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1. MAIS K-6 SCIENCE INQUIRY, INVESTIGATION, AND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
2. A Scientists View of Inquiry The scientific methodis
nothing more than doing
ones damnedest with
ones mind, no holds
barred.
P. W. Bridgman, Reflections of Physicist (1955)
3. A Philosophers View of Inquiry By doubting, we come to inquiry, and by
inquiry we arrive at truth.
Peter Abelard (1100s)
4. An Authors View of Inquiry The real purpose of scientific method is
to make sure Nature hasnt misled you
into thinking you know something
you dont actually know.
Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance(1974)
5. A 4th Grade MAIS Students View of Inquiry I like learning to discover
all the things I thought I
could never discover.
MAIS 4th Grader
6. The Project MAIS K-6 Science Inquiry is about:
7. Our primary goal is: PREPARING MAIS K-6 TEACHERS TO
ENABLE THEIR STUDENTS TO USE
INQUIRY
INVESTIGATION
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
8. The project follows the science standards of Project AERO and the National Science Education Standards
9. Representatives of 25 schools in 8 MAIS countries are participating in MAIS K-6 Science Inquiry
10. Teachers investigate a simple electrical
circuit using a flashlight cell, a bulb, and
wires.
11. Sarah, an elementary school principal from Las Palmas, shows off her newly-found electrical skills.
12. Instructor Ken Mechling demonstrates the construction of a series circuit and has participants infer its parts, operation, and electrical flow.
13. Teachers investigate chromatography and
14. share their designs, describing the flow of molecules.
15. Teachers investigate vibration, pitch, and amplitude with soda straw kazoos.
16. They use special glasses to investigate the spectra from various light sources.
17. Teachers experience various scents in odor vials, investigating smell and relating their discoveries to animals, including humans.
18. They use hand-held microscopes to investigate worlds too small to be seen by the naked eye.
19. Teachers construct seed- germination chambers to investigate variables affecting seed growth and plant development.
20. They use magnifying lenses to investigate factors affecting the behavior of Isopods, also called rolypolies, sowbugs, or pillbugs.
21. Participants use the methods of inquiry to investigate, design and test objects that magnetism does or does not pass through.
22. They construct boxes containing mystery objects and challenge their colleagues to infer the boxes contentswithout using the sense of sight.
23. Participants design experiments to measure their own reaction times.
24. Instructor Amy begins a design technology activity by reading partway through the book, Little Lumpty to the point where the main character, Little Lumpty, an egg, is perched on a high wall and is about to jump.
25. With 8 sheets of paper and 25 cm of tape, teams design and construct egg-catchers to keep raw eggs from breaking when dropped from increasing heights.
26. Then they test their designs and consider redesigns.
27. With the egg drops completed, Amy finishes reading Little Lumpty and the teams discuss how they could redesign their egg catchers to make them more effective. Building an egg catcher and reading Little Lumpty combines science and technology with childrens literature.
28. Teachers are also provided with Lesson Plans as Guides for their own classroom lessons. Here is one for investigating owl pellets:
29. Another is on analyzing rocks and minerals:
30. Still another is on designing and testing rolling objects:
31. Parents get into the act too! These parents are investigating sound cups at the American International School of Egypt. Nine MAIS schools had two-to-three day on-site visits this year. Many involved parents in after-school science programs.
32. As a part of every program, participating MAIS directors, principals, and teachers develop school action plans to improve science in their schools.
33. MAIS K-6 Science Inquiry also includes a website. http://www.maisk-6scienceinquiry.org/
for MAIS, international schools worldwide, and
others. The site averages 3,000 hits per month.
34. What do kids learn? They learn inquiry processes:
35. They learn science concepts relating to:
36. They learn:
37. Is the project working? Early indicators of success are: Increased science in schools and
classrooms.
Increased hands-on, minds-on science
experiences.
Increased use of inquiry, investigation, and
design technology by MAIS students.
Positive attitudes toward science by
directors, principals, teachers, children, and
parents.
Increased school leadership for science.
38. Teachers and administrators say this about the project: Excellent program!
Outstanding real science investigations!
I like it because my kids are learning to do their own critical thinking and problem solving.
The program you did for us had application to real life teaching.
I love science nowand my kids do too!
39. MAIS children sayin their own wordsand spelling: You can learn a lot from experiments because you can see for yourself what happens6th Grader
In science what I like to do best is expirements! 2nd Grader
Science is...figyoring theings oat. 1st Grader
40. W. B. Yeats has said, Educating is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.
41. MAIS K-6 Science Inquiry is lighting fires among MAIS teachers and students.
42. Thanks, OSAC, for your support and leadership!
