Mo ti on, and
Ener gy
• Matter
• Lif e Pr ocesses
• Livin g S yste ms
• In terrel at io nships in
Ear th /Sp ac e Systems
• Ear th P att erns, Cy cles,
and Ch an ge
• Res ources
• To learn how to plan and • Predict
conduct investigations • Observe
• To understand simple machines
and their uses
• Classify
• To investigate and understand • Measure
objects are made of materials • Investigate
that can be described by their • Demonstrate
physical properties
• Explain
• Understand and investigate
• Infer
animals behavioral and physical
• Conclude
adaptations
• Understand relationships among • Apply
organisms in aquatic and • Chart/graph results
terrestrial food chains • Work in cooperative
• Investigate and understand that groups
natural events and human
• Construct models
influences can affect the
survival of species • Set goals
• Self assess

Philosophy of Assessment
WEIRD SCIENCE FACTs: I firmly believe that assessment should
There is enough salt in the world’s
be ongoing and varied. “Assessment
oceans to cover all the land on all theshould support instruction – assessment
continents to a depth of nearly 500 for learning rather than assessment of
feet! I’m cutting down on salt anywaylearning. “(Leahy, Lyon, Thompson and
~ hope you are too!!!
William) I will be using a variety of pre-
assessments to discern students’ prior
knowledge and to help guide my
teaching. Qualitative rubrics written in
“kid friendly” language will be used to
encourage self-assessment and to clarify
and focus learning objectives. I will
 Ms. Sulliv an ’s S ci en ce N ews ~ Pag e 2

Wh y is it Impo rtant to T each Ma th, A SAMPLE CLASS EXPERIMENT:

Rea ding , W rit ing in Scien ce Clas s?
How many drops of water fit on the head’s side of a
penny?

To find a solution to this question, we will experiment,

using an awesome technique called “The Four Question
Strategy.” The four questions are:

The met ric sys tem is the g lo ba l la ngu ag e of 1. What materials are readily available for conducting
me asuremen t. T his syste m giv es us f airly experiments on water?
easy unit s of me asuremen t for da ily use. 2. How does water “act?”
3. How might we change the set of “water” materials
Mu lt iply ing a nd d ivi ding in b ase t en is an
to affect the action?
essen tia l pa rt of u tili zin g the me tr ic sys tem.
4. How might we measure or describe the response of
When stude nts me asure leng th in me ters , water to the change?
volume in li te rs an d mass in Kil og rams , they
are using me tri c measure ments . Lear ning t o
mak e c onv ersi ons, t o me asure sm alle r an d
large r ob jec ts in the me tr ic sys tem, req uires
basi c ma th skills . Whe n stud ents c on duc t
expe rimen ts, measureme nt is a n imp or ta nt
com po nent ; t heref ore le arnin g to use the
me tri c syste m is in valua ble . Cons tru ct ing
graphs fro m da ta t ab les , to illus tr ate resul ts
from a n experi ment als o requires the s tuden t
to un derst an d ho w t o g raph p oin ts a nd t o Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic
accu rately rea d a g raph .
3.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in
which
• predictions and observations are made;
• questions are developed to formulate
hypotheses;
• inferences are made, conclusions are drawn.
(VA 3rd Grade SOLs)

Check out the f oll owing webs ites:

http://www.brainpop.com/

http://www.billnye.com/

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/
Rea di ng a nd w ri tin g are essent ia l for
studen ts t o “e ffec ti vely commu nic at e
inv esti ga tio n pro cedures a nd expl an at io ns. ”
(N SES K -4) Stu dent s must learn to ef fec ti vely
rea d a nd w rit e direc ti ons , desc rip ti ons ,
hypo theses , pro ced ures and con clusi ons .
“G oo d c om muni ca ti on is essenti al in g iving
and recei ving infor ma ti on .” ( Rez ba , Spr ag ue,
McDo nnou gh a nd M at kins )