Middle School Science Research Models

Are you exploring strategies and ready-made curriculum products for student short and long term research/inquiry?  You might like to investigate the BCPS portal of Online Research Models for grades 6, 7, and 8.  

The Online Research Models (ORM), developed by Baltimore County Public Schools, represent an exciting way to guide student research toward higher-level thinking that fully utilizes technoology and digital content resources. The research models were developed by teams of library media specialists, teachers, and content specialists at Summer Curriculum Workshops in the Baltimore County Public Schools since 1998. Students who use the self-guided online research lessons are challenged to employ thoughtful reading, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information to create answers, not just find them.

The ORM are designed as web pages that present students with a clear research structure, including a research scenario, a learning task, rubrics and scoring tools, directions for use of various media resources, links to useful web sites, creation of a product or presentation, and reflection. Student collaboration is built in to the process. Internet access to the models serves to make curriculum information accessible to teachers, students, parents and the general public.