Ooey Gooey! Making Sense of Scientific Inquiry (Module 1)

Additional Activities

Below are some additional activities that can be used after completion of the first mission. These activities are extensions to many other areas of the curriculum.

1. Have the students make a comic strip describing the steps involved in scientific inquiry. Make sure that each step is explained clearly.

2. Have the students write a letter to a friend comparing the NIDA Junior Scientists Mission Control Center with the brain, the body’s “mission control.” How are they similar? How are they different? Have students include in their letters additional information they would like to learn about their brain.

3. As a class, look at the recipe used to make the goo. Then discuss the following
questions:

• What would you have to do to make twice as much goo as you did?
  
• What would you have to do to make half as much goo?
  
• What would happen if you added vinegar to the goo? Make a prediction, then perform the experiment to find out.
  
  

4. Ask students how they know that it’s cold outside on a winter’s day. What part or parts of their bodies let them know? How is the brain involved?

5. Ask students to draw a concept map showing what they have learned about the brain and their senses. Have students think about how the senses are connected to the brain. Make sure they indicate these connections on their concept maps.

6. Have students put on a play demonstrating what they have learned about scientific inquiry. Encourage them to explain the different elements of inquiry in creative ways. They also may want to include information about what they have learned about the brain.