In its fifth year of iteration, Independent Inquiry continues to be a project that defies traditional logic and rewards all involved with inspiration and enjoyment of learning.
This afternoon, three students had arranged to stay after school with a simple inquiry goal: To build a tower out of books in our classroom library.
This was a follow up to a previous project of using books to make a giant domino chain.
Today was special because they utterly failed. Eventually, they did manage to build something, but not without overcoming a dozen obstacles along the way.
They were frustrated by the different sizes and stiffness of the books as building materials.
Working on different sides of the tower, after it collapsed, they lamented that they hadn’t been communicating or comparing each others’ techniques to ensure stability. The constant flow of analysis and synthesis that followed astounded me and distracted me from the after school program recommendations I was trying to complete before leaving for the evening.
When all of the classroom books were used, and the tower was significantly smaller than they had expected, an ethical debate ensued in which they determined that other students wouldn’t mind borrowing their books as long as they were properly returned.
I chuckled silently throughout the project and marveled at the vast breadth and depth of learning they achieved with only an idea, a pile of books, and each other.
Symphony of Ideas 