MAPLE RIDGE-PITT MEADOWS SCHOOL DISTRICT
SD42 Inquiry Program helps students hone their critical-thinking skills

Can eating bugs save the world? Do energy bars work? Why should Pluto be a planet?

Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows School District students shared their projects at the SD42 Inquiry Fair on April 20.
 

Those are just some of the questions that Grade 6 and 7 students in the Maple - Ridge Pitt Meadows School District have recently inquired about. And on Friday, April 20, many new questions were unveiled at the third annual SD42 Inquiry Fair.

"The goal of this project is to give students the opportunity to improve their thinking skills in the real world - while recognizing they are grade 6 and 7 students who need guidance as they explore inquiry-based learning," explained Rory Payment, intermediate helping teacher. 

More than 700 groups of grades 6 and 7 students worked on an inquiry project this term and many of the teams had booths at the Inquiry Fair to share their findings.

The school district introduced the One to One Inquiry Project in 2005. The program has grown steadily and is now in every elementary school and most Grade 6/7 classrooms across the district.  

"Our program asks students to practice critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, creativity and communication skills in a real-world setting that is personally challenging to them," said Payment.

• For more information about the Inquiry Program