diagrams. They also revisited their designs for worm homes, given the evidence they had gathered over the past several weeks, and talked about how they could redesign them to work better.

During the final days of the study, Ms. Flores focused discussions on the ways of thinking and actions taken during the course of their investigations. The students learned to limit their explanations to ones that they could support with evidence from their own observations. Ms. Flores demonstrated how they could check their explanations against scientific reports in books and with the observations of others. They discussed how conducting a fair test helped them be certain that the answers and explanations they proposed were reasonable. They reviewed how they learned to make observations and measurements using hand lenses, rulers, and balances.

For the final section of their books, Ms. Flores asked the students to write a short explanation of what they would tell another student if that student wanted to study worms. She also asked them to write what they would do differently if they had the project to do over again. Finally, each group assembled their drawings, photographs, data tables, and notes of their observations into books and presented the results of their investigation to the