1. The PYPChem Inquiry Project
Welsh/Spedding Grade 5 PYP The International School of Monterey
inquirers thinkers caring communicators principled reflective risk-takers open-
minded knowledgeable balanced
INTRODUCTION The purpose of the PYPChem Inquiry Project is to offer students the opportunity to investigate
a chemistry-related topic of personal interest. The project will culminate with a formal symposium-style public
presentation in mid-November (date to be determined).
TOPIC The first step is to select a topic and partner. This is, perhaps, the most important step in your project.
Our advice to you is this: Be careful about your choice of topic. Choose one that is of genuine personal interest. Talk
about it with your family. Invite their feedback. You will be spending a minimum of four weeks investigating the topic,
so it is very important that you choose one that you’re really interested in. Selecting a partner should also be taken
seriously. The ideal is to choose a partner based on common interest. Best friends often make poor workmates.
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The deadline for the final selection of a topic is Thursday, October 18 . While you still have a lot of time to commit, we
know that most of you have already chosen a topic, and a partner, and are ready to go.
THE SYMPOSIUM The PYPChem Project will be a public demonstration of understanding in a symposium-style
evening of presentations, scheduled for mid-November. Presentations will be take place concurrently in several
rooms. Students, parents, family friends, local experts, and ISM staffers will be invited to select sessions to attend
from a program. You will be scheduled to present your project at a particular time, in a particular room, staffed by an
adult to assist you with technology. For the remainder of the evening, you will be able to attend other sessions of
interest. Thus, envisioning your presentation, even at the very being, may guide your investigation. By example, you
might want to videotape an interview with a local expert, knowing that you will share the video with your audience. It is
important to interest and engage your audience; thinking about this in advance will be important.
THE ROLE OF THE PARENT In accord with the PYP, we design learning opportunities for students to practice
and demonstrate the attributes of the Learner Profile. Parents are an essential partner in this process, and should
expect their children to assume greater responsibility. Parents are advised to offer on-going support and
encouragement, while avoiding taking over. Students are responsible for guiding the project, for making and arranging
contacts, and setting small and large goals.
Parents are strongly advised to deflect the transfer of responsibility back to the student with statements such as:
It sounds like your having a problem. How might you solve it?
What do you need to know that you don’t know? How do you find out?
Who might you ask?
Have you asked Mr. Spedding/Mrs. Welsh about it? That might be a good idea.
In this way, a parent reflects responsibility back to the child, who remains the center of gravity.

2. THE PROCESS LOG PYPChem pages have just been added to BOT, organized by homeroom. These pages
will list student projects by topic and guiding questions, with hyperlinks to GoogleDoc Process Logs. Students are to
regularly record their goals and progress toward those goals. They are encouraged to pose questions for us; we will
respond, and offer our own pointers and tips along the way.
There is a balance between student-directed inquiry, and the need for setting specific deadlines. While we expect
students to set their own goals, and log-in their progress, we will include three formal checks. Students not
demonstrating clear progress will incur the wrath of annoying teachers and parent nagging, and possible loss of
privilege.
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Monday, October 22 Progress Check 1 (focus on investigating guiding questions)
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Monday, October 29 Progress Check 2 (focus on investigating guiding questions/shift to presentations)
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Monday, November 5 Progress Check 3 (focus on presentations)
ASSESSING THE PROJECT The following rubric, created with student input, will be used to assess the
PYPChem Project:
WHERE DO I BEGIN? Be planful right from the start. How will you stay organized? Where will you keep the
articles that you collect? How might you label articles so that you know where you found them? What about note
taking? Where will you do this? Perhaps having a project notebook would be helpful to store notes and articles.
As we’ll discuss in class, note the following steps:
STEP 1: Settle on a topic & guiding questions
Ask yourself: Is this what I am truly interested in?
STEP 2: Envision your final product
By envisioning your presentation, you become clearer about how to begin. The more passionate you are about your
topic, the more confident, knowledgeable, and passionate you’ll be in your final presentation.

3. Study the final assessment rubric. Let it guide your planning. That is its purpose.
STEP 3: Investigate your guiding questions by identifying key resources. Make copies of them.
Most of you will begin researching your topic on the web. Conduct keyword searches (we’ll talk about this in class).
Look for the best resources you can find (no less than five resources per guiding question). Make copies. If you
cannot print at home, send the links to me and I’ll print them for you in class.
Look for local experts in our community. Arrange interviews, though we strongly advise that you complete your
background research first. Don’t expect your contact to do all of the thinking for you. Your background research will
help define/narrow your questions. If you’re using a video camera, be sure to practice in advance. Use a tripod.
STEP 4: Read and color-code each of your resources.
Color-code key sections by guiding question. By example, you might highlight sections that answer your first guiding
question in RED, the second in BLUE, and so on.
STEP 5: Begin combining your highlighted sections, whether in paragraph form, in bulleted points, or as diagrams.
Use whatever method works best for you.
STEP 6: Plan your final presentation.
Now the fun part! Design your final presentation around your notes.
A FEW TIPS We encourage students to seek our input at any time, whether in person or by email. Parents are
also encouraged to refer student questions/concerns to us. Students should be expected to assume responsibility and
to reach out to us as questions/puzzles arise.
Here are a few presentation tips:
Open with a HOOK! Hook our interest with an image, a question/puzzle, a demonstration, or something else
that immediately draws and holds our interest.
State your topic, and state your guiding questions.
Organize your presentation around your guiding questions. Be very organized about this. Move from one
question to the next. Guide us through your presentation step by step.
Do not read your slides. Instead use general bullet points
(like headlines), then elaborate in your own words. Of course, you can refer to your notes, though use them only as
reminders. Do not read your notes.
Close your presentation by summarizing the main points, and inviting audience questions.
Limit your presentation to 15 minutes, followed by 5 minutes for questions/comments.