Investigations

According to the National Science Education Standards, inquiry is characterized by involving "students in a form of active learning that emphasizes questioning, data analysis, and critical thinking" (Bell, Smetana, Binns, 2005). This process is meant for students to research questions and the problem at hand through data analysis. Scaffolding can be provided by the teacher, but the students must be drawing their own conclusions. There are many different types of inquiry and each type can be used in different situations. Although they are categorized by level number, one type of inquiry is not superior to ther other. The levels of inquires, based on their complexitiy is shown below. This chart was taken from Simplifying Inquiry Instruction by Bell, Smetana, and Binns.

Similiar to Project Based Instruction, Inquiry must contain the following five essential elements.

Student engages in scientifically and mathematically oriented questions
Student gives priority to evidence, collects and/or analyzes data
Students gives explanations based on evidence
Student connects the explanations to science/math knowledge
Student communicates and justifies explanations

INVESTIGATION 1: ANGLE OF INCIDENCE

Overview:

Have students work in pairs to investigate how the angle of sunlight can vary. The angle of incidence — the angle at which the Sun's rays strike Earth — changes depending on the Sun's apparent location in the sky. Have students go outside to measure the Sun's current angle of incidence. The angle of incidence is the angle formed by the incoming light rays and the perpendicular to Earth's surface:

The following is a brief discription of the procedure the students will complete:

Students will start by collecting their materials, masking tape, yardsticks, notebooks, rulers, protractors and calculators. In this investigation, students will work with a partner and go outside and while one student stands with their back facing the sun, the other student will measure his or her shadow and record it. The student will also measure the height of the standing student. Students will then calculate the angle of incidence and create a scaled drawing of what they just did. Students will then compare their findings to the class and this will go into a class discussion on angle of incidence.

This is the handout that students will recieve in order to do the investigation.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

Know that Earth is tilted on its axis and that this tilt, by affecting the angle of incidence of sunlight, is responsible for the seasons.
Understand how different angles of incidence affect surface heating.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):

[8] Science concepts. The student knows the reasons for the seasons. The student is expected to:

(A) recognize that seasons are caused by the tilt of Earth's axis;

(B) explain how latitudinal position affects the length of day and night throughout the year;

(C) recognize that the angle of incidence of sunlight determines the concentration of solar energy received on Earth at a particular location;

Discussion Questions:

How does the Sun's position above the horizon affect the angle of incidence?

How does the angle of incidence affect the length of your shadow?

How does the angle of incidence compare between morning and midday? Between morning and evening?

What have you noticed about temperature changes from morning to evening?

Why does direct sunlight have more energy than less direct sunlight?

What role do you think the angle of incidence plays in determining seasons?

If you compared the angle of incidence at midday during winter and summer, which season would have a higher angle of incidence? Why?

How does the angle of incidence change over the course of the year? How does your answer vary for different locations on Earth?

What role does the distance between the Sun and Earth play in determining seasons?

Why it's Inquiry?

Student engages in scientifically and mathematically oriented questions
- Throughout this investigation, students are asked questions about the anlge of incidence and what are the effects when changes are made to it and how to calculate it.

Student gives priority to evidence, collects and/or analyzes data
- The students will be collecting their data outside by measurement, and then will analyze it when they calculate the angle of incidence.

Students gives explanations based on evidence
- When we have a class discusion based on what they just discovered about the angle of incidence, students will discuss why the entire class got a similar resulting angle.

Student connects the explanations to science/math knowledge
- Using what they just discovered about the angle of incidence, students will apply this concept to the entire planet, and how it affects certain areas of the world

Student communicates and justifies explanations
- Students will be asked how the angle of incidence and seasons are related and they will justfiy their explanation with the investigation they just took part of.

Type of Inquiry:

This is a level 2 (structured) inquiry because we are providing the question and the method for the students. The students will have to come up with the explanation on their own.

INVESTIGATION 2: ELLIPSES AND HABITIAL ZONES

Overview:

The primary focus of this investigation is to explore the characteristics of the focal points of ellipses that represent the orbit of a planet with a habitable zone in a solar system. On day 1 of the investigation, students will have a piece of cardboard, pushpins, cotton twine, pencil, calculator, and ruler. The students will draw an ellipse and calculate eccentricity using the above material. In this activity, students will explore the semi-major axis and semi-minor axis, aphelion and perihelion. After doing this activity, students will be able to state Kepler’s First Law of Planetary Motion. This will be a guided inquiry where the students receive the procedure. This handout will be given to students and they will have the class period to complete it. The students will be working in pairs when drawing their ellipses as the teacher walks around monitoring and answering any questions that the students might have.

The second day of this investigation will be about habitial zones and how it

relates to the day before over ellipses. First students will discuss what makes a

good environment for life and watch this video.We will begin the second day

with the students watching this short news clip about new planets being

discovered byNASA. While watching this video, students will take notes over

this video, followed by a class discussion. Students will then work with a

partner to create their own definition of what a habitable zone is and how the

fact that Earth has an elliptical oribit creates this habitable zone.

Objectives:

Students will be able to

Become more framilair with Keplar's law of planetary motion
Construct ellipses and define what a focus is
Explore the characterisitics of ellipses and the habitable zones
Create their own defintion of a habitable zone
Define what eccentricity is.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):

(4) Science concepts. The student recognizes the importance and uses of astronomy in civilization. The student is expected to:

(B) research and describe the contributions of scientists to our changing understanding of astronomy, including Kepler

(3) Relations and geometric reasoning. The student uses the process standards in mathematics to model and make connections between algebraic and geometric relations. The student is expected to:

(H) use the characteristics of an ellipse to write the equation of an ellipse with center (h, k)

Discussion Questions:

Explain the importance of a focus in the ellipses, then explain the importance in the context of our solar system.
How does the Earth's elliptical orbit contribute to it being in the habitibal zone?
Are all planets that are in the habitibalze zone of a star system capable of supporting life? Why or why not?
Explain the Goldilocks zone comparison.
What were the criteria that canidates needed to posses to be considered to be able to sustain life?
How can eccentricity be used to determine if a planet in a star system could sustain life?
How does Keplar's law relate to habitable zones?

Why it's Inquiry?

Student engages in scientifically and mathematically oriented questions
- We want students to know not only what an eliptical orbit is and what a habitable zone is, but how those two things relate to each other, and more importantly how they can use that for their project.

Student gives priority to evidence, collects and/or analyzes data
- Students will make their own ellipses and will measure and calculate the distance from the center of the ellipse to the focus, the semi-major axis length, and eccentricity.

Students gives explanations based on evidence
- Our student led discussion wil allow students to answer any questions asked with the activities that students completed the past two days.

Student connects the explanations to science/math knowledge
- Students will see that the habitable zones and the elliptical orbit are necessary in sustaining life on Earth.

Student communicates and justifies explanations
- This will be done in the student led discussion, we will have students first discuss in small groups and then overall as a class, so all students can participate, even if it is at a smaller level.

Type of Inquiry:

This is a level 2 (structured) inquiry because we are providing the question and the method for the students. The students will have to come up with the explanation on their own.