Constructing Scientific Understandings 4.5 Torres_03

“Of course, it did!” was heard throughout the class. Everyone in the class seemed baffled by this strange question.

“You all seem so sure. I am wondering what evidence you have for your claim,” remarked Mr. Hansen as he circulated the room. The faces in the class quickly turned to one another confused. “You believe it did. But you have nothing to support your claim, do you? We did not see it come out the other end. It may have, or it may not have. Science offers us these types of problems.”

“That’s why we do experiments. Right Mr. Hansen?” Dottie shouted out expecting a positive response.

“Interesting you say that, Dottie. Sometimes there is no way to run a test. The object of study is too far away. Or the subject is too small to see or manipulate. Or what we are looking for happened millions of years ago. We can’t go back in time. So, we can’t be sure exactly what happened,” explains Mr. Hansen. “Instead, we must look for clues.”

“So how do we know?” one student asked.

“Well, let’s do this next exercise and see if you can tell me,” replied Mr. Hansen.

This is what made Mr. Hansen’s class interesting. But at the same time challenging. He never lectured. And he never gave notes. All he did was ask questions. But at the end of the day, his students knew the material.

“Here is today’s scenario, my young scientists. Pretend this brown bag you have been seeing all week in the cafeteria is on the other side of the universe. You can see it. But you can’t touch it in any way. Your task is to develop a theory of its contents.” Mr. Hansen paused to enjoy the silent reaction of the class. “Fortunately, we do have similar objects. Your observations may help you develop a theory as to what is in the bag,” he said.

The class formed into groups of three. Each group was handed a similar bag.