Cool It!

Inquiry Criteria: Engage

Inquiry Specific Statement from Continuum: Learner engages in question provided by teacher, materials, or other source

Why it Fits: The lab tells students the exact question: "How does the temperature of a hot liquid change with stirring?" The students don't get to pick the topic or the variable.

How Could Improve: I don't think the students would ask this question on their own because "how to make a hot liquid cooler" isn't an extremely intriguing question on its own. Maybe if the teacher gave students some hot chocolate to drink but told them it was much too hot, this would make the experiment more relevant to their own lives. Another interesting avenue could be the McDonald's lawsuit about hot coffee. By discussing these ideas, the teacher would be more able to guide students towards the desired question.

Inquiry Criteria: Evidence

Inquiry Specific Statement from Continuum: Learner directed to collect certain data

Why it Fits: It isn't all the way to the right on the continuum because the students aren't given the data, but the students are told to gather a specific kind of data--the temperature every 3 minutes of the stirred and unstirred water.

How Could Improve: The teacher could have students decide on their own what would be a good variable to test.

Inquiry Criteria: Explain

Inquiry Specific Statement from Continuum: Learner given possible ways to use evidence to formulate explanation

Why it Fits: This isn't all the way to the right on the continuum because the students aren't given the evidence and a description of how to explain it. However, they are given several questions which guide their explanation. 

How Could Improve: The teacher could simply tell students to collect data and give an explanation for this data, without including any guiding questions.

Inquiry Criteria: Evaluate

Inquiry Specific Statement from Continuum: Not included

Why it Fits: Evaluating means that students go to other sources to see if their explanations are supported, and this step is not included. The lab ends when students explain their data.

How Could Improve: The students could explain their evidence and then go to other resources (such as books, the internet, pamphlets, or expert scientists) to see if their explanation matches up with other explanations.

Inquiry Critera: Communicate

Inquiry Specific Statement from Continuum: Not included

Why it Fits: The lab doesn't say anything about telling others about the results. There is graphing included, but the instructions say this is for data analysis and don't mention anything about display ing or justifying the evidence.

How Could Improve: As an easy improvement, the students could present their findings to the rest of the class. Another more interesting idea could be to write letters/give a presentation to McDonald's or other businesses with hot beverages in order to persuade them to adopt certain practices to prevent customers from getting burned.