Making Science a Curiosity-Provoking Adventure
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Making Science a Curiosity-Provoking Adventure
(Originally titled “Sensemaking in Science”)
In this article in Educational Leadership, Thomas McKenna (Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education) says that somewhere between young children’s boundless curiosity (kids’ questions about a large mushroom they discovered on the playground) and high-school science labs, kids stop asking Why? and start asking, Will this be on the test? How can science teachers keep students’ curiosity alive?
McKenna believes this can happen by using fewer worksheets and curated materials and instead orchestrating authentic, hands-on sensemaking experiences. “The real world doesn’t come with step-by-step instructions,” he says. “We should be designing experiences where students are encouraged to grapple with surprise, celebrate when their predictions don’t match reality, and see revision as a natural part of learning.” He has ten suggestions for orchestrating such experiences:
- Start units with something puzzling – for example, looking at a beetle that plays dead when it’s threatened. “Give them space to wonder before you start teaching,” says McKenna.
- Ask students, What does this remind you of? “This elevates questions,” he says, “and validates diverse backgrounds as sources of expertise.”
- Use guided questions instead of direct answers. “Resist the urge to immediately explain.” Ask, What makes you think that?
- Create investigation boards where students collect evidence and post observations and questions over time, making their thinking visible.
- Celebrate unexpected results. Embrace mistakes and false starts, asking questions like, How might we revise our thinking?
- Design labs that mirror authentic scientific practice. “Present problems to solve rather than steps to follow,” says McKenna.
- Carve out time for students to share and critique ideas, with norms for respectfully challenging one another’s reasoning and building on classmates’ thinking.
- Connect to real-world scientists and applications, inviting in community members who use science in their work.
- Honor students as experts, with different students contributing different strengths so they see that expertise comes in many forms.
- Make revision a normal part of learning, showing how scientists revise their thinking when they find new evidence.
“Sensemaking in Science” by Thomas McKenna in Educational Leadership, April 2026 (Vol. 83, #7, pp. 48-53); McKenna can be reached at tmckenna@bu.edu.