Effective science questions

62 science activities plus a handy questioning guide.

Science is not about static knowledge. It is a dynamic process which requires critical thinking. Thinking begins with a question, a need and/or a problem.

Good thinking uses sElls of the following: analysis, association, attribute listing, classification, comparison, concepts, deduction, evaluation, flexibility, fluency, forecasting, generalizing, hypothesizing, interpretation, observation, planning, predicting, problem-solving, questioning, synthesizing, theorizing and more!

As you teach science, you should be asking many questions to motivate your students to investigate thoroughly and formulate a thorough understanding of the concepts and skills being taught.

Questioning guide. In this column, you'll find a handy science questioning guide. It provides a list of "Process Verbs for Stating Learning Objectives According to Bloom." You'll find various verbs for each of the critical thinking levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. (You may want to keep these categories of verbs near you while teaching science).

To give you a specific example of how to use the "science verb guide," I've included a list of verbs for a typical whale lesson(s) which uses the different categories from Bloom's learning objectives. You can easily substitute these verbs when teaching a unit on plants, food, matter, energy, electricity, motion, machines, rocks and minerals, earthquakes, volcanoes, air, solar system, bones, muscles and energy (to mention a few).

This guide should involve students in the active process of reading, thinking and doing science. It should also provide opportunities for students to think and use what they've learned. They'll be stimulated to learn by doing hands-on activities in order to practice science process skills and learn through their investigations.

Knowledge Inquiries

Define the following terms: pelagic, leviathan, scrimshaw, baleen ambergris, fLukes. Label a whale inside and out. Name the five major families of whales. Relate (to the class) a whale incident you have read about. Memorize a poem about a whale.

Record the numbers and types of whales killed in a year by Japan, Russia and the United States. Recall a time when you saw a live whale. What do you remember most? Name the three most common cetaceans on the West coast.

Using the materials in class, read a myth about whales and relate to your group. On a world map record the feeding grounds of five families of cetaceans. Memorize the five largest whales and include their length. Define mammal.

Comprehension Inquiries

Explain the need of some countries to hunt whales. Describe the whaling operation aboard ship. Be able to recognize the three most hunted whales. Explain the stand of a group like Greenpeace in relation to whales. Review the accounts of beached whales and hypothesize why you think these events occurred. Identify your favorite type of cetacean, and prepare a poster advertising the best qualities.

Explain the purpose of the International Whaling Commission. Report on the history of whaling. Describe three incidents that would make you believe that whalers were intelligent. Express the needs of some countries to hunt whales. What are their options? Explain why a mammal doesn't "drown" underwater. Include how newborn whales survive.

Application Inquiries

Illustrate the three whales you believe to be the most unusual. Interview a narwhal. Prepare five questions and five answers. Schedule an expert to come to class to talk about whales. Operate a whale information center in your school.

Dramatize the actions of the group Greenpeace on high seas. What actions could you participate in on shore for the same purpose? Apply your knowledge of whales by a four-minute talk to share some unusual knowledge you have. Question 15 students as to how they feel about the intelligence of whales. Prepare at least five questions. Graph your answers.

Dramatize a whale incident you have read about. It should be between three and seven minutes. Practice identifying whales by their looks until you can identify at least 10 different ones.

Analysis Inquiries

Debate whether cetaceans should be used for military purposes. Compare the plight of whales to that of dinosaurs. Diagram the flipper of a whale. Compare the relative brain size of a whale and a human. Inventory five people in your neighborhood regarding their knowledge of cetaceans. Prepare at least six questions to ask. Differentiate between catching fish for food and hunting whales for food. What is it about cetaceans that distinguish them apart from other creatures in the sea. Experiment with influencing people to your way of thinking by preparing a dynamic three-minute verbal presentation. Solve the food problem for Japan. Differentiate between the "blubber" of a whale and fat on a human Diagram the heads of three whales. Debate whether or not we should have laws for the sea.

Synthesis Inquiries

Compose a song (choose at least one) about a cetacean: poem, sit, musical number, story. Propose a campaign to inform people about the intelligence of the whale. Formulate a ceremony to honor the cetacean. Create a community where whales and humans live in

harmony and for the benefit of each other. Arrange to have a local artist (one who paints the sea) share their art with the class.

Organize a campaign stressing the intelligence of these mighty creatures. Construct a mobile on a provocative theme in regard to whales. Create a new myth regarding how whales perceive humans.

Assemble a group of students who will present a musical tribute to the whale. Design a bumper sticker that will cause people to seriously consider the cause of whales. Create a motto that people can identify with preserving the whales.

Evaluation Inquiries

Predict the attitude regarding whales in the year 2000. What value do you put on the life of a whale? What difference does it make in your life?

How do you judge the actions of Greenpeace? Choose one whale and defend its right to live. Estimate whether the whale population will be up or -down in the year 2000. Assess how you feel about whales.

Evaluate the contributions of whales to our society. How do you rate the actions of a single person, or a small group towards changing the attitudes of a large group?

John Cowens teaches science at Fleming Middle School, Grants Pass, OR, and is a Teaching Editor of Teaching K-8. E-mail: joco9@echoweb.net

Copyright Early Years, Inc. Sep 1999
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