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

Introductory Story for Module 1

"Hi, everyone. I'm Kevin, better known as ‘'Brain Teaser.' They call me that because I love a good joke. Meet my friend, Ami. We call her 'Brain Trust' because she’s what we call smart, and I mean REAL smart. We're both in a really cool club called 'Brain Power!' NIDA Mission Control sends us missions to solve."

"Wait a minute, Teaser," said Ami. "Let me talk, too. We go on missions with Corty to solve problems. Our trusty friend Corty usually lets us know what to do."

"That's right. Hi to all. I'm the famous Corty. And I see on my trusty computer monitor that Brain Power! has a riddle to solve."

"Great," said Teaser. "Riddles are right up my alley."

"Okay, you ready? Here comes the riddle:

We map the stars in outer space.
And chart the bottom of the deep blue sea.
We even teach animals to talk to us, and study how drugs can affect your brain.
Everybody on this list truly is...'"

"A scientist," shouted Kevin and Ami.

"You got it," said Corty. "Now ask me what science is."

"Okay," said Ami. "What’s science?"

"Gee, I'm so glad you asked," replied Corty. "Science involves observing, asking questions and making predictions, doing experiments, and collecting information through the use of scientific inquiry."

"Cool," said Kevin. "I'm off to do science right now. I'm really interested in that experiment part."

"Kevin may be ready, but I'm not sure I understand what scientific inquiry is. Could you run it by me again?" asked Ami.

Before Corty had a chance to reply, Kevin came running back into the room. He was covered in sticky, icky white goo.

"What happened to you?" asked Ami.

"I'm not sure," said Kevin. "I was looking in the closet for something to experiment with, but instead, all I found was this white goo."

"This is a big problem," said Corty. "We've got to figure out what this stuff is before we're all stuck together. Ami, come on. Think of something."

"Okay, but the kids in the class are going to have to help," said Ami. "Let’s try out this scientific inquiry thing. I think we're supposed to 'observe' first. That should be easy enough. The stuff is all over Kevin."

"Then you need to guess what this goo is made of," said Kevin.

"Right. Next, test your guess by trying to make more goo. Then you can decide if your guess was right. Observe, predict, experiment, and conclude - the four big steps," finished Ami.

Now it’s up to you, kids. Use the materials on hand to make the goo. Kevin is counting on you to work fast.

Good luck. And remember, Brain Power! rules.