Cool-It Lab: Inquiry Continuum

Blue Lab 1

Inquiry Criteria	Inquiry Continuum Statement	Why do you believe this fits?	How would you improve this part?
Engage	"The learner engages in question provided by teacher, materials, or other source"	The student did not have the opportunity to come up with their own question, it was posed to them.	A class discussion about drinking hot cocoa in the winter time would engage the students. It can be discussed how students have to wait for the cocoa to cool down before they drink it, otherwise they can burn their mouths. Then the students may come up with ideas of how they cool down their hot cocoa, may some people would say they blow on it, some might say they stir it, some might say they put marshmallows in it. All of these answers would be good as long as they are posed with a question like: "How does hot liquid cool quickly?"
Evidence	"Learner determines what constitutes evidence and collects it"	The students in this lab had the power to determine how they were to collect evidence. Though it was hinted at how to in the prompt, still the students could choose how often they stirred the water, how often to keep track of temperatures, in what time frame, etc.	To make this even more inquiry-based, students would be asking more questions of each other, trying many different ways to record data, not just one.
Explain	"Learner guided in process of formulating explanations from evidence"	They are prompted with a question of how to evaluate the evidence that they have collected and must explain their reasoning based off the evidence they they found.	Instead of being given questions that they must answer, students should be able to formulate what they have gathered in their evidence into something that they have learned as a result. This would require more discussion and possibly more experimentation.
Evaluate	"Learner independently examines other resources and forms the link to other explanations"	The students are not given any other sources of explanations. There is nothing in the prompt that says to look to outside sources to collect evidence and compare it to the evidence collected.	The students should be given time to compare the data they collected with other student's data, as well as an opportunity to explore scientific data on the cooling of liquids.
Communicate	"Learner forms reasonable and logical argument to communicate explanations"	The learner is not told specifically how to communicate their scientific explanations, they are just told to write it down without discussing it with other students.	Learners should decide as a community how they should communicate and justify their explanations. They should collectively decide a way to communicate their findings so that they are all informing others about their findings and are collectively deciding on a scientific principle.