Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.

The grade 5 I&E (Investigation and Experimentation) standards make a significant step from the abilities to follow an existing, written set of directions toward designing and creating a new investigation. This progression requires practicing such skills as developing a testable question, planning and conducting an investigation, selecting appropriate tools, and recording data using appropriate graphic representation. Developing these skills requires feedback from the natural world in terms of the data and results, but also feedback and discussion among peers and from an instructor.

These standards also mark a significant step in developing and applying analytical abilities. Writing instructions that others can follow, making inferences based on data, and indicating whether further evidence is needed to support a specific conclusion all require stepping back and thoughtfully applying logic.

The following kinds of questions need to be practiced, critiqued, refined, and ultimately internalized:

Is this a good statement of a testable question, and how can it best be tested?
Which information is central, relevant, less important, and irrelevant?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of different ways of presenting the data?
How do the data relate to the focus of the investigation? Are other kinds of data needed?
What are the best ways to organize the evidence to answer the question?
Is the evidence sufficient to answer the question? If not, what other evidence is needed and how should it be collected?

Developing these I&E skills also requires an appropriate level of science content knowledge and understanding. This content informs all aspects of an investigation including the statement of the question, the plan of the investigation, the inferences drawn from the data, and the conclusions that are drawn. Thus, the investigations work best when they directly relate to the science content being taught.

In many aspects of life, we react emotionally rather than logically, automatically accept authoritative statements as being true, and do not question our own beliefs. These standards cultivate a different attitude and a set of tools to apply in seeking knowledge and truth. Thus, developing these I&E skills mark a significant step in learning, appreciating, and applying the open-ended, skeptical, and analytical attitudes that are hallmarks of scientific inquiry.