Inquiry Project

INQUIRY/PBL PROJECT

Topic: Science

Part 1:  Driving question:

●   What are your three initial driving questions?

1. How can we stop the Wolf from blowing our house down?

2. What materials do you need to build a house?

3. How did the pigs keep the wolf from blowing the third house down?

●   What is your one, final driving question?

What makes a house strong?

●   Background information of this driving question:

What grade level are you working?

Kindergarten

Which standard are you targeting?

K.PS.1 Plan and conduct an investigation using all senses to describe and classify different kinds of objects by their composition and physical properties. Explain these choices to others and generate questions about the objects.

Provide any background information the reader should know about this project, such as time span, schedule and so on. Provide a brief introduction to your question as well  and an overview to what you envision your lesson looking like.

The book, The Three Little Pigs will be read in class.  After, the students will brainstorm different ideas about what makes a house strong and how the house should be built to make sure the wolf cannot blow the house down.  The children will then re-enact what the third pig did, and make their own house for the wolf to try and knock down.  

●   Why do you think this is a good driving question?

Try to answer these 4 questions. (But you should not answer them with yes or no, instead explain the details and convince me that you’ve met these criteria)

○   Does the DQ warrant in-depth study?

Yes, the students have to think back to what their house looks like as well as others houses.  They have to think about what materials would be needed to create a house and if they would withstand the gush of wind.  I.e.  would paper be a good material for a house?

○   Is the DQ an authentic and relevant issue/problem for my students?

        Yes, it is important for students to learn problem solving skills.

○   Is there more than one plausible solution to the DQ?

                    Absolutely, students have different ideas of what a house might look like, and might even have different ideas of what materials could be used to keep the house standing even after a gush of wind.

○   Does the DQ provide opportunities for students to evaluate, analyze, present, and defend their solutions?

                    Yes, they will need to brainstorm ideas, build and test their products, and from there, they will analyze whether or not it will work, and if they need to change anything.  They will bring their house to the front of class and we will test each of the houses using a fan.  They will tell us why they think the house will stand, and then we will see.

Part2: Grabber

●   What is your grabber?

Introductory Grabber:

The Three Little Pigs story: https://www.education.com/game/three-little-pigs/  

●   Why do you think this grabber is beneficial and how it  align with your driving question?

Try to answer these questions. (But you should not answer them with yes or no, instead explain the details and convince me that you’ve met these criteria)

● Does the story, article, video, announcement, role play, or other resource hook the learner into asking more questions about the topic?

                   This grabber is the base for the entire project.  From the story, they will brainstorm ideas about why the third pig’s house did not fall down when the wolf tried to blow it down.  They will also build their own house, hoping to achieve the same results as the third little pig.

●   Does the grabber capitalize on novelty and / or high emotion situations?

        Yes, because of how popular the story is, it will be easier for the students to know what is going on, and it will be more entertaining for them in the long scheme of things.

●   Does the grabber establish authenticity & relevance?

                   It does. The importance of a strong house is relevant to everyone because proper shelter is necessary in everyone’s life.

●   Culminating activities: List all your activities here:

1) Activity 1

●   What is your first activity?

The first activity will have the students drawing and designing their plans for their houses. Then, they will collect the materials they plan to use and being building their houses. Students will then put their houses to the test and put them next to a fan blowing wind to see if their houses stand. Lastly, students will write 2-3 sentences about what happened and why they think it happened