Experiencing Scientific Inquiry in the Classroom :

2. The highs and lows of that experience By Ruth Kennedy, Ian Dooley, Mary Flynn, Marie Ryan & Grace Garvey Experiencing Scientific Inquiry in the Classroom:

3. Our understanding of How a Scientist Works • They form a hypothesis and test to see if their theory is true. • Go on fieldtrips to help test their hypothesis. • They read up existing literature on a certain scientific topic. • They perform tests or experiments. Main skills a scientist requires • Co-ordination of tasks • Research ability • Creativity • Logical thinking • Interpersonal skills • Curiosity • Reasoning

4. Inquiry Based Science Education in Action • We looked at a Scientific topic over a series of lessons. • The research topic chosen was related to meteorites and the likelihood of them colliding with the earth.

5. Day 1 – Independent Research • The class was split into groups. • We used the jigsaw method of learning. • Each member researched a different area, brought back what they learned and all this information was displayed on a poster.

6. Is a Collision Likely? • The chance of an asteroid hitting earth is bigger than previously thought (3 to 10 times more likely). • Nasa however indicate that there is less than a 1% chance of asteroid 2013 TV135 hitting earth in 2032.

7. Evidence Gathered • From an article we read on day 1, we learned that 1400 asteroids are known to creep too close to earth for comfort. • None of the asteroids mapped pose a threat to Earth within the next 100 years.

8. Day 2 – Preparation Day • We then formulated some questions to investigate the following day.

9. Day 3 - Experiment • We had to devise a suitable experiment for the question we formulated the previous day. • We carried out the experiment and created a poster based on our findings.

10. Results • The results show that the bigger the diameter of the marble, the shallower the dent in the flour. • As height is increased, the depth of the dent in the flour also increases.

11. Results • From our investigation we concluded that there is a relationship between the diameter and mass of the asteroid in relation to the depth of the crater. • We also found that as the drop height of the asteroid is changed, the depth and speed of the asteroid also changed.

12. Day 4 – Discussion on Findings • Each group presented their observations to the class and explained what they did in their experiment and what they had learned. • The students gave feedback on their overall experience of the process.

13. Day 5 - Guest Speaker • As our chosen topic was on meteorites, the University of Limerick organised for an Astro-physicist to speak to our class. • He told us about his research work and answered any queries we had. • This added to our learning.

14. Conclusion We have concluded that ‘yes’ an asteroid collision is likely however there are also many ways to deflect them. Such as: • Nuclear blast • Using mirrors • Gravity tractor

15. Further Investigation In the future, if we were to carry out further investigation, we would look at the following: • What is an asteroid made up of? • The effect the speed of an asteroid has on a collision. • Why do some asteroids break up when they hit the earths atmosphere

16. Our experience of Inquiry Based Learning Highs: • Everyone got involved. • Makes you a more independent learner. • You were able to work like a real scientist. • Information was retained better. • We were able to see everyone else's point of view.

17. Our Experience of Inquiry Based Learning Lows: • Not everyone in group obtained relevant information. • You were unsure if you were doing the experiment right. • We would have benefited more if we as students had increased participation during the role model presentation. • We would have liked more time to discuss results and accuracy.

18. Recommendations To make the experience more productive, the following could be considered: • More teacher interaction • Further discussion on findings and investigative results • More time required to get information from the initial research articles. • A class to summarise the highlights of the topic and facilitate student note-taking. • More time for personal research of topic

19. Sources of Information • http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/space-rocks/ • http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/factors-that-affect-crater-formation • http://www.astronomy.ie/nasatv.php • http://www.bco.ie/ • http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=460