In this article, the authors share how a third-grade teacher supported students in crafting and researching their own inquiry questions using a process known as the Question Formulation Technique to scaffold students' development of supporting questions. Hughes and Heckart provide the reader with suggestions and resources for supporting…

Throughout the country, there are many bodies of fresh water affected by algal blooms. By focusing on a water source near their school, students can become scientists, too. Situating science content in real and meaningful learning experiences encourages students to be invested in their own learning, construct deeper understandings, and apply those…

A third-grade educator and university researcher collaborated to develop an after-school virtual book club curriculum for students during the pandemic. Third-grade students were encouraged to explore social justice issues prevalent in their community first by reading relevant children's books, doing research, and collaborating to develop potential…

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of collaborative project activities on gifted students' self-efficacy perceptions and their attitudes towards research inquiry. In the nature of research mixed pattern was conducted. Study group consists of six gifted students. In this research, cooperative project activities designed according…

In this article, Mann and Pynes describe a five-day mini-project-based learning (PBL) unit about organisms and their environments that addresses the "Next Generation Science Standards" (3-LS4-3). Third-grade students were asked how they could determine which animals live in their neighborhoods. In teacher-determined collaborative groups,…

Elementary teachers face the challenging task of meeting state curriculum standards while at the same time attempting to expand ideas that are inclusive of the wider world. True inquiry is "experienced when those involved [do] not know the answers that lay at the end of their exploration". Guiding children into true inquiry is difficult…

Whenever Mr. Henderson's 3rd grade students had a question that he couldn't immediately answer or that seemed off-topic, he asked them to write the question on a sticky note and place it on a poster dubbed the "Parking Lot." His intention was to find time later to answer those questions, but too often, he said, the parking lot…

In this study, I examine what happens when institutional partnerships between schools and universities and classroom partnerships between adults and students are viewed as being situated within multiple, interconnected, shifting systems of networks. Using a feminist framework, I raise questions about what "partnering" means as I specifically…

How do you inspire students to keep records like scientists? Share the primary research of real scientists and explicitly teach students how to keep records--that's how! Therefore, a group of third-grade students and their teacher studied the work of famous primatologist Jane Goodall and her modern-day counterpart Ian Gilby. After learning about…

In an inquiry-based classroom, student interest is at the heart of curriculum planning, instruction, and assessment. Students are responsible for asking questions, using sources effectively to discover answers, and deciding what format would best present their findings. Aside from creating a sense of ownership, inquiry in the classroom engages…

In this "O-"fish"-ial" research project, third-grade students use multiple resources to research several fish species, write a research paper and develop a PowerPoint presentation to communicate their findings. In addition, students actually examine these species up close with samples from the local market, and then conclude the project with a…

When the space shuttle "Columbia" was "lost entering the Earth's atmosphere," third graders at the Lamplighter School in Texas became curious about space travel. Using topics of interest and brainstorming exercises based on a presentation by Elaine Scott, author of "Adventures in Space: The Flight to Fix the Hubble,"…

If the organisms in a prairie ecosystem created a newspaper, what would it look like? What important news topics of the ecosystem would the organisms want to discuss? Imaginative and enthusiastic third-grade students were busy pondering these questions as they tried their hands at "ecosystem journalism." The class had recently completed…