How do you teach kids to "science" effectively? Inquiry cubes are a "sort of" puzzle with no answer—promoting even more questions! Group members work together to use the evidence on the visible sides of each cube to infer what lies on the side of the cube that they cannot see.

Concepts

asking questions, forming questions, the scientific method, guided inquiry, making observations, observational skills

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Cubes are appropriate for any age group, and multiple sets can be created to cover a variety of topics throughout the curriculum
• Try assessing a group's ability to work together rather than the inquiry topic itself; this is a useful tool for building groups early in the year

Classroom Considerations

• Consider assigning a written reflection of the activity in individual's lab notebooks as an assessment of the lesson

Pros

• A simple tool with an important purpose, cubes encourage questioning and collaboration
• The lesson comes with cube patterns and ideas for use

Cons

• None