Inquiry/Discovery Activities
	Arousing the student's interest is essential in teaching any science concept. Once their curiosity is aroused, the student will learn more than the teacher can ever teach him/her. Two techniques are often implemented during a club meeting: discovery activities and inquiry-type activities. The use of inquiry - discovery activities in the teaching of science is one of the best methods to arouse students' interest and is often a good way to open a HSTA club meeting. Inquiry-type activities set the stage for students being responsible for their own learning. These activities are set up in such a way that a phenomenon is observed, a problem is posed to the student, and then students are challenged to provide an explanation by experimentation. This is also called the "inductive" or "constructivist" method of teaching science. The student is stimulated to learn critical thinking and problem solving skills to find answers to their own questions. Exemplar Activities: Listed in Appendix B are a list of resources that will be helpful in getting started. These activities are student-driven and utilize the inquiry-discovery method. Other examples are the Product Testing Activities by Consumer Reports (Prentice Hall). These may be used as short inquiry activities for club meetings or spark student interest enough to develop an extended investigation for the science fair. They are valuable because they involve products that the students are familiar with such as sports drinks and shampoos, cost for materials are low, and the products are easy to obtain. Science and math skills are integrated, including data collection and analysis, experimental controls, variables, and the 3P's. Please contact Dr. Jim Rye for these activities.