Inquiry Model

The first question I would use with this model is What is pi? This question is important to me because all through school, including undergrad, I had no idea why in the heck we used pi! When I started teaching school, we used Investigations math and THAT is when I figured out what is was and why we use it.

I would first ask the students what they know about pi. Most know it is a number that starts with 3 point something. I will provide students with various circular objects such as plates, lids, and canisters, and measuring tapes. In small groups the students will measure the distance around and across each object and put them on a graph. We will then talk about the relationship between the circumference and the diameter. What relationships can we find? Once we establish that the circumference is a little more than three times the diameter, they will come up with a formula for the relationship. We will discuss those and then talk about the actual number, 3.1415... and how it is used.

The second question I would use for this model is Why are myths important to civilization? Why do people have myths or legends? Students will then think of reasons why they feel its important to have myths with a partner. They will use the search engine I have created for them and hypothesize based on those web sites why the Greeks created myths. We will list them as a class and talk about them. What can we generalize about the Greek gods and myths?

-Beliefs are important for us as humans, it guides us to make decisions

-Pass down to future generations (ex: what beliefs or traditions do we have? Santa Claus)

-Makes people feel like they have a reason and purpose in life

-Explained the unexplainable in Ancient Greek Times

-Shows us how they thought, and how that can be used as road maps to see how far we have come since then.

-Explained life; made it make sense. It allowed them to make rules about right and wrong, and justify reasons behind actions.

The third (but not last) lesson I would use would be to discover the relative size and distance of the earth and moon. The students will use sports balls and string to show this. They will look at specific web sites that I will give them to discover the relative size and distance. After they hypothesize what it would look like, they will work with their partner to simulate it. We will look at their simulations and generalize their models. Explain why you put the moon and earth the distance that they are, and why you used those sizes of balls. Once we have discovered the correct size and distance, they will write a paragraph in their science journals describing what they have learned.