drawing of a green apple and a cross section of the same apple
Activity

Introduction to Scientific Inquiry

Introduce students with visual impairments to the process of scientific inquiry through an examination of the difference and similarities in types of seeds.

Objectives:

Introduce students with visual impairments to the process of scientific inquiry through an examination of the difference and similarities in types of seeds.

Suggested time

Two thirty-minute periods

Materials

Procedure

  1. Have student take turns reading the steps involved in scientific inquiry.
  2. Give each child an apple to hold.
  3. Ask each child to write down the answers to the following questions:
    • How many seeds do you think are inside?
    • Do you think all apples have the same number of seeds?
    • Do you think all the seeds are the same size?
  4. Help children cut into the apple and find the answers to the above questions.
  5. Discuss this process of scientific inquiry — observation, hypothesis, experiment.
  6. Repeat the process with an orange. Discuss whether information from the previous experiment helped them make more informed guesses to the questions.
  7. Repeat the process with a peach. Discuss the differences and similarities between the seeds found in different fruits or vegetables.

Return to Accessible Science main page.

Scientific inquiries collage


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