Preview · the opening missionRead this to the class:
Ms. Okafor's class kept a wonder wall, covered in questions: "Why is the sky blue?" "Is pizza the best food?" "Does a ball bounce higher on wood or carpet?" A visiting scientist read them and smiled. "Some of these you can test this week. Some you can answer, but not with a test. And some, science can't answer at all." Your team's job: sort the wonder wall, then turn fuzzy wonderings into questions a scientist could test.
Teams of three, with rotating jobs: Reader (reads each card), Sorter (places it once the team agrees), Recorder (notes any argument).
Look inside the PDF
Sample pages, stamped “preview”. The download is the clean, full lesson.
In the full lesson PDF
8 printable pages
- Predict (5–10 min)
- Hunt (20 min)
- Reveal (10–15 min)
- Act (10 min)
- Background for the teacher
- Assessment
- Student sheet
- Worksheet: Label it
- Worksheet: Try it at home
On the student sheet
- My prediction
- Question cards (one set per team, cut apart)
- Wondering cards (one set per team, cut apart)
- Question makeover
- My own testable question
- Exit ticket
- Label it
- Try it at home
US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white. The student sheet is on its own page, ready to photocopy.
Free with an account (any 3 lessons), or US$19 for all 4 lessons in this unit.
What students show by the end
- Sorts questions
- Writes a testable question
- Describes the method
From the lesson’s rubric, which scores each one as not yet, getting there or got it.
Questions teachers ask
How long does “What makes a good science question?” take?
45–60 min. Group size: teams of 3.
How much prep does it need?
10 minutes. Print the Question cards (one set per team, cut apart) and the Wondering cards (one set per team). Clear three spaces on each team's desk, or tape three labels to the desk: Test it, Find it out another way, Not a science question.
What materials do I need?
None. No materials needed: just the printed sheets.
Which curriculum standards does it cover?
It matches NGSS Science and Engineering Practices, Grades 3–5; England National Curriculum, Working scientifically, Years 3 and 4 and Cambridge Primary Science (not endorsed by Cambridge).
What’s in the lesson PDF?
A teacher guide that walks you through predict, hunt, reveal, act, background for the teacher and assessment, then a student sheet (“My prediction”; “Question cards (one set per team, cut apart)”; “Wondering cards (one set per team, cut apart)”; “Question makeover”; “My own testable question”; “Exit ticket”; “Label it” and “Try it at home”) on its own page, ready to photocopy. It’s US Letter and prints cleanly in black and white.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. A free account includes any 3 full lessons of your choice, and this can be one of them. After that, this unit is US$19 for all 4 lessons, yours to keep, or every lesson is US$199 a year.