Making Thinking Visible: Exploring the Digestive System with iPad and Project Zero Routines

Want to make your science lessons more engaging and inquiry-driven?

Using the 5E Model, Project Zero thinking routines, and iPad tools, students explore the digestive system through questioning, investigation, collaboration, and reflection, turning curiosity into understanding.   

DRIVING QUESTION:

What do you think happens to food as it enters our body?

ENGAGE: 

Students use See-Think-Wonder in one shared Freeform board.

They record:

• what they notice
• what they think
• what they wonder

This surfaces prior knowledge and misconceptions while making thinking visible from the start.

EXPLORE:

Students continue using the same Freeform board while rotating through:

• Explore Learning Gizmos: simulating the digestive system
• Hands-on model: building a simple digestive system and documenting with Camera + Markup
• Article to Read: supporting conceptual understanding

Students continuously add observations, questions, diagrams, and revised ideas to their Freeform board as evidence builds. 

EXPLAIN:

Students revisit their Freeform board using one Project Zero routine: Connect-Extend-Challenge

• What connects to your ideas now?
• What has changed or extended your thinking?
• What still challenges you?

Students share boards via Apple TV, then refine understanding through discussion. Scientific vocabulary is introduced and anchored on student ideas.

ELABORATE:

Students choose one output format to show their understanding:

1. Freeform board (organize and explain digestion visually)
2. Notes (write and label digestion explanation with diagrams)
3. Camera (photo-based model or sequence of digestion)
4. Video/Clips (oral explanation of how food is digested)
5. Sound Recorder (narrated explanation of digestion process)

EVALUATE:

Students complete a final reflection in Freeform:

I used to think… now I think…

WHY THIS MATTERS?

By connecting digestion to students' everyday food choices, eating habits, and health, science becomes more relevant and meaningful. Students move beyond memorizing organs and functions to understanding how science explains experiences in their own lives.

The iPad is not the focus of the lesson, but the student thinking is. Through visible thinking routines, inquiry, and purposeful technology integration, students are given opportunities to question, explore, revise their ideas, and build deeper understanding of science concepts.

Teacher Resources:

While the photo uploaded was generated by AI, I created a sample template on how it would look like in one Freeform board. You may visit this link to view: https://www.icloud.com/freeform/0f1z52qENZaxtmDtYD2cAo7WA#Visible_Thinking_in_Science