Science Discoveries through Digital Inquiry

During my time in the classroom, I was always excited about the opportunities technology opened up for my students. As a student growing up, I remember how fascinating it was to learn how to type and research topics I was passionate about learning.

It was a goal of mine to give my students a more interactive and engaging learning experience beyond simply reading a textbook or giving a lecture. Not only were they developing a love for science, but they were honing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

In the past few years, I know we’ve seen a change in how students acquire their knowledge and assess. Even though it may feel like a challenge, I’ve seen how resilient my students were in navigating technology, and I have learned so much from them.

With all of this in mind, we have developed Science Digital Inquiry lessons that will free up your time from having to create these experiences and set your students up for success!

Q: Why should I use Science Digital Inquiry?

  • Aligned to NGSS & TEKS
  • No prep
  • Can be utilized in Google Classroom, Schoology, and Canvas to name a few
  • Differentiated with 2 levels of support for integrating information
  • Formatted to assist with test prep
  • Incorporates constructed written response items

 

Q: Are they easy to assign to students?

A: Yes! Each topic includes a PDF with a link to Google Slides files that you can copy and distribute to your students.

It is compatible with Google Classroom. It is not intended to be used in printed format.

In each digital inquiry lesson, students will independently collect information from various sources (videos, informational texts, interactive diagrams) and then synthesize that information to answer a question. 

Q: Does Digital Inquiry offer differentiation for students?

A: Each digital inquiry has 2 differentiated options (Version A and Version B). All students will engage in the same activities to acquire knowledge of the topic.

On the final slide, there will for the constructed written response. This is where we have a scaffolded option and one that gives students a fill-in-the-blank option.

We recommend using Version A for most students and Version B for students who need additional accommodations.

Q: Can this assist students when it comes to STAAR 2.0?

A: Absolutely! As students complete each of the activities, they will be exposed to various questions including Drag-and-Drop, Multipart Questions, and Multiple-Choice

Additionally, your students will then practice working on short constructed written responses that will prepare them on how to answer a prompt with support.

Q: How should I introduce my students to Digital Inquiry?

A: I would first model how to use one in a whole-group setting. This will assist students in understanding the flow of the lesson and what your expectations are.

This will be a time-saver for you in the future whenever you assign them additional inquiry lessons to do independently.

Q: How would you plan these in your science block?

A: The great thing about our digital inquiry lessons is that you can use them in various settings. Here are a few options to consider.

 

Intervention & Enrichment, RTI, WIN (What-I Need) Time – This is a great opportunity to have your students engage with the digital inquiry lessons independently or with partners.

Since we have differentiated options, students can successfully work through the lesson, so you can devote time to students who need extra intervention/support without interruptions when meeting with them.

 

Lesson for the day – Want your students to engage in a self-paced learning environment? This would be great when students collect information through various tasks and then construct a response using evidence. This will lead toward a student-centered lesson and could easily be used in a formal observation setting. 

* One strategy I used, so students were not on the computer the entire time, was to have them write down on a sticky note something interesting they discovered in their lessons or were wondering about and put it on a Parking Lot poster for us to share out.

 

Stations – My students enjoyed having station days in class, and having students engage with a technology task will help increase the excitement.

I always tried to find ways my students could work in pairs to collaborate on tasks, which could quickly be done.

I could monitor the room through stations, see progress made, and reach my students with more one-on-one conversations. 


Advanced Learners/GT Students –
Sometimes, we have those early finishers or students who have shown mastery early on in the unit. I didn’t want to assign busy work for those students but allow them to engage in meaningful lessons that extended their learning. My students were never bored with these and were eager to tell me all they discovered.

 

🌳 Life Science Topics

🧲 Physical Science Topics

🥼 Nature of Science and Career Topics

Digital Inquiry Complete Bundle

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3 thoughts on “Science Discoveries through Digital Inquiry”

  1. I love and miss your Inquiries!!! I recently switched from teaching virtual fifth grade to virtual sixth grade and kept some of the same students (so I cannot reuse any of the fifth grade set this year). I’m hoping you will be coming out with NGSS inquiries for sixth grade sometime in the near future.

    Reply

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