Inquiry Based Activity

I worked with a partner to develop an inquiry based activity in preparation for a lesson plan.  The activity we developed, called "Healthy Kids!", was created primarily for children in 2nd grade.  "Healthy Kids!" requires children to investigate nutrition and physical activity as ways of staying healthy.  We ask children to choose one food group, list four types of food in their chosen food group, and explain how the food group helps one stay healthy based on a Nutrition Exploration (http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/kids/nutrition-pyramid.asp) website.  This website was created by the National Dairy Council for children who would like to know more about the food pyramid.

"Healthy Kids!" also asks children to research three reasons exercise is beneficial and to list three additional facts about staying healthy.  Answers to these questions can be found at Five Fun Ways to Get Physical (http://kidnetic.com/BrightPapers/?c=Featured&p=35).  The International Food Information Council provides this site, which presents information on fun ways to stay active. 

Overall, creating an inquiry based activity helped me to consider the various ways technology can be incorporated into lessons.  (Even a lesson on health and fitness!)  Developing the inquiry based lesson was simple to do, and it could be done in more than one way.  For the "Healthy Kids!" activity, my partner and I decided on the topic we wanted to focus on first, and then found two websites to support children's inquiry process.  However, other groups demonstrated that choosing a great website first, and then creating an activity based on the website is also possible.  I believe I will definitely use this type of activity throughout my career because it was simple to design and seems to be a great strategy for incorporating technology into the classroom.