You will find a sampler of such activities among the instructional materials described in this section. These are complete teaching modules or projects that focus on one topic, but they also allow the topic to naturally expand to related content. Big books provide the scenario and describe tools students can use to solve the problem. The construction sets highlighted in this issue allow for the development of spatial thinking and increase creativity. They also serve as concrete models from which to learn principles of physics and other disciplines.
Students begin by constructing a simple, balloon-powered land yacht.
Then they expand their building to challenges such as designing and constructing a rubber-band powered vehicle that will travel at least three meters. Inquiry exercises engage students in making predictions about the behavior of the roller coaster, ball loop, or inclined planes based on their understanding of physics. Students then test those predictions and revise their theories as necessary. In addition to teaching units and manipulatives, mathematics teachers look for individual problems that students might find worth investigating. Technology Tools for Exploration When setting off to investigate a real problem, teachers as well as students now have access to technological tools that allow them to collect and analyze data more efficiently.