Smarter Science: an inquiry-based framework (gr 1 to 8)

Smarter Science is a framework for teaching curriculum through the lens of inquiry science. In this workshop you will be introduced to the 35 process skills of science and how you can introduce them. Using a scaffolded approach, you will learn how to introduce the ‘Steps To Inquiry’ technique to your students and how to gradually transfer responsibility to your students for the creation of investigations. This interactive workshop uses discrepant events and audience participation to create a truly memorable professional development experience.

Through a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mike Newnham is the Program Director of Smarter Science, a program of Youth Science Canada, to promote and support science and technology education in Ontario.  While he was a science teaching coordinator with the Thames Valley District School Board in London Ontario, Mike, with the help of his dedicated teacher team, created a framework for supporting teaching and learning science inquiry. This framework called Smarter Science is now in use in many school boards across Ontario and materials are freely available to teachers through an open source website, the Smarter Science website (http://www.smarterscience.ca). School Boards across Ontario are adopting this framework for teaching inquiry.