Provide materials and resources to support multiple possibilities for directions the inquiry might take
As with thematic unit planning, teachers use brainstorming to organize their ideas about potential activities and explorations. Mary and Janes brainstorming included the ideas represented in Figure 6.9 to investigate the questions and theories represented in the childrens KWL chart.
Since much of the KWL chart contained water-related questions and ideas, Mary and Jane decide to focus initial planning on how water moves from one place to another. Materials and equipment they had on hand included:
- A water table
- Flexible tubing and an electric pump
- Large interlocking playground blocks with modular sections designed to channel water
- Hoses and water source outside the classroom
- Large tubs
- Funnels, buckets, watering cans, squirt bottles, and other assorted implements that can be used with water
- Several wading pools
- A garden sprinkler
- Ping-Pong balls, small cars, and many other small waterproof objects
The teachers planned two initial activities with water on the playground over the course of the week, combining the morning times when children are usually engaged in center-based activities and outside play. The framework for these activities is represented in Figure 6.10.