The document discusses the Teaching Enquiry with Mysteries Incorporated (TEMI) project, which aims to introduce enquiry-based learning in classrooms. It describes the project's goals and innovations, including using mysteries to engage students, the 5E learning cycle model, showmanship teaching techniques, and gradual release of responsibilities. The document also provides examples of mysteries and resources produced through the project that are available online.

1. Co-funded by
the Seventh Framework Programme
of the European Union
”A model for enquiry based
learning in the classroom"
Iris Nijman & Wouter Schrier
TEMI National Project Managers, Leiden University, the Netherlands
nijman@strw.leidenuniv.nl | schrier@strw.leidenuniv.nl

2. TEMI
• Teaching Enquiry with Mysteries Incorporated
• EU-funded 3-year project: Help introduce enquiry-based learning in
classrooms and improve student engagement and skills
– Project started in 2013
– 11 countries (Coordinator @ Queen Mary University London)
– Secondary school
– Interdisciplinary: Science
– Teacher Trainings
– Development of Educational Material

3. TEMI
• Enquiry-based learning to develop crucial intellectual
skills:
– Motivates to pose questions about the natural world and
investigate phenomena
– Students learn to construct their own understanding based
on hands-on and minds-on experiences
– Reflect on experiences, communicate your thinking
– Focus not just on the science, but the processes of science
– Science is more than memorizing facts

4. TEMI
4 innovations:
Mysteries - curiosity, motivation
5E-cycle - explore and evaluate learning
Showmanship - presentation techniques
Gradual Release of Responsibilities (GRR)
Engage ExplainCAPTURE STUDENTS’
ATTENTION
WHAT’S THE SCIENCE
BEHIND THE MYSTERY?
ExploreCOLLECT DATA FROM
EXPERIMENTS
The teacher half fills two plastic zip-lock bags with
a starch solution. The class will agree that the bag
does not allow any solution to leak out. These bags
will then be placed in two beakers, both of which
contain a clear substance. What the students don’t
know is that one of the beakers has an iodine
solution in it. When placed in the iodine, a colour
change will occur. A blue-black colour will spread
out inside the bag. Students are asked to record
what they observe.
The bag does not allow water or starch molecules
to pass through. However, the iodine molecules
are small enough to pass through the tiny pores
in the bag. This activity may be used to describe
a semi-permeable membrane as well as the effect
of diffusion (the iodine will diffuse throughout the
starch solution). It does not describe the action
of osmosis, as water molecules are not allowed to
move through the semi-permeable membrane. This
will be explored in the extend section.
Why does one beaker change colour while the
other doesn’t?
What do we know about starch and a blue-black
colour?
Why did the iodine move into the bag and why
ExtendWHAT OTHER RELATED
AREAS CAN BE EXPLORED?
The teacher informs the students that some
membranes allow the movement of all molecules,
some membranes don’t allow the movement of
any molecules, and some allow movement of a
few molecules. This depends on the size of the
molecules.
THE 5E MODEL
Guidance notes for teachers
CHEMICAL SEESAW
ISTRY
The engage part of the lesson shows a discrepant
event: students will see the mass of the paper
decreasing and assume it will be the same when
iron burns. Use this to add surprise and intrigue to
the lesson so that students are motivated to find
out why this happened.
ShowmanshipTIPS ON HOW TO TEACH AND PRESENT THIS MYSTERY
GRRTEACHING SKILLS USING GRADUAL RELEASE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Students should know:
» Elements in a mixture retain their properties:
elements do not retain their own properties when
in a compound.
» There is a chemical change when a mixture is
formed into a compound.
» This conservation of properties may often be
used to separate components in a mixture.
Students should be able to:
» Explain why it is possible to ingest table
salt (NaCl), even though the two elemental
components are highly reactive and poisonous.
From the experimental investigation with iron and
sulphur, students should know that compounds
have new properties: the elements do not retain
their own properties.
» Carry out an investigation on the iron levels in
different cereals and compare the results with the
levels shown on the cereal packet labels.
EvaluateCHECK THE LEVEL OF
STUDENT SCIENTIFIC
UNDERSTANDING
CHEMISTRY
Comparison of mixtures and compounds (2):
Students can be provided with different colour
plastic building blocks (e.g. Lego). Each colour
represents a different element. The students can
use these to make concrete representations of the
mixture (e.g. two or more different colour blocks
not joined together) or a compound (e.g. two or
more different colour blocks joined together).
Real-life application
Iron is an essential mineral. It is found in
haemoglobin in red blood cells. It is needed for the
transportation of oxygen from the lungs around
the body. If the body does not have enough iron,
it cannot make enough oxygen-carrying red blood
cells. This deficiency is called anaemia.
Healthy red blood cells and sufficient oxygen
is important to prevent fatigue. Athletes need
sufficient oxygen supply in their blood and muscles
to maximise their performance and prevent fatigue.
Blood doping is a method of increasing the number
of red blood cells in the body. This allows more
oxygen to be carried to the muscles.
When extracting the iron from the cereal with
the ‘magic wand’, it is important not to tell the
students what they should expect. All the students
should know is that the teacher thinks it is possible
to make the invisible visible. Allow the students
to observe what is extracted from the cereal for
themselves.
ShowmanshipTIPS ON HOW TO TEACH AND PRESENT THIS MYSTERY
Students will learn about the following skills
through the GRR model:
» Predict, observe, and explain procedures.
» Project and group work.
GRRTEACHING SKILLS USING GRADUAL RELEASE OF RESPONSIBILITY
THE 5E MODEL

5. A mystery:
o Provides affective engagement to the students;
o Generates curiosity and leads to questions;
o Generates a cognitive conflict;
o Creates scientific knowledge;
o Requires the students to use enquiry skills to explain
the mystery.
1.
Mystery
Wonder is the seed of knowledge
Francis Bacon“ ”

6. he end (Figure 1b).
Different
representations
figure 1
Exploration
Explanation
Engagement
Elaboration
Evaluation
2.
5E - Cycle
Evaluation stage feeds into the
other 4 stages continuously
• Learning cycle with five
elements
• Framework to support enquiry-
based learning
• Guideline for teachers and
students
• Prevent teachers from giving
answers too quickly

7. Many analogies between the role of a teacher
and that of an actor :
• Facing an audience
• Convey a message in a convincing and
memorable manner
• Improvise if something takes an unexpected
turn
3.
Showmanship

8. Enquiry
Level
Type Question Procedure Solution
1 Confirmation Teacher Teacher Teacher
2 Structured Teacher Teacher Student
3 Guided Teacher Student Student
4 Open-ended Student Student Student
4.
Gradual Release of Responsibilities
• Student becomes more able to carry out own independent
enquiry
• Role of teacher becomes less instructive, more enabling

9. • TEMI Methodology
• 4 Innovations
• Free to download:
http://teachingmysteries.eu
Teaching the TEMI way
How using
mysteries supports
science learning
TEMI Booklet
“Teaching the TEMI way"

10. • Mysteries for all science
subjects
• Mysteries produced by
partners
• Peer-reviewed by teachers
• Free to download:
http://teachingmysteries.eu
CLASSROOM SCIENCE ACTIVITIES TO
SUPPORT STUDENT ENQUIRY-BASED LEARNING
TEMI Resource Book
“The Book of Science Mysteries"

11. DOMAIN(S)
Physics, mathematics, earth sciences,
astronomy.
SUBDOMAIN KEYWORDS
» Physics:
SAFETY/SUPERVISION
No need.
Disclaimer: the authors of this teaching material
will not be held responsible for any injury or
damage to persons or properties that might occur
in its use.
Closer but colder
What’s the
mystery?
Because of the shape of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, it is farther away
from the Sun in July than it is in January. Still, we have colder days in January
than in July. How is this possible?
Through this mystery, students will investigate the orbit of the Earth around the
Sun and its influence on solar energy here on Earth. This will lead them to a deeper
understanding of the seasons on Earth.
~12 – 16 years Physics Astronomy Math

12. ~16– 18 years Physics Astronomy Math
DOMAIN(S)
Physics.
SUBDOMAIN KEYWORDS
Astronomy, optics, propagation of light.
PREPARATION AND LIST OF MATERIALS
» Internet (for YouTube)
Experiment 1. Dispersion and refraction:
» White flashlight (not LED)
» Prism
Red Moon
What’s the
mystery?
When the Moon travels through the Earth’s shadow, sunlight is blocked.
However, instead of turning completely dark, the Moon gets a reddish
colour. How is this possible?

13. Impact Numbers
11Countries
53Trainings
932Teachers trained
1190Hours of Training

14. Lessons learned
• Time it takes to develop high quality products/resources
• Methodology vs. Material
• Methodology vs. School Board / Curriculum

15. Questions?
Iris Nijman & Wouter Schrier
TEMI National Project Managers
nijman@strw.leidenuniv.nl
schrier@strw.leidenuniv.nl
Twitter:
@teachmysteries
Online:
www.teachingmysteries.eu