Overall Goal: To work

through the inquiry process

while thinking critically and
creatively about information
gathered.
Task Description
You will undertake an inquiry project on a topic of your own choosing; something that
genuinely interests you, is relevant to you and that you want to find more out about.
The catch is...your topic must be an event. An event can be anything from Oil Spills in
our Oceans to The Commonwealth Games to Tourism in Antarctica and anything in
between.
You will be required to work through the Inquiry Learning process step by step
with guidance from your teacher. The focus for assessment will be on your
ability to gather relevant information that creates understanding of your big
idea or big question. To do this, you will need to present evidence that you are
able to:
skim and scan texts to find keywords and key ideas
make critical choices about the relevance and usefulness of information
annotate (highlight) and note-take effectively
synthesise (rewrite) this information into your own words.
The Process
Step1. As a class, brainstorm different topic ideas












Step 2. Choose your event. This will become your big idea. Your big idea is a
statement not a question and will be the overarching theme of your topic.
My big idea is:
Event ideas.
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Step 3.
As a class, co-construct your Learning Intentions and Success Criteria using
the starters provided.
Learning Intentions: By the end of my inquiry I want to learn/know



Success Criteria: I will know I have achieved this because I will be able
to...
Assessment Rubric
Excellence - 6 Merit - 4 Achieved - 2 Not Achieved-0 Pts
Questions:Works
through the
questioning template
Has made well considered big
questions and effective guiding
questions
Has made thoughtful big
questions and useful
supplementary questions
Has worked through the
template and made some
worthwhile questions
Big question is not big and
supplementary questions
are low level

Analysis of
Information:
Selecting and
analysing (highlight,
annotate) appropriate
sources to answer big
question.
A wide variety of suitable
sources found and analysed by
underlining, highlighting and
comprehensively annotated that
will help to answer the big
question
A variety of suitable sources
found and analysed by
underlining, highlighting and
some annotation that will help
to answer the big question
Suitable sources found and
analysed by underlining or
highlighting, that will help to
answer the big question
Few sources found that are
credible and helpful for
answering the big question
Synthesis of
Information: Using
graphic organisers to
sort and sift relevant
and useful info and
rewrite into own
words
Has effectively used 3 or more
graphic organisers to synthesise
and find information that is
relevant and useful in answering
the big question and has
rewritten this into own words
Has used 2 or more graphic
organisers to sort through
information to find some
information that is relevant
and useful in answering the
big question and is mostly
rewritten in own words
Has made attempts to use
graphic organisers to find
some information that is
relevant and useful in
answering the big question
but has still used copy and
paste
Little attempt made to use
the graphic organisers to
find useful information and
has used copy and pasted
large amounts of
information
Information:
Sufficient to allow
completion of inquiry
and answer the big
question
Sufficient information from a
wide variety of sources which
will answer the big question an
in-depth presentation to be
made
Sufficient information from a
variety of sources to answer
the big question and allow an
in-depth presentation to be
made
Sufficient information
located from sources to
answer the big question and
complete the inquiry although
it may not be in-depth
Insufficient information to
answer the big question or
make a worthwhile
presentation
Presentation: Final
presentation
Consistently appropriate content
and coverage, logical progression
of ideas, good use of extra
features that engages audience
and answers the big question
Consistently appropriate
content and coverage, good
use of extra features that
engages audience and answers
the big question
Appropriate content and
coverage, attempts to use
extra features that engages
audience and attempts to
answer the big question
Content mostly cut and
paste, little attempt to
engage the audience,
doesnt really answer the
big question
Assessment Rubric
Excellence - 6 Merit - 4 Achieved - 2 Not Achieved-0 Pts
Taking Action:
appropriate, useful
and engaging
Appropriate, useful and
thoughtful action planned to
engage
Appropriate and useful action
planned
Action is planned No plans made to take
action or inappropriate
action planned
Regular
Reflection:comments
to help refine the
inquiry process
Reflection is insightful and
comprehensive and guides the
next step of the inquiry
Reflection clear and critical
and useful for further progress
in the inquiry
Reflection done regularly and
with some thought, some
useful observations
Little or no participation
in , or comprehension of,
the value and format of
reflection
Evaluation: of the
inquiry process
Worthwhile and
comprehensive comments
made about the inquiry
process that demonstrates a
deep and thorough
understanding of the inquiry
process
Worthwhile comments made
about the inquiry process that
demonstrates a thorough
understanding of the inquiry
process
Comments made about the
inquiry process that
demonstrates understanding
of the processes
Few comments made about
the inquiry process
Checkpoint
Marks
Total points
Prior Knowledge
Step 4.
Think about your topic and think about what you already know. Either
complete a KWL, brainstorm or mind map of your prior knowledge.




Immersion
Step 5.
Saturate yourself in information about your big idea. Read articles, books, surf
the net, watch video clips, complete quizzes, ask people, immerse yourself in
as much information as possible to create curiosity. Write any passing
questions, wonderings or curiosities on the wonderwall.
Questions
Good questions are key to good inquiries so you need to take time to
think carefully about your questions.
Step 6.
Based on your Big Idea and using the question builder template, create a list
of 4 or 5 possible Big Questions. Select one as your Big Question.

Step 7.
Create 5-8 Supplementary Questions by breaking your Big Question into
smaller questions that will help you to:
achieve the learning intentions
gain a better understanding of your topic
paint a picture with words
Use the Question Builder Templates and the Think 4D sheets to help you
create your questions.
Finding and Gathering Information
Step 8.
This is the inquiry itself where you will gather information that is related to your
question. You will need to:
skim and scan texts to find keywords and key ideas
critically evaluate the relevance and usefulness of the information
annotate (add notes to), highlight and note-take effectively
synthesise (rewrite) this information into your own words
use it to answer the focusing questions

You will be shown a variety of graphic organisers and useful templates to help
you in your hunt for relevant and useful information. You must use the
Witches Brew template and can choose what others to use for different
purposes. Your teacher will demonstrate how to: search effectively on the web,
evaluate the usefulness of information, effectively annotate and take notes,
write a bibliography, and discuss copyright rules with you.


Demonstrating Learning and Understanding
Step 9.
You need to complete 2 of the following tasks, one from A and one from B.
They need to be completed without your notes. You should know your stuff by
now. Ensure you complete these in detail to ensure you show learning and
understanding.
A Tasks
1. Outline the event in your own words, using exactly 50 words.
2. Write about your feelings in relation to the event.
3. Draw a flow-chart to show significant events/actions/happenings for the event.
4. Make a timeline of events.
B Tasks
1. Design a building to house your study on the event.
2. Design a book or magazine cover for the event that encourages others to think about it.
3. Design a poster that informs others about the event.
Presentation
Presentations need to be suitable for an audience of your Year 7 & 8
peers and should be engaging and easy to follow.
Step 10.
Time to pull all that learning and information together to create an interesting
and captivating presentation. Check out the A-Z of Presentation to find a
presentation type that suits your inquiry and appeals to you. Be prepared to
answer any questions and to accept feedback and feed-forward at the end of
the presentation.

What makes a good presenter?


What makes a good audience?
Taking Action
Step 11.
As part of the inquiry you are expected to not only present your findings but to
also take action. An action is an activity that takes the findings of the
inquiry OUT of the classroom and into the real world. Below are a few ideas
and examples, use one that suits your inquiry topic or think of your own and
check with your teacher.

Present findings to other students in other classes through the tv show, email, an information
booklet or pamphlet or create a game to share.
Present your findings to an outside group or organisation - local council, senior management, etc
Create a poster that informs, educates and encourages others to take action
Write an advert, play, puppet show, role play, song, poem or movie trailer about the event
Create a Did you know poster to show cause/effect, similarities/differences, before/after, etc
Write a letter to a newspaper or letter to the editor
Create an informative website
Devise a strategy to raise awareness
Invite a speaker in to speak about your topic
Raise funds for people affected by an event
Reflection and Evaluation
Step 12
Reflection enables and encourages you to think about your learning: thinking
about the process and the actions you have engaged in. You will need to
show evidence of regular reflection. Your teacher will give you plenty of
opportunity for this. Use the reflective sentence starters or the Exit cards to
get you going.

Evaluation will happen at the end of the inquiry process and requires you to
think critically about the process and assess what went well, what went
wrong and what needs to be done differently next time. You will be given
evaluation starters to fill out at the end of the inquiry.