Snail Racing
Another good example of an inquiry-based
exercise used in the course was snail racing. Students
were asked to bring one or more living snails to class
and a ‘snail-attracting object’ of their choice.
Students brought a variety of different things they
thought would attract snails, including dandelion
leaves, grass, salad, sugary fizzy pop, and even a
bottle of beer. In class students were then given the
question “How can you make your snail travel
fastest?”
Students went about answering this question
in different ways. Some students used the various
snail-attracting objects to see to which ones snails
were really attracted and if it affected the speed at
which they traveled. Some other students compared
the speed at which snails moved over different
surfaces, for example work bench surfaces,
newspaper, and plastic sheeting. Some groups set up
a ‘start line’ and ‘finish line’ and raced their snails
from one to the other. Another group, being more
exact, timed the distance snails moved in 5 minutes.