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Asking Scientific Questions

Topic
  • Ecology
  • Communities
  • Science Practices
  • Experimental Design
  • Explanations & Argumentation
Resource Type
  • Activities
  • Lessons
Level
High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IBCollege
Used In
1 BioInteractive Playlists
Favorited By
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Description

This activity allows students to formulate and analyze scientific questions.

The activity begins with students observing different organisms or phenomena and developing questions based on their observations. They then sort their questions into those that can and cannot be answered using the methods of science. Students practice writing scientific questions, designing experiments to address scientific questions, developing questions that involve cause and effect, and understanding the importance of cause and effect questions in scientific research. At the end of the activity, students determine the research questions being asked from reading journal article titles and parts of a published paper or other reported results. Several possible extension activities are provided for continuing the investigation and research of phenomena.

Student Learning Targets
  • ​​​​​Compare and contrast questions that can be analyzed using the methods of science and those that are outside of science.
  • Develop novel, testable scientific questions that are inspired by student observations and interests.
  • Explain the importance of cause-and-effect research in the processes of science.
  • Analyze titles of scientific papers to identify the goals of the research study and, when appropriate, causes and effects in the study.
  • Identify, evaluate, and predict the scientific questions that drove research, based on data or figures from the scientific literature.
Details
Estimated Time
Two 50-minute class periods.
Key Terms

cause and effect, scientific methodology, scientific process, scientific questions

Terms of Use

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Version History
Date Published 03.30.20
Date Updated 09.06.18
Curriculum Connections
NGSS (2013)

SEP1, SEP3, SEP6, SEP8

AP Biology (2019)

SP1, SP3

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9-12.3, ELA.WHST.9-12.2

Vision and Change (2009)

DP1

Materials
Educator Materials (PDF) 726 KB
Student Handout (PDF) 230 KB
Characteristics of Questions (PDF) 58 KB
Journal Article Titles (PDF) 311 KB
Scientific Figure Example (PDF) 269 KB
PowerPoint Slides (PPTX) 161 KB

Educator Tips

Hear how educators are using BioInteractive content in their teaching.
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Implementation Ideas
Asking Scientific Questions
Students often come to Duke professor Brian Silliman’s class feeling like asking scientific questions is reserved for a select few. In this video Educator Voices post, see how he uses the Asking Questions activity with his students to help them generate and refine their scientific questions.
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