I have found that involving students through active questioning is a great way to pique students' interest and stimulate their analytical thinking skills. Structured inquiry lessons encourage students to generate their own hypotheses based on their observations and experimentation; however, they are supported by questioning from the teacher.
I conducted a scientific investigation into the polarity concept of magnets. I found the lesson in an AIMS book called "Mostly Magnets" (AIMS, 1991). The activity is designed to allow students to experiment and observe the repelling and attracting behaviors of magnets. To trigger prior knowledge, I first created a magnet center in which the students could explore with a variety of magnets. Then, after a questioning session to focus the students' investigation, they each received a pencil and several O-ring magnets. They experimented with using two or three magnets; they then worked with their desk partners to use more magnets on one pencil. The students quickly realized that sometimes the magnets would repel each other and sometimes they would stick together; they also discovered that if they stuck two or more magnets together and then put another magnet with the same polarity, it would bounce higher and "float" higher than if it was put above just one magnet.
As extension activities and as a method of differentiation, I gave my students a list of assignments that they can do to represent their knowledge of magnets. Some examples are - Powerpoint presentations, schematic drawings, an essay, a video, or a photo journal entry.
One thing that I discovered was that most of my students understood the concept of repelling and attracting; however, the concept of polarity was still unclear for a few students. Next year, I plan to do a "jigsaw" type of cooperative learning activity using the science textbook to enhance the students' understanding of polarity before beginning the actual science experiment.
AIMS Education Foundation. (1991). Mostly magnets. AIMS Education Foundation.
