Inquiry Science Workshop Series for Grades K-4

Sponsored by the Salem State Collaborative

Description: What is inquiry? What does it look like in the elementary science classroom? What does the learning environment look like that supports this? How can inquiry be assessed? These K-4 workshops are designed to help practicing elementary teacher answer these questions. Working collaboratively, teachers will be involved in hands-on experiences to deepen their understanding of how to carry out a scientific investigation and the investigative skills needed to do this.

Participants will develop their understanding of inquiry through investigations, explorations, journal readings, and discussion. We will be looking at literature that supports our scientific investigations and connecting our explorations to the Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Framework.

Location: Lynnfield High School, 275 Essex Street, Lynnfield, MA 01940 781.334.5820

Time: Workshops 3:30 – 6:00 PM

Presenter: Ann Harney- Elementary Science Consultant

Cost:   $10 per session or $35 for full series for Collaborative Members 
  $45 per session or $150 for full series for Non-Collaborative Members 
PDP’s:  2.5 PDP’s per session/10 PDP’s for full program 
 

Session Date (Thursdays)

Session 1 18 January 2007

What is inquiry? What are the skills needed to answer your scientific question? Using objects from nature we will work on developing strategie and discussing tools that will improve our students’ observational skills and ours.

Session 2 25 January

What are some of the investigative skills used by scientists? Using conifers we will apply our observational skills and learn to classify different species based on their characteristics. We will design our own dichotomous key.

Session 3 1 February

What are the steps to answering an inquiry? Using pendulums and catapults, participants will design investigations to answer their own questions.

Session 4 8 February

What does it mean to “think, talk, and act like a scientist” Using toy tops we apply our new understandings of scientific problem solving to predict how form and function affect the motion of tops.

Registration Information:

Please email the following information to Jim Kearns at registration@salemcollaborative.org or mail to Jim Kearns, c/o Lynnfield High School, 275 Essex Street, Lynnfield, MA, 01940 or register at our website www.salemcollaborative.org. If you have registration questions, please call Jim at 781-771-4860.

Make Checks payable to CPMSIE

DEADLINE to sign up for the Elementary Science Inquiry series is January 15.

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