1) The document describes an inquiry-based lesson where students work together to save a gummy worm named Fred from drowning after his plastic cup boat flips over, trapping his gummy life saver under the boat. 2) Students are instructed to place the life saver around Fred's body using only four paper clips, without letting Fred fall into the "lake" more than once or injuring him. 3) The document encourages students to solve problems in different ways such as developing a plan, finding patterns, drawing diagrams, acting it out, making lists, guessing and testing, working backward, writing equations, or constructing tables and graphs.

1. An Inquiry-Based Lesson

2. Fred has been spending his summer boating
on Table Rock Lake.
Poor Fred! He was sailing along on a
boat (your plastic cup) when a strong
wind blew it upside-down.

3. Fred (your gummy worm) ended up on top of the
upside-down boat. Unfortunately for Fred, his life
preserver (the gummy life saver) is still trapped under
the boat.

4. Your job is to place the life preserver
firmly around Fred’s body,
but you must follow these three rules:
1. Fred may not fall into the “lake” (onto the table)
more than one time; if he does, he “drowns.”
2. You may not injure him in any way.
3. You may use only the four paper clips to move Fred,
the boat, and the life preserver. You may not touch
anything with your fingers except the paper clips.

5. You can solve problems in many different ways. In fact, you may
use more than one way to solve a single problem. You can
• develop a plan.
• find a pattern.
• draw a picture or a diagram.
• act out the problem.
• make a list.
• guess and test.
• work backward.
• write an equation.
• construct a table or graph.
• simplify the problem.
• use objects to model the problem.

6. What did you and your partner
do to save Fred?
People face problems in their lives every day.
What did you learn from this activity that you
can use to solve other problems?

7.  Describe How You Saved Fred!
 Problems and/or Challenges your group encountered!
 Rate the difficulty of this activity from 1-5 by shading
in the stars below. (1 = easy, 5 = hard)
 Rate your enjoyment of this activity from 1-5 by
shading in the stars below. (1 = no fun, 5 = too much
fun)

8. Post-Challenge Questions
 Which problem that you encountered was the most
difficult for your group? What did you do or how did
you act to solve the problem?
 List one thing that you would do the same and one
thing that you would change if you attempted this
challenge again.
Keep the Same Change