In your notebook on a clean sheet of paper, answer this question. I’m going to give you about five minutes to write independently. We see layers of rock in the earth. At the Grand Canyon we see different layers of rock, they have different names. What do you think caused these layers to form.
>> In teaching this geology unit the inquiry approach is I think invaluable for these students. Because geology can be very difficult I think — a very difficult concept for the students to really get a grasp on. Especially what they’re learning in this unit. My students are learning about the Grand Canyon.
>> If sandstone is made from sand, okay, and this may sound like a silly question, but I want you think about it, talk about it for one minute, that’s all you need at your table, which came first. It’s like the old joke, which came first the chicken or the egg. Which came first, the sand or the sandstone.
>> Well, maybe the rock came first and then the ocean came and rubbed off it. Created a whole bunch of —
>> [Inaudible] that’s what I said.
>> They have to use the tools at their disposal, physical tools and what’s inside their brains, and put them together and try to find the answer. And that’s what my kids are learning to do.
>> For the people that think that sand came first, then I’m going to ask you another question. If sand came first, where did the sand come from? Okay, where would sand come from. Even if you don’t agree with those people, I still want you think about this question. If sand came first, was it always sand? Did it start off as sand, or did sand come from something else?
>> If you want to dig in there, keep on digging, you’ll find different colors — different kinds of rocks.
>> [Inaudible] how did you think sand was made.
>> [Inaudible] did come first before sand, so how do you think sand was made?
>> I don’t know.
>> I think it’s different.
>> — rocks, powder, and different pieces of rocks put together.
>> Yeah. Because there’s different color sands.
>> Yeah.
>> There’s little cracks in them.
>> Some sand have rocks in them. Little, little pieces of rocks.
>> I actually have some rocks here. It is called — okay, granite.
>> Through the inquiry approach, by having them actually hold rocks that are from that region of the United States, for them to actually do the experiments and tests that real geologists would use, it gets them excited about it. They’re doing the science, they’re not just reading about it. They’re not memorizing science. They’re learning to think like scientists do and to act like scientists do. It also hooks them into it. It really engaged them. I think it kept them, got their attention and helped keep their attention throughout the unit.
>> And I will give — each group will have available to use five of them, five rocks, a jar, and your old friend the magnifying glass. And lastly, a piece of white paper. Here’s what I’d like you to do. I’d like you to come up with a plan, each group to come up with a plan. How can we test which hypothesis of rocks are what makes sand.
>> Take two of the same type of rock and rub them together to see what comes out, if powder comes out or something comes out.
>> Good. Tamethia [Phonetic]?
>> We was going to rub the rocks together on the paper to see, like, what would happen. How would it come out.
>> Why would you say on the paper. You’re the first group I’ve heard say that. Why would —
>> Because it’s better to see on the paper than in the jar.
>> Yeah, everyone hear what Tamethia said? She suggested that her group is going to rub the rocks onto the white paper so they’re easier to see. Because remember, I’m going to give you magnifying glasses. And she said that might make it easier. Because originally I know you were talking about putting the sand in the jar, right? And then holding it up. But the paper —
>> It’s better to do it on the paper, because the paper is much lighter than the jar.
>> Yeah. So you might have a better chance of seeing the sand if it’s on the paper. Good idea.
>> We was going, like, act like the ocean, by, like, taking a bucket of water and just, like, splashing to see if, like, stuff comes out.
>> Could use this like the bucket?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay, we have a lid on it so it doesn’t spill. That’s the only thing I could suggest, so you don’t get water all over the room.
>> One of the challenges of using the inquiry strategy in the classroom is it can be more intensive, in terms of time, in terms of my own mental energy. The preparation needed to get ready for this type of class. All of that requires preparation beforehand. So my homework is to, you know, the day before, the week before, start getting the lab ready. I need to think long term.
>> This one — this one has all these nice shiny minerals. You look at this one, this one looks rough.
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>> Have you been shaking it?
>> Yeah.
>> And we did it on the paper too. Look.
>> This, this, this, and this. Which one do you call sand, when do you start calling it sand?
>> That.
>> Because I think what happened was that when you keep on rubbing it, it gets smaller and smaller and smaller.
>> So what would you call this one?
>> [Inaudible] like a rock.
>> It’s like, a multicultural rock, because there’s a whole bunch of different type of what looks like — and I know some parts are shiny like a crystal.
>> Obviously in nature there aren’t these plastic jars out rolling around in the Grand Canyon. So what do you think is causing — just like you did in the class, whether you’re rubbing the rocks together or shaking them together, what’s happening in nature that’s making the sand. Because it’s not the jars, you know that. That’s your homework tonight. Write in your notebook, tell me what is it in nature that’s causing the same thing that you’re doing with your hand or with the jars. But — so that’s what you did today —
>> It’s teaching them habits of mind that I think are invaluable. Whether or not they stay in science or go into a different career field, I’m hoping that all of my students will walk out of my classroom at the end of the year stronger critical thinkers, and they will approach a problem and not immediately feel like they need to turn to someone else or turn to a book for an answer. That they’ll realize that within themselves they have the ability to — and the tools to start the discovery process to try to find the answers on their own. And I think that’s an invaluable gift we can give the students that they can use anywhere from this point on.
