Data Square – Nature of Science Activity

Print the templates below on card stock. There are two templates of the puzzle on each page. Cut out one of the large squares and then cut out the pieces as shown above. At first, just give students the four pieces on the left without the small square. Challenge them to form a square with the four pieces that is solid with no open space and without overlapping pieces. Once they have found this solution, introduce a new piece of “data” which they must include in their model. The challenge remains the same only now with five pieces form a square that is solid with no open space and without overlapping pieces.

This activity can be used as an analogy for how science works – the nature of science.

For more ideas, see this lesson from which this idea was adapted.