Summary

A KS2 class in mixed-ability groups shows how collaborate enquiry can be used to help sharpen thinking and stimulate imagination.
The Year 3/4 class, from Heather Primary School in Leicestershire, is split into mixed ability groups and asked to look at a photograph of the mineral agate.
The groups are first asked to consider what they know from the photograph and then what they would like to find out about the image. By building on each others' suggestions, the groups come up with some astute observations.
Finally, the pupils are asked to what it might be and their discussions lead to some imaginative answers, including the inside of a jelly fish or something inside a body.
The technique is supported by research which is explained by Philippa Cordingley, director of the Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education.