🔍 Inquiry Skills

Te Rangahau — Learning to Research

❓ Curiosity is the Starting Point

Inquiry learning is about asking questions and finding answers. It's a skill you'll use your whole life — in school, work, and as a citizen. Good researchers know how to ask the right questions, find reliable information, and think critically.

🔄 The Inquiry Cycle

Ask

Develop good questions

Plan

How will you find out?

Gather

Find and collect information

Analyse

Make sense of what you found

Create

Present your findings

Reflect

What did you learn?

❓ Asking Good Questions

Types of Questions

Closed — one right answer ("What year did...?")
Open — many possible answers ("Why did...?")
Research questions — can be investigated with evidence

Good Research Questions Are...

✅ Specific — not too broad
✅ Answerable — can find evidence
✅ Interesting — worth investigating
✅ Appropriate — suit your time and resources

Example: Instead of "What about climate change?" try "How has climate change affected native birds in Aotearoa?"

📚 Finding Information

📖 Books

In-depth, edited

🌐 Websites

Check reliability!

📰 Articles

News, journals

👤 Interviews

Primary sources

🎥 Videos

Documentaries

🏛️ Museums

Archives, artifacts

🔎 Is This Source Reliable?

CRAAP Test

Check each source using these criteria:

Currency — Is it recent enough?
Relevance — Does it answer your question?
Authority — Who wrote it? Are they an expert?
Accuracy — Is it supported by evidence? Are there errors?
Purpose — Why was it written? Is it trying to sell or persuade?

✏️ Activities

Activity: Question Improvement

Turn these weak questions into better research questions:

"What about pollution?" → ___________
"Is technology good?" → ___________
"Tell me about Māori culture" → ___________

My improved questions:

👩‍🏫 Teacher Notes

Curriculum Links

All subjects: Key competency — using language, symbols, texts
Social Studies: Social inquiry
Science: Nature of Science