Inquiry-Based Science Project (IBSP) Challenging Problems
an Illinois Scientific Literacy Pilot Grant
http://web.stclair.k12.il.us/splashd/chllgepg.htm
Below is a set of challenging inquiry-based science problems, developed from the COIILS Schoolyard Investigations, that will allow students and groups of students to design and conduct their own investigations. Links to the online investigation reporting forms are provided to help students identify the data that must be collected in their investigation. Be sure to click "View..." and "View" again to see or print all of the data to be collected. To enter data, please choose an investigation(s) and then request a password from Mike Schneider mschneid@skywerx.com NOTE: Each investigation requires a separate password.
(This Project Invites Participation from Any School Around the Country and World)
- Using a 180 ml. (6 oz.) glass baby food jar as a pitfall trap, design and conduct an investigation to measure the number and types of macro-invertebrates living at ground level and at different locations in the schoolyard.
- Design and conduct an investigation to compare the pH of rainfall to school area puddles, schoolyard runoff water, local pond water, local well water, local river or stream water, and/or other water sources.
- Using 3 X 5 index cards covered with petroleum jelly, design and conduct an investigation to measure the particulate air quality of different locations in your schoolyard.
- Using a ten meter transect line, design and conduct an investigation to determine where the most evidence of animals can be found in the schoolyard.
- Design and conduct an investigation that will determine the rate at which different materials breakdown when buried in the schoolyard.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine what location in your schoolyard attracts the most birds to a bird feeder?
- Based on the research information you have collected on capture/recapture techniques, design and conduct an investigation to determine the size of a population of grasshoppers or pill bugs living in the schoolyard.
- Using chromatography, design and conduct an investigation to determine the different types of pigmentation in a variety of plants found in your schoolyard.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine if daily cloud type and temperature variations can help determine the possibility of precipitation in the schoolyard.
- Using 3 meters of 10-guage wire as a roller coaster, design and conduct an investigation to determine the relationship between the speed of washers traveling down the wire and the size of the curves that have been added to the roller coaster.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine what colors and types of flowers in the schoolyard attract the most animals.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine what wind speed will provide the best conditions for flying a two-stick kite.
- Design an apparatus and conduct an investigation to measure the amount of heat that can be absorbed by each of the three different rock groups.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine which natural materials found in the schoolyard produce the best paper.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine the physical and chemical changes that occur when a variety of materials are exposed to the weather in the schoolyard.
- Design and conduct an investigation to identify and compare the different varieties of plants and animals found in local samples of pond, stream, and/or wetland water.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine which type of radish plant will produce the largest radishes in a twenty-five day period of time.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine the amount of water and pressure needed to launch and send a water rocket to its highest elevation.
- Design and conduct an investigation that will allow you to determine the soil environment that produces the largest number and variety of soil dwellers in the schoolyard.
- Using 50 gram samples, design and conduct an investigation to determine if the soil in various locations in your schoolyard differs in its makeup.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine if the amount of surface area will impact the rate at which a simple hot water solar collector will raise the temperature of 200 ml. of water.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine which location in the schoolyard will produce the largest variety of animal sounds.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine pendulum effects of schoolyard swing set.
- Design and conduct an investigation to measure the veering path of blindfolded students when they attempt to walk a straight line for a distance of 15 meters.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine what type of vibrating rod causes the most earthworms to come to the surface in your schoolyard?
- Design and conduct an investigation to compare the lung capacity of students who play wind instruments to those who do not play wind instruments.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine what 4 square meter location in your schoolyard will produce the greatest variety of rocks.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine the types of spider webs found in several different locations in your schoolyard.
- Design an conduct an investigation to measure the temperatures of different surfaces in the schoolyard that are exposed to direct sunlight.
- Design and conduct an investigation using a sweepnet to determine the number and varieties of insects and arachnids living in different locations in your schoolyard.
- Design and conduct an experiment to measure the number and types of macro-invertebrates
found living under a 30 cm. X 30 cm. piece of plywood left in different
locations throughout the schoolyard over a measured period of time.
- Using a Burlese Funnel, design and conduct an experiment to measure the number and types of macro-invertebrates
found living in the natural ground litter collected from different
locations in the schoolyard and at different times of the year.
The challenging problems listed below do not have a cookbook experiment to go with them. They do have a data table set up where data can be entered once a password is obtained. This list will hopefully continue to grow as more challenging problems and data collection forms are designed and added.
- Design and conduct an experiment to determine the formula of a hydrate of magnesium sulfate.
- Design and conduct an experiment to determine the effectiveness of various antacids.
- Design and conduct an experiment to determine the solution of detergent, glycerin and water that will consistently produce the largest half-bubbles on a flat lab table.
- Design and conduct an experiment to determine the percentage composition of a mixture of salt and sand.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine if stride length/foot size is relative to the standing height of an individual.
- Design and conduct an experiment to determine the effect of temperature on the reaction time of 2 cm. of magnesium ribbon and 20 ml of vinegar.
- Using a resealable plastic bag and the ingredients calcium chloride, sodium bicarbonate and water, design and conduct an investigation to produce a hot or cold pack that will increase or decrease its temperature at least 5 degrees Celsius.
- Design and conduct an investigation to determine the least amount of baking soda that must be added to 30 ml. of acetic acid to produce the gas needed to expand a balloon, placed on a 500 ml. bottle, to its largest diameter.
- Using a variety of different balls, design and conduct an investigation to determine the height each ball will bounce when dropped a distance of 40, 80, and 120 cm.
- Using 20 of each seed type, design and conduct an investigation to compare the germination rate of seeds that float to seeds that sink to prove an "old wife's tale" true or false.
- Using a normal sized eyedropper, design and conduct an investigation to determine which coin surface (penny, nickel, dime, or quarter) will hold the most drops of water in relation to its total area.
- Using an inclined plane ruler set at a 5 cm. height, design and conduct an investigation to determine the distance an index card V will be pushed by a marble rolling down
the plane starting at different distances from the base.
- Using a sound maker and a sound meter as part of your test equipment, design and conduct an investigation to determine what type of line produces the loudest sound when stretched four meters between plastic cup telephones.
- Using gumdrops as connectors, design and conduct an investigation to determine what truss bridge structure, having a road base of 5 toothpicks long by 1 toothpick wide, will support the most weight at its center.
The challenging problems listed below were provided by past COIILS teachers, students, and others. Some of these problems came about as a result of conducting one of the existing investigations and others are the result of totally new and unresolved questions.
- Design and conduct an investigation:
- to determine if the amount of water produced from 500 ml. of snow, changes during different periods of snowfall.
- to determine the amount of particulates found in several 500 ml. containers of snow collected in different areas around the schoolyard.
- to determine if the rate at which the outside air temperature drops or rises is a predictor of precipitation.
- to determine if Kentucky bluegrass grows better in the sun or in the shade.
- to determine if you would find more earthworms in a sunny or shady location after a heavy rainfall.
- to determine if the playground contains animals that could pose a health problem.
- to measure and compare the amount of rain that falls on the north, east, west, and south side of the school.
- to measure the impact of planting bulbs (and/or seeds) at different depths below the surface of the soil.
- to determine if there is enough regular wind speed on the playground to build an electricity generating windmill.
- to determine if ants prefer sweet or sour tasting foods.
- to determine if the amount of water held by different types of soil has an impact on the rate at which those soils erode.
- to determine and compare the amount of falling rainwater trapped by the leaves of a variety of different trees.
- to determine if the amount of water runoff from an area impacts the water quality of the stream or pond it enters.
- to measure the effects of no-till farming practices in comparison with traditional farming practices.
- to determine the number of board feet and the quality of the wood found in a local stand of trees.
- to measure the rate at which different types of dead trees decay in the local environment.
- to determine which dead and decaying trees in the local environment will produce the most biodiversity.
- to determine if the amount of water provided a plant will affect its growth.
- to determine the best soil to place on a baseball infield.
- to determine the rate at which plants return to an area that has had its topsoil removed.
- to measure the rate at which tadpoles grow naturally in a pond as compared to being fed fish food.
- to determine if block ice melts faster or slower than cube ice.
- to determine if different types of birds prefer different types of food.
Updated: February 6, 2009
Copyright, 2005
by Prism Press
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The text of this publication or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the authors.
