why do it? This activity is useful if your staff is trying to develop a more inquiry-oriented approach to teaching with hands-on materials. Because we realized that there was a continuum of interpretation of the term "hands-on" science, from tightly guided activities to open-ended inquiry, we developed the Foam Activity to help both us and our teacher colleagues make finer distinctions between the different types of hands-on science learning on this continuum. how to do it To use this activity in a professional development setting for 36 teachers, you will need 3 staff members to facilitate activities and discussions, the following materials page, and three spaces for the different activities. The activity takes at least 2 1/2 hours. For more information on introducing the whole activity and each of the three stations of the activity, and on hints for facilitating the discussions, please print out the text document. doing it This is a series of photographs and text describing what each of the stations look like in detail. Each of the stations runs simultaneously during the activity. Click on the photos to see what each of the stations looks like in action. It will take a few moments to download. Station 1: Guided Foam Activity This activity uses a self explanatory worksheet to answer questions about the strength of two batches of soap foam that have been beaten for different amounts of time. The groups build towers and try to stand up different size dowels in the two batches. Station 2: Challenge Foam Activity This group is given the challenge of building a 12" tower of foam on a plate using only soap, water and an egg-beater. Station 3: Inquiry Foam Activity This group experiences the very early stages of inquiry through exploring the properties of foam using soap, water, and additional materials such as eggs, shaving cream, root beer, and cream cream of tartar.

what's next The purpose of the activity is make distinctions between different kinds of hands-on science and to understand that all hands-on activities are not inquiry. The style of instuction illustated by each of the stations have different stengths and weaknesses. After the activity, teachers will have a better basis for deciding when it would be strategic to use different styles of instruction. Foam Discussion To participate in an ongoing discussion of the Foam Activity, or to read what ot her people have said, click here. For the full text of the Foam Activity, click here. For the full text of the Foam Activity Worksheet only, click here. Then you can print it out just as you would any document on your computer.