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Home > Pre-AP > Workshops > Pre-AP: Strategies in Science -- Inquiry-Based Laboratories for Middle Schools
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Pre-AP: Strategies in Science -- Inquiry-Based Laboratories for Middle Schools
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| | This one-day workshop introduces middle school science teachers to inquiry-based laboratory instruction. Through activities and discussions, participants will learn to use inquiry-based laboratories to teach science processing, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills to students and prepare them for the rigorous course work in high school and college. Topics addressed include laboratory roles, traditional versus inquiry-based laboratory activities, using inquiry-based labs to teach critical thinking skills, and assessing inquiry-based laboratory activities.
General Themes
- Inquiry-based learning
- Scientific literacy and communication
The workshop conforms to:
- The College Board's mission, particularly access and equity
- The National Science Education Standards, published by the National Research Council
 The National Science Education Standards
- Benchmarks for Science Literacy 2061, released by the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Benchmarks for Science Literacy
- AP sciences skills and standards
- AP Vertical Teams approach
The workshop provides:
- Substantial content background for teachers
- Activities for students across grade levels
- Activities meant to illustrate good pedagogy (various instructional approaches including cooperative learning)
- Activities that require communication to support observations and conclusions
- Opportunities for reflection
- Connections between one activity and another
Agenda
Section 1: Priority Pyramid
- Priorities in the Classroom
- Priority Pyramid Directions
- Goals and Objectives of Teaching Science
Section 2: Inquiry-Based Laboratory Activity -- Heat Insulators
- Inquiry-Based Science Instruction
- Heat Insulators Investigation
- Heat Insulators Assessment Rubric
- Reflection
Break
Section 3: Challenges Associated with Inquiry-Based Instruction
- Challenges Associated with Inquiry-Based Laboratory Activities
- What Challenges Do You Associate with Implementing Inquiry-Based Laboratory Activities?
- Information, Tips, and Strategies for Overcoming Challenges of Implementing Inquiry-Based Laboratories
- Summary of Information
- Reflection
Section 4: Traditional vs. Inquiry-Based Laboratory Activities
- Traditional Laboratory Activities
- The Inquiry Cycle
- Stages of the Inquiry Cycle from the Heat Insulators Lab Activity
- Essential Features of Classroom Inquiry
- Definition of Inquiry from the National Science Education Standards
- Traditional Version of Heat Insulators Lab
- Inquiry-Based Version of Heat Insulators Lab
- Comparing Inquiry-Based and Traditional Versions of the Heat Insulators Lab
- Traditional Version of Variation Lab
- Inquiry-Based Version of Variation Lab
- Comparing Inquiry-Based and Traditional Versions of the Variation Lab
- Reflection
Lunch
Section 5: How to Modify "Cookbook" Labs
- Modify "Cookbook" Labs
- Traditional Evaporation Lab
- Modification Suggestions
- More Modification Tips
- Strategies for Modifications
- Modification Advice
- Modification Sheet for Evaporation Lab
- Temperature and Reaction Rates
- Reflected Light
- Convex and Concave Lenses
- Freezing of Water
- The Effect of Acid Rain on Different Rock Types
- Osmosis and Diffusion
- Cell Respiration in Living Organisms
- Critique Activity for Student Centeredness
- Sample Critique of a Traditional Lab (Acid Rain)
- Reflection
Break
Section 6: Using Inquiry-Based Labs to Teach Critical Thinking Skills
- Critical Thinking Skills
- Crafting Higher-Order Lab Tasks, Follow-Up Questions, and Extensions
- Thinking Skills Verbs
- Possible Inquiry-Based Lab Tasks
- Tips for Writing Follow-Up Questions and Extensions
- Analyzing Follow-Up Questions and Extensions
- Heat Insulator Follow-Up Questions -- Lab Skills
- Other Follow-Up Thought Questions for Heat Insulators Lab
- Follow-Up Questions for the Evaporation Lab
- Reflection
Section 7: Priority Pyramid Revisited
Authors
Susan Everett is an assistant professor of science education at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Her background is in elementary education, and she has taught gifted and talented students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades in the United States and Korea. She has led many workshops for teachers emphasizing inquiry-based science teaching. Her greatest joy is helping both students and teachers discover how much fun science is!
Inez Liftig has been teaching science for 34 years and currently teaches eighth-grade science at Fairfield Woods Middle School in Fairfield, Connecticut. In addition to being the lead writer for the Pre-AP Strategies in Science -- Inquiry-Based Laboratories for Middle School workshop, she has written teacher guides for numerous organizations including Scholastic, the BBC, and the World Wildlife Fund. She has served on teacher assessment, testing, and Science Curriculum Frameworks development committees for the Connecticut Department of Education. She has been active for many years in the National Science Teachers Association and is the current field editor for Science Scope, NSTA's middle-level journal.
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