What are open-ended science investigation tasks?
These tasks are non-cookbook science investigations. They are not verification labs. They are opportunities for divergent pathways to arrive at a wide variety of answers. Ultimately students should be able to design and carry out their own experiments or evaluate the experimental design of others to make informed decisions. In the past students have been given the task “design and complete an experiment, record your observations, and draw your own conclusions.” This is a perfect match to the objective, but the problem seems to have been in too little guidance and almost no reflection on science investigation strategies. The student left alone to design an experiment has fallen short of the goal. It is only when students have internalized the methods used by scientists that students will be able to produce their own inquiries and judge the quality of proof offered by the science inquiries of others. This guide provides several examples of enabling tasks built around a single discrepant
