Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Tune In: Using prompts to generate questions
Find Out: Open and closed questioning / considering different perspectives
Take Action: Developing and evaluating inquiry questions

Tune In: Using prompts to generate questions

Step 1

Watch clips from the film

Blueback - Abby working as a marine biologist (vimeo.com/794746221)

Blueback - Dora, Abby and Briggs go whale watching (vimeo.com/794749807)

Step 2

What questions might we ask about the coral that Abby’s studying? Or about the whales breaching in Longboat Bay?

Example: Why is the coral white? Why do whales breach? Do whales normally travel in groups?

Students should think of one question for each clip and share their responses with the class.

Step 3

Explain that today’s lesson is about helping students craft good questions that allow for good research into the ocean conservation topic they have chosen.

Find Out: Open and closed questioning / Considering different perspectives

Step 1

Explain that a closed question is one that elicits a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. This does not provide us with much information. Learning how to craft ‘open’ questions - that is, questions that elicit more information - like a story, or a list of facts or perspectives, are essential for being able to do good research.

Step 2

Present students with a series of questions that are open and closed (available on the Student Worksheet). Have students determine which are open and which are closed. The answers have been provided below for you.

Step 3

Have students look at the beginning of each ‘open’ question - ask if they notice any words or phrases that are repeated?

Tip 1: Craft questions by using How, Why or What.

Step 4

Explain that thinking about multiple perspectives might help generate questions. For example: ‘Why are marine protected areas complicated to set up?’ is a question that has multiple answers.

Discuss:

Who may be involved or want to have a say about what happens in an ocean area? Responses may include ‘Government’, ‘Fishers’, ‘Citizens’, ‘Indigenous groups’.

Step 5.

Students select one group mentioned and craft questions from their perspective. For example:

How can fishers be accommodated in setting up a marine protected area? How can government bodies better consult with Indigenous groups on ocean areas?

Step 6

Ask students for their best question. Share Tip 2: Craft questions with different perspectives in mind.

Take Action: Developing and evaluating inquiry questions

Step 1

Organise students into pairs or small groups. Give each group a different ‘ocean literacy’ topic. Each student in the group is given a piece of paper and a pen. There is one piece of butcher paper for each group.

Step 2

Each student in the group is to craft as many questions as they can for this topic in 5 minutes.

Step 3

Each student is now given 3 minutes to rank their questions from best to worst. If they need to cross off any questions, they can.

Step 4

Students now share their questions with the others in their group. Combine any similar questions. This time, they are given 5 minutes to rank their group’s questions from best to worst. If they need to cross off any questions, they can.

Step 5

The group writes their best five questions on their piece of butcher’s paper.

Step 6

Students share their butchers’ paper in an area of the class (blu-tacked against a wall, up on the board etc).

Step 7

As a class, work through each piece of butcher paper and focus on the first question that is listed (the group’s best question).

Check that the questions are open rather than closed – if certain perspectives are considered in the questions, this should also be praised.

Inform students that these topics and questions can be used for their focus study in the following lesson.

Differentiated Learning

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool Australia, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning preferences. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways - if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this. In lessons that feature group work or learning stations, we trust that teachers will use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students in accordance to positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes in length, we trust that teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

Blueback - Developing Inquiry Questions

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