TO THE STUDENTS

Education in science includes developing and honing your skills in scientific

inquiry. These mean the science processes or processes which scientists employ to solve a
problem. Science investigatory projects are now part of the new Basic Education
Curriculum (BEC), precisely to develop your scientific inquiry skills.

As you carry out a science investigatory project, you will apply the science
concepts and principles which you have learned in a practical context. Your tasks will
include:

 Formulating questions and hypotheses

 Designing experiments
 Gathering and organizing data
 Analyzing and interpreting data
 Drawing conclusions and developing explanations

Aside from these thinking tasks, scientific inquiry includes hands-on component such as
setting up apparatus, making observations and measurements, manipulating materials and
equipment using proper techniques, organizing your work space, etc. The success of your
investigation depends to a large extent, not only on your experimental design, but also on
how well you carry out these experiments.

As you work with your classmates and consult your adviser and resource persons,
you will learn to communicate clearly, have an open mind, be organized, cooperate with
your group mates, carry out your assigned tasks in a responsible manner, and learn other
useful traits. These skills are transferable and will prepare you for the world of work as
you emerge out of school.

In the first quarter of the year, your teacher will require you to carry out one
science investigatory project. You will be given a template and all you need is to carry out
the steps in their proper sequence. This will serve as your model of a science
investigatory project. Learn from the experience. In the second quarter, you will be
partially weaned from the structured investigation and your teacher will ask you to work
on a semi-structured one. At this point, you are expected to be able to design the
experiments that will answer the research questions asked. And from there you are to
carry out the rest of the investigation. On the last two quarters of the year, you are
entirely on your own. Your teacher will challenge you with a problem situation and you
are expected to formulate your own questions and hypotheses and from here carry out the
investigation to completion.