Many of the students given this activity are
at first perplexed. ‘What do we have to do?’ ‘What
are we supposed to find?’ were common questions.
However, after some time some students started to
experiment without being directed. Some placed
shells in the fish tanks and observed how the fish
swam into them for protection. Others stuck pieces of
colored paper onto the side of the fish tank to see
what reactions it caused in the fish. Some students
began cutting the card into fish shapes and then
seeing how the fish reacted to different sizes and
colors of cardboard fish. Not everything seemed to
work and this worried some students.
The practical work took some time, mainly
because of the hesitancy of the students in deciding
themselves what to do. At the end of the experiment
the idea that in inquiry-based teaching the student
decides what to study, what to do, and what the
answers mean were discussed. This activity has
proved to be a good introduction to open methods of
teaching for students.