Generating Questions: The Heart of Inquiry
When will the first Monarchs arrive in Mexico? When will the ice go out of the lake? When will spring arrive in Hoboken? Will the eagles follow the same routes they did last year?
As students track migrations and ponder the arrival of spring or fall, they are routinely asked (and eager!) to make and refine predictions (suggestions about what will happen in the future.) Predictions are more than just guesses; they are based on past knowledge and experiences and on current observations.
As students make and record predictions about events in Journey North, ask them to explain the thinking behind them. Students, by nature, are driven by wanting to "be right." Help them understand that scientific predictions are tentative and that they should be reviewed and revised as researchers gain new information (evidence). Pose these types of questions, as appropriate:
Generating Questions: The Heart of Inquiry Links