1. Structured Inquiry
1.1. Teacher establishes the framework and precise instructions/procedures for inquiry
1.1.1. Students are provided with a hands-on problem to investigate and given the procedures and materials they will need.
1.1.1.1. Students then discover the relationships between variables or generalize from data collected, which in turn leads to the discovery of expected outcomes.
1.1.2. Structured inquiries provide students with common learning experiences that can be used in guided or open (student-initiated) inquiry.
1.2. WebQuests
1.2.1. Mr. Newman's RCS Website
1.2.1.1. WebQuest exploring clouds
1.2.1.2. Advantage: Includes everything in Saint Joseph School District (SJSD) curriculum about clouds
1.2.1.3. Things I Would Change: Include a rubric and add more color
1.2.2. Are You Alive?
1.2.2.1. To use in "Living and Nonliving" unit
1.2.2.2. Advantage: Includes videos and activities/very engaging
1.2.2.3. Disadvantage: Some websites are not connected to a clickable link/could be tricky for some students
1.2.3. Plants
1.2.3.1. WebQuest about the parts of a plant
1.2.3.2. Advantage: Discusses all parts of plants with different resources to explore
1.2.3.3. Disadvantage: Have to scroll down unnecessarily to print different papers needed/could use more online instructions for final project
2. Guided Inquiry
2.1. The teacher provides the problem for investigation, as well as the necessary materials.
2.1.1. Students are expected to devise their own procedures to solve the problem.
2.1.2. The teacher provides support and additional information when needed using inquiry skills.
2.2. The Down the Drain Project
2.2.1. Students will measure the amount of water they use in a week and then compare to others around the world
2.2.2. Disadvantage: Could be different for some third graders to complete the graphing, etc. on their own--perhaps a modified version is needed
2.3. Sunlight and the Seasons
2.3.1. Can explore different resources about our sunlight--allows for individualized choice in collecting data
2.3.2. Disadvantage: Can be tricky to manipulate around--organization is tough for younger children
3. Student-Initiated Inquiry
3.1. Students not only formulate their own problem to solve, but also the procedure.
3.1.1. Teacher provides minimal assistance.