Return to Atta Project Home Page
Back to the Classroom References
Graph 1 Graph 2 Graph 3 Graph 4 Graph 5
CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS
Our research topic was influenced by several factors:
human influence on the environment; common fascination of Leaf cutting ants by
group members; and a deadline of three days in which to complete the entire
project.
The “50 Questions” strategy we used is one that can be used in the classroom with our students. The strategy is straightforward and allows different levels of teacher guidance. The first time it is used may require a lot of structure and guidance. For example, practice brainstorming as a whole class before having students do it on their own.
The steps are as follows:
1. Generate Questions
Students are given individual time to reflect on a topic and brainstorm a series of 50 questions. The teacher may provide a specific topic or even a list of sentence starters (I wonder why…How does…What happens when…What is the effect of X on Y…) Open space, a quiet area or even a darkened room to eliminate distractions is best. 15 minutes to reflect and 15 minutes to write brainstorm was the timeframe we used. Adjust time as appropriate. Note that the emphasis is not to get exactly 50 questions, but to generate as many questions as possible during the time period. 20 questions might work just as well.
2. Winnow
Students come together and eliminate questions from their list. This is a teacher-led activity. “Cross out any questions that cannot be tied directly to X topic.” “Cross out any questions that would take more than X class blocks to investigate.” Continue until each student has only 5 questions. Again, a whole class practice session would be helpful before students do this on their own.
3. Identify Themes
List questions so students can see them. One option is to have students write their questions on separate pieces of paper or Post ItÔ notes and display them. Physically group the questions by common themes.
4. Build Affinity Groups
Students select a group based on their interest. This step has potential problems with students as they often migrate to peer groups. This could be solved by color coding the Post ItÔ notes and by having a copy of each student’s questions.
Establish, define or review group norms or expectations at this point.
For example, “Participate”, “Take turns speaking”, “Respect
other’s ideas” etc. Working together in groups can be quite difficult for us as
well as our students. Hold students
to their norms.
5. Select Question
Within their affinity groups, students review and
discuss the questions. The goal is
to arrive at a single question by eliminating those that do not fit the time
frame, equipment available or other relevant criteria.
Questions may be modified or combined.
It is critical to have group consensus and teacher input at this point.
Intense planning and consultation with the instructor follows the “50 Questions” strategy. Students plan and design the actual experiment. This may include scouting the site, learning how to use special equipment, collecting materials, creating data tables and performing background research. Regular teacher feedback is important – perhaps have students get teacher initials periodically. Assigning roles or jobs within the group helps retain focus and encourages students to participate equally.
A final product such as a paper, presentation,
poster, PowerPoint presentation, web page or combination of products is
necessary to bring closure to the project.
Use of rubrics to establish criteria for evaluation are encouraged,
especially those that are designed with student input.
Peer, self and teacher assessments can be used.
This type of inquiry lesson can lead to conclusions
that are not well supported. Constraints of time and resources may limit the scientific
validity of the study. However, the
value of this activity may be found in the process of completing the study
rather than the product of the research. Teaching
how to do science is more important than the content in this case.
The topic of human impacts on ecosystems also lends itself to problem-based learning activities where the teacher poses a scenario to the students. An example would be “The town is planning to build a new bike path through the local Wiberg Woods (a nature preserve) and through the Sisneros Orchard. Concerns have been raised about the impact of this bike path. The planning board is having an open meeting to discuss the issues and wants a report analyzing possible impacts. This class will produce a study of the possible impacts and produce a report for presentation at the meeting.”