As teachers gain experience in teaching inquiry science curricula, many become interested in learning more science. These four modules were created to meet that need. Each is intended to provide a curriculum for a 36-hour course, which can, for example, be taught after school in twelve weekly three-hour sessions. The modules have been developed by a collaboration of the Caltech Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI) and teachers from the Pasadena Unified School District. In addition, leaders of inquiry science programs in five other school districts, Huntsville, AL, Highline, WA, Buffalo, NY, Cleveland, OH, and Las Vegas, NV helped select the topics and field-test the modules.
The modules are titled Force and Motion, Animals, Floating and Sinking, and Electricity. Participants are expected to be experienced in kit-based inquiry science teaching, and in some districts the modules were specifically advertised to teachers from grades where the subject matter related to the units they taught. For electricity, there was an assumption in the development that participants had previously taught an electricity unit, but in practice that does not seem to have been a necessity.
The modules were created by teams of teachers and scientists working as partners, and are designed to be taught by a scientist / teacher team ("scientist" meaning scientist or engineer). The model is for the teacher to lead while a science partner co-teaches by working with the groups and participating in the discussions. The subject matter for all four relates to parts of typical classroom curricula, but the most important aspect may be the participants' experience in learning science themselves through inquiry. They work in cooperative groups, with their instructors acting as facilitators of their inquiries and leading them in discussions of their findings and of the science they reflect.
In order to incorporate a module into a teacher professional development program, there are needs to be met. Firstly, of course, there needs to be teacher interest in the course, so that a group of 12-20 can be expected to want to participate. It is important to explicitly describe the module as adult education in science content, taught through hand-on investigations. Many teachers have only learned science by lecture, and many are used to professional development sessions that provide classroom materials. The fact that neither is true of the module needs to be made clear. The module will require financial support for purchasing materials, and for stipends for the instructors and perhaps also for the participants. In some instances arrangements have been made with two or four year colleges to offer credit for the courses which can be in lieu of participant stipends. In the filed tests, an observer attended the sessions and debriefed afterwards with the instructors, an idea which was enthusiastically supported. The observer could be an interested teacher, and education student, or a competent person from the community.
Most important, a teacher / scientist team for teaching the course needs to be recruited. The teacher will lead and have primary responsibility for creating the instructional climate of the module, and therefore must be a master classroom inquiry science teacher. The scientist-partner needs to have experience in scientific inquiry and good subject matter knowledge of the module material. In field tests, a retired engineer and a water district hydrologist have been very successful partners, as well as college faculty. Before the course is taught, the instructors need to work through the material thoroughly together. The teacher's knowledge of the science content will be bolstered by working through the investigations with the scientist partner and discussing them. The process of working through the module together in full detail will require 24-36 hours, during which the instructional team will have a chance to get to know each other and to lay the groundwork for the relationship between them needed for effective co-facilitation of the class. The team will need to obtain materials, which are listed in an appendix to each guide.
The table of contents of all four module guides are below. If you want to buy one or more of them, please send $10.00 each, paid by check made out to the California Institute of Technology. Please mail your request with payment to Claire Haagenson, Caltech 1-98, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, California 91125, with an address to which we will ship by first class mail. If you teach a module, as the current module publisher I will do my best to help with issues that come up, and to connect you with others who have taught it. Please write me to Jerry Pine, Caltech 256-48, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125.
Force, Motion, and Machines Module
Table of Contents
| Introduction | 1 |
| Overview | 1 |
| Getting Started | 1 |
| Preparation | 2 |
| Scientific Inquiry | 2 |
| Data Analysis and Science Notebooks | 3 |
| Feedback | 4 |
| Acknowledgments | 4 |
| Force, Motion and Machines Module Sessions | 5 |
| Session 1. Introduction to Force | 5 |
| Session 2. Identifying Forces | 9 |
| Session 3. Scales and Elevators | 23 |
| Session 4. G-Force Track | 27 |
| Session 5. Static Springs | 29 |
| Session 6. Oscillating Springs | 33 |
| Session 7. Velocity and Acceleration | 35 |
| Session 8. More Oscillating Springs | 39 |
| Session 9. Free Fall | 43 |
| Session 10. Levers | 45 |
| Session 11. Pulleys | 47 |
| Session 12. Work | 51 |
| Appendices | 55 |
| Appendix A. Materials | 55 |
| Appendix B. Feedback Forms | 59 |
| Appendix C. Bibliography | 63 |
| Appendix D. Apparatus | 65 |
Electricity Module
Table of Contents
| Introduction | 2 |
| Overview | 1 |
Getting Started |
1 |
| Scientific Inquiry | 3 |
| Data Analysis and Science Notebooks | 3 |
| Feedback | 4 |
| Acknowledgments | 4 |
| Electricity Module Sessions | 5 |
| Session 1. Batteries and Voltage | 5 |
| Session 2. Circuits and Current | 11 |
| Session 3. Measuring Currents and Voltages in Circuits | 15 |
| Session 4. A Circuit Challenge | 19 |
| Session 5. Voltage, Current, and Resistance | 23 |
| Session 6. Resistance and Resistors | 27 |
| Session 7. Electrical Energy | 29 |
| Session 8. Electrical Energy - Transferred and Stored | 37 |
| Session 9. A Transistor Amplifier | 39 |
| Session 10. An Audio Amplifier | 49 |
| Session 11. Using an Oscilloscope | 57 |
| Session 12. A Radio | 65 |
| Appendices | 67 |
| Appendix A. Materials | 67 |
| Appendix B. Feedback Forms | 69 |
| Appendix C. Simulations | 73 |
Animals Module
Table of Contents
| Introduction | 1 |
| Overview | 1 |
| Getting Started | 2 |
| Preparation | 2 |
| Scientific Inquiry | 3 |
| Data Analysis and Notebooks | 3 |
| Feedback | 4 |
| Acknowledgments | 5 |
| Animals Module Specific Comments | 5 |
| Animals Module Sessions | 7 |
| Session 1. Mealworms | 7 |
| Session 2. Caterpillars | 11 |
| Session 3. Ladybugs | 15 |
| Session 4. Working with Data | 19 |
| Session 5. Caterpillars and Microorganisms | 23 |
| Session 6. Magnification | 27 |
| Session 7. Microorganisms | 29 |
| Session 8. Microorganisms and pH | 31 |
| Session 9. Microorganisms | 33 |
| Session 10. Research | 35 |
| Session 11. Research | 37 |
| Session 12. Final Project | 39 |
| Appendices | 41 |
| Appendix A. Materials | |
| Appendix B. About the Animals | |
| Appendix C. Readings | |
| Appendix D. Feedback Forms |
Floating and Sinking Module
Table of Contents
| Introduction | 1 |
| Overview | 1 |
| Getting Started | 2 |
| Preparation | 2 |
| Scientific Inquiry | 3 |
| Data Analysis and Science Notebooks | 3 |
| Feedback | 4 |
| Acknowledgments | 4 |
| Floating and Sinking Module Sessions | 5 |
| Session 1. Will it Float or Sink? | 5 |
| Session 2. Exploring Variables | 11 |
| Session 3. Investigating Weight | 15 |
| Session 4. Investigating Water Displacement | 19 |
| Session 5. Solid Mystery Objects | 23 |
| Session 6. Hollow Mystery Objects | 27 |
| Session 7. Predicting in Other Liquids | 31 |
| Session 8. Objects Which Float in one Liquid and Sink in Another | 35 |
| Session 9. Density | 39 |
| Session 10. Underwater Weight | 47 |
| Session 11 & 12. Projects | 51 |
| Optional Session A. Simpler Instruments | 53 |
| Optional Session B. Surface Tension | 59 |
| Appendices | 61 |
| Appendix A. Materials | 61 |
| Appendix B. Feedback Forms | 63 |
| Appendix C. Possible Additional Inquiries | 67 |
| Appendix D. Bibliography | 77 |