Inquiry: Introduction to the 5E Learning Cycle

Inquiry: Introduction to the 5E Learning Cycle Susan L. Zimlich, Ph.D. LA-CEC Super Conference Southeastern Louisiana University February 25, 2019

How is a lesson plan like a house blueprint? Engagement

Mr. Jones is teaching about the water cycle. He begins the lesson by asking the students, “What is a cycle?” Then he asks them, “How many of you have heard about the water cycle?” Students then draw and share what they know about the water cycle. • Next, students play a water cycle game where they experience what it is like to be a drop of water. They are divided into groups and assigned to locations in the room that represent mountains, the ocean, clouds, streams, groundwater, an animal, and a plant. Each student draws a strip from the box at their station. The strip tells them which station to move to next. The students move to the next station at the signal. The process of drawing a strip and moving to the next location is repeated five times so that the students understand how water can move from place to place. After the game is over the students write stories about their journey as a drop of water. Exploration

Then their students pair up and compare their stories. They use post-it notes to make a graph of the locations they visited. The teacher leads a discussion by asking questions such as: Which location was visited to most? What can we infer from the information about which locations were visited the most? What other parts of the water cycle (puddles, lakes, etc.) were not included in the game? Where do those left out pieces fit in the water cycle? What would happen if all of the water stayed in the ocean or in the clouds? Why do you think water does not stay in one place? Why is the water cycle important to plants and animals? • The students look back at their drawings of the water cycle. They work in small groups to figure out what needs to change on their drawings to make them more accurate. Then each student creates a new drawing and writes about what he or she learned and how it informed him or her about how to improve his or her water cycle drawings. Exploration(continued)

Explanation What can you think of for each of these steps?

How does this differ from a Gradual Release lesson? • Why does it matter which way we teach? • Where does this work best? • What content areas? • What particular topics? • How is a lesson plan like a house blueprint? • Guess what? You just went through a 5-E Learning Cycle Lesson! Elaborate

Where was there evaluation throughout the steps? • What kinds of content are appropriate for the 5-E Learning Cycle? • What lesson ideas can you come up with? • What questions do YOU have? Evaluation

Lessons with the steps explained: • https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/first-grade-science • https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/measuring-volume-lesson • Articles • https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1058007.pdf • http://www.kacee.org/files/Inquiry%20&%205E%20Instructional%20Model.pdf • Websites • https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/teachertoolbox/the5e • https://learningcenter.nsta.org/mylibrary/collection.aspx?id=evtc9Y02R6Q_E (Science lessons) Resources

Dr. Susan L. Zimlich • Southeastern Louisiana University • Susan.Zimlich@selu.edu Contact

Inquiry: Introduction to the 5E Learning Cycle