Little children love to ask questions such as Why? How come? But it seems that in school, it’s the teacher who asks most of the questions. This issue provides some suggestions and examples for helping students to apply their curiosity to science investigations.
Investigating with Charles Darwin describes how a class uses Darwin’s work with worms as the basis for their own investigations. The author mentions the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Even though the exhibit is now closed, the virtual one is still active. For more information on Darwin and his works, use the keyword Darwin in SciLinks. Worms also are the basis for investigations in Worms Out of This World. You can check out other activities and background information by entering worm as a keyword in SciLinks.
There are several articles on models, but not the Styrofoam or craft stick kind. The Benefits of Scientific Modeling shows how to go beyond a diagram or physical representation and use models to explore, predict, and explain. There is a chart that show how even simple diagrams can be used a models. The Many Levels of Inquiry article shows a progression of activities, from demonstrations to independent investigations. Take a look at the September issue of Science Scope for more on inquiry lessons.
Investigation starts with asking questions. Two articles Methods and Strategies: The Crucial Role of the Teacher question stems and The Art (and Science) of Asking Questions deal with questions and wait time. The original research was published in the 1970s (by the late Mary Budd Rowe, who was also an NSTA president). This research noted that when teachers paused (for 3-5 seconds) after asking a higher-order question and before calling on a student, the student’s response was likely to be more detailed and that more students volunteered to answer. Students also achieved higher on measures of complex thinking. It’s a tried and true strategy, and if you need to review the concept, here are three resources:

• Using “Think-Time” and “Wait-Time” Skillfully in the Classroom also describes variations of wait time in terms of teacher and student conversations.
• For a primary source, here is an article by Rowe that revisits the concept and its effects on students (and teachers).
• Wait Time from the University of Akron includes a video clip of what wait time looks like and sounds like in a classroom.