The Ultimate List of Inquiry-Based Learning Questions Hey, y'all! Let me start by saying this post is a work in progress. My goal is compile as many inquiry-based learning and phenomenon-based learning questions as I can. But my mind never stops thinking. So as new questions are posed, I will be adding them here. So don't be afraid to revisit this post later. So, let's jump in. General Inquiry and Social Skills What is inquiry? What is curiosity? How can we use curiosity to find things out? What is happiness? What is gratitude? Why is it important to show gratitude? What is kindness? How can I show kindness? Why is it important to be kind? What does it mean to be a "good student"? Why is it important to be a good student? What is generosity? How can I be generous to the people I care about? How powerful are our words? What does it mean to be humble? What are character traits of successful people? What is success? What is success for me? What would a successful life look like for me? What is mindfulness? How can mindfulness help me focus/be calm? What is inclusion/inclusivity? Why is it important to be inclusive? What is equity? Reading/Language Arts What are the important parts of fiction books? What are the important parts of nonfiction books? What similarities and differences do they have? Why? How do illustrations give meaning and move stories along? How do wordless books tell stories? How does learning different meanings of word parts help me become a better reader? What does good writing look like? What makes "good" writing? Science How does weather affect humans, plants, and animals? How can people predict and prepare for different weather conditions? How do people and animals use plants in their daily lives? How do plant life cycles differ from each other? How is climate change affecting the oceans? How are humans dependent on the oceans? What changes are occurring to our climate? What is causing these changes? Can the changes be prevented/reversed? How? Why do we have seasons? What makes different seasons unique? What makes fall/winter/spring unique? Why is fall/winter/spring important? How are some life cycles similar? How are some life cycles unique? What is conservation of the Earth? Why is conservation important? What makes each forest (or our forest) unique? Why are forests important? (Or why is our forest important?) What makes our lake unique? Why is the lake important? What is energy? Why is water important? What are some ways we use water? How does aerodynamics work? How does pollution affect plants, animals, and people? How can be decrease or eliminate our carbon footprint? What are the benefits/drawbacks of electric vehicles? How are buildings constructed centuries ago still standing? (engineering and design) Why and how are insects important? How are ______ and _______ interdependent? How are auroras formed? What significance do auroras have--in culture, literature, science, etc.? Social Studies/History What makes a community great? How are communities the same or different from each other? What makes different winter holidays unique? (thinking customs and traditions) What are some similarities between different winter holidays? (thinking customs and traditions) Who else celebrates Thanksgiving besides our country? How are these (Thanksgiving) celebrations the same and different from ours? How do other cultures and countries celebrate the new year? How are these celebrations the same and different from ours? What is advocacy? What are up-standers? Why do we have money? Why is money important? Is money important? Math Where can we find patterns? (multi-disciplinary) How does recognizing patterns help us make predictions? (multi-disciplinary) Other topics/Seasonal things What makes pumpkins unique? (primary grades) What makes apples unique? (primary grades) What do school lunches look like in other countries? How can we improve the lunches in our country/community? As you can see, there are a TON of questions you can pose to your students to being the inquiry or phenomenon-based learning process. This list is not all inclusive but is a work in progress. I hope this helped you get some new ideas for your next unit. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week. I'll talk to you soon. Stay cozy,
ALL ABOUT EARTH Get ready for a month filled with so many fun activities to teach your kiddos all about our planet Earth . I teach this unit in April so it coincides with Earth Day. I’ve loaded up this blog post post with read aloud book ideas, free videos you can share with your students,
This 44 page file contains the SCIENCE standards for MARYLAND written in as "I Can" statements. Be sure to grab the coordinating Social Studies standards.
I love using interactive lapbooks in the classroom. They are fun to create, engaging and can be used throughout the year to review skills taught. I finally completely my Lapbook Bundle and I am happy to share the lapbooks included with you. Whether you think your learners will enjoy creating all of the lapbooks, if you
WOW! 300,000+ Second grade worksheets, free printable games, and 2nd grade activities to make learning math, literacy, history, & science FUN!
Integrating art and content in the ELA classroom. Tips and resources.
Help your primary grade students explore, learn, and write about landforms. See our hands-on landforms activities plus our culminating writing project!
Social Studies, first grade, centers, belonging, planning, centres, assessment
Our Community Construction Project is causing a lot of excitement this week during first grade social studies. Before spring vacation, the class learned about the concepts of needs and wants within…
In third grade our first unit for social studies is a fun one.....geography. The kids get very excited and love to start exploring maps and globes. Take a peek at a few of my favorite classroom activities for geography. I start the year off by introducing interactive notebooks. I explain to my students that these are notebooks that will keep track of our ideas, discoveries and information to help us grow. These are unique in the fact that they are never truly complete, the students learn from them by adding new content to old material as they make new connections throughout the school year. You can find the Interactive notebook kit complete with a study guide and test in my TPT store. We start off by exploring what maps are you can read more about that over at OTC. Our first entry in our notebook begins with the parts of a map. The notebooks are easy to assemble just print the contents at 75% and then have students cut and paste into journal. I teach them to neatly add glue dots from their glue stick onto the slim edge, the other area gets cut to create a window flap where they can add their picture or definition underneath. As part of our map exploration I put up a United States map, this one was found at Target, in the dollar section. Throughout the year we asked family & friends to send us post cards from around the country as new ones came in the students would add them to our board with a staple and some ribbon and then they would color the state if it hadn't been done already. One of our fun activities was creating a life island, this was a great beginning of the year activity. It helped me get to know my students better and they reinforced those map skills along the way. Each students drew the first letter of their name onto a piece of construction paper. They added a title, compass and key. Within the island they had to create areas that told me about them. For example if they love to dance they might have a ballet auditorium. When they were done they colored using colored pencils then I had them add water around their island using aqua watercolor paint (craft paint watered down). These turned out great and were fun to display for open house. As part of our common core standards we also had to learn our continents so we rolled our sleeves up and got a little messy with some paper mache globes. I was surprised how many of my students had never even heard of paper mache before. Simply put we covered balloons with a flour / water / glue mixture and newspaper strips. Set aside to dry for a few days and then repeat the process with blue tissue paper. Once dry the students could add their labels and continents. After making globe models we also tried our luck with creating physical maps. They took paper plates and used blue tissue paper squares to represent water. Then they added the United States onto their map. They used playdough to create mountain ranges, sand to create a desert area and twisted blue tissue paper to create the Mississippi River. Once they were done they labeled their physical map. The study guide and test in the geography kit are helpful for assessing the common core social studies benchmarks for third grade. They align with our current standards. My students found the study guide and their interactive journal really helped them to be prepared for their social studies test. I hope your students love trying out a few of these activities.
The connection between social studies and art includes different cultures while using art to explore history in new ways. Read more!
This post is part of the 31 MORE Days of Literature Unit Studies series. You can find all of the links to the thirty-one studies in this post. If you’d like to use these ideas to create your own unit study, this post has step-by-step instructions as well as a free unit study planner. (Want
Learn all about spiders with these 25 interactive spider activities and adorable spider craft for kindergarten, first, or second grade!
Use these tips and strategies to successfully integrate music education into the core subjects (language arts, math, science, social studies).
Do your students have to create timelines to meet academic standards? I'm sharing 10 engaging types of timelines that make this activity FUN for students!
Learn how easy it can be to integrate 2nd grade personal finance standards into units that teach math and money concepts!
Help your primary grade students explore, learn, and write about landforms. See our hands-on landforms activities plus our culminating writing project!
Plenty of interactive ideas and activities to teach landforms for kids. Find videos, worksheets and even experiments to help.
Enhance geography skills with FREE printable 7 Continents and Oceans worksheets for elementary students: maps, facts & more!
I love using my science and social studies interactive notebook curriculum to help me plan and stay organized in second grade! It is so easy to use!
Learn About the 7 Continents! Exploring the 7 Continents has never been more exciting! It’s a Small World Continent Study is filled with over 35 activities to help your students gain a greater understanding of the seven continents. This 130+ page unit is filled with great resources, posters, printables, activities, and projects that will open […]
Several ago I released one of my first Unit Studies on Pumpkins. Over the years it continues to remain one of my most trafficked posts every Fall. Even though it has been popular, I decided
Summary of "Early Civilizations" Resource Unlock the fascinating world of ancient history with our "Early Civilizations" lesson plan! This comprehensive resource is meticulously designed to captivate and inspire young kindergarten through 3rd grade learners. Dive deep into the beginnings of human society with engaging content, interactive activities, quizzes, and vocabulary exercises that make complex concepts accessible and entertaining. Engaging Content: Each of the four passages is crafted to be informative and entertaining, ensuring that complex concepts about early civilizations are accessible to young learners. These passages cover ancient agriculture, groundbreaking inventions, the formation of early governments, and the creation of writing. Interactive Activities: This resource includes hands-on activities tailored to each of the four sections. Choose from eight different activity ideas, perfect for enhancing the learning experience. Whether you select one or all, these activities are designed to reinforce key concepts and keep students actively involved. Quiz: Our quizzes are designed to test reading comprehension skills and reinforce key concepts. We have included separate quizzes for kindergarten/1st grade and 2nd/3rd grade levels, ensuring that the material is appropriate for your students' understanding. Vocabulary Words: This resource includes 12 carefully selected vocabulary words found throughout the four main passages. Use these words to create a word wall, engage in matching activities, or have older students look up and write the definitions. These exercises help reinforce understanding and retention of important terms. Versatile Use: Perfect for classroom centers, group activities, or individual assignments, this lesson plan offers flexibility in how you teach. This "Early Civilizations" resource brings history to life, providing a comprehensive exploration of ancient agriculture, inventions, government formation, and writing. With a blend of informative passages, interactive activities, and thought-provoking questions, this lesson plan fosters a love for history and learning in young students. Make history an adventure in your classroom with this all-in-one educational tool, designed to engage, educate, and inspire.
My students' fascination with rocks is evident from the first day of school, when they start presenting me with the pebbles they collect out on the playground. These are no ordinary pebbles--they are treasures! Soon, their cubbies are full of these "treasures" and I find little rocks stowed away all over the room. You can download all of the free printables for my Kindergarten Rocks and Soil Unit here: Download Kindergarten Rock Unit I introduce this unit by reading a simple and sweet book about rocks: If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian Then I present the kids with my own rock collection. Some of these rocks are just everyday, ordinary rocks that I've picked up in my yard or alongside the road. Some are special rocks I've either purchased or inherited--pieces of crystals, fools gold, pumice, volcanic glass, etc. I am also a sucker for those tourist traps alongside the highway that let you purchase polished rocks by the scoopful. I let the kids explore--touch, feel, use hand lenses, sort, and just play with the rocks. Then I send a letter home to families asking the kids to bring in one or two (which usually ends up being...
Teach 2nd grade communities with ease with these common core social studies lesson plans. Curriculum includes civics lesson plans.
Set of FREE printable world map choices with blank maps and labeled options for learning geography, countries, capitals, famous landmarks
Our Landforms Interactive Notebook is a great tool to study and learn about the world around us and learning about landforms and bodies of water.
Increase your ability to teach social studies in an informative, and entertaining way through the use of Laura Candler webinars.
ALL ABOUT EARTH Get ready for a month filled with so many fun activities to teach your kiddos all about our planet Earth . I teach this unit in April so it coincides with Earth Day. I’ve loaded up this blog post post with read aloud book ideas, free videos you can share with your students,
30+ Free landform worksheets, printables and more! Great for putting together a Landform unit study or science journal. Covers over 30 different types of landforms. Students are asked to color, describe, and locate famous or local examples of each type of landform.
Meeting standards with science and social studies themes and standards alignment. Interactive activities for kinder, first, and second grade.
Plenty of interactive ideas and activities to teach landforms for kids. Find videos, worksheets and even experiments to help.
I've posted up my Social Studies program about Social Communities. You can purchase each section by itself, or get the whole bundle. There's even a set for Canadian and a different set f
Learn about plants with this 80 page botany lesson for kids! Information, worksheets, experiments, and more for elementary age!
10 hands-on ideas for teaching earth changes and landforms in 2nd grade science with engaging STEM earth changes activities kids love!
science tools in kindergarten
Creative and hands-on habitats activities for second grade science. Find teaching ideas, ready to use lessons, videos, and science experiments for kids, ideal for teaching 2nd grade habitats and ecosystems.
