Inquiring Minds
Burnett Creek Elementary School fourth-grader Kirsten Cocanower takes a detailed approach to examining the dissected sheep brain on her tray. During this school visit, Outreach Coordinator Isidore Julien led a class discussion of the parts of the brain before guiding the students through the dissection.
For one morning in May, the teachers are students again. Four glasses, each containing a different colored liquid, sit in front of them. The task is to “stack” the four colors in a drinking straw so that each color can be clearly seen. “Okay,” says Chemistry Outreach Coordinator Bill Bayley, “go to work.”
“It’s not possible with the materials we have,” says one teacher, looking at the four glasses. “Maybe we can put a paper clip between the colors in the straws to keep them from mixing,” says another. One teacher tries to suck the liquids into the straw. Another tries to pour them into the straw.
The teachers continue to float ideas and test them. Make the liquids different densities. Oil and water. Change the order of the colors in the straw. Bayley is there asking questions, guiding them, but never giving them the answer. By the end of the morning they have gone through several different activities, talked about the principles behind inquiry-based learning, and devised ways to incorporate the technique into their classes.
“Give kids a task like this and they’ll jump right in and start experimenting,” Bayley tells the teachers. “And that’s just what you want them to do. It’s okay to let them run down avenues that you know aren’t right,” he says. “The great thing is there is more than one way to solve a problem.”
Discovery is a team effort
Science is all about inquiry, and discovery is a team effort, says Bill Walker, director of K–12 Outreach for the College of Science. In the scientific process, a wrong answer might lead to different questions, which in turn could lead to new knowledge. “When kids learn by inquiry — by doing — they remember what they learn much longer than they’ll remember the names of the laws and principles.”
Helping to make that experience possible is the goal of the Science K-12 Outreach team. Since the Science K-12 Outreach program was initiated 15 years ago, it has touched teachers and students across the state. In 2004, the team visited 361 classrooms in 174 schools, reaching 2,071 teachers and nearly 23,000 students.
The program is part of the College of Science’s engagement efforts. A high priority for Purdue, engagement activities help the University to connect with constituents in Indiana and nationwide. The K–12 Outreach program focuses on both supporting teachers and inspiring students. Throughout the year, the team visits schools, conducts workshops, and runs on-campus camps.