The Cognitive Toolbox is a collection of thinking tools that help students understand and remember concepts and ideas. As students utilize these tools within the Cognitive Toolbox, their familiarity and ease of use with each tool increases. As a result, the Cognitive Toolbox becomes a valuable resource that students can draw on as they approach, investigate, or reflect on a problem or new science concept.

Toolboxes often contain tools that make a job easier to do and better when it is done. Inside the Cognitive Toolbox, students will find thinking tools to make their thinking and learning easier and improved. Students will find some tools useful in some situations and other tools useful in other situations. As students gain familiarity with the thinking tools in the toolbox, they will become more confident and at ease with using them.

LabLearner was designed to incorporate tools that develop human cognition from the ground up. You can learn more about the LabLearner’s cognitive underpinnings by reading about the Information Processing Model of learning and memory by clicking on the brain model icon here.

How to use this tool: Ask yourself “What do I already know about this?” Write down or discuss with a friend what you already know about this topic.

When to use this tool:

• When a new topic or key term is introduced. This often happens at the beginning of your LabLearner lesson.

How to use this tool: Predict what you think will happen when you do the activity or experiment. Write down or discuss your prediction. What kind of evidence would agree with your prediction? What kind of evidence would disagree with your prediction?

When to use this tool:

• Before you conduct an experiment you should make a prediction about what you expect to happen.
• You can also predict before you observe something, e.g. before you look at a slide under the microscope.

How to use this tool: Try to think of questions about the topic that you would like to answer. Ask yourself “What do I want to know?” Try to think of questions that your experiment or activity will answer. Write down your questions. Then you can see if your experiment answers the questions.

When to use this tool:

• When a new topic is introduced you should create questions to answer. Sometimes questions are provided and you can decide whether you have more questions to answer.

How to use this tool: Ask yourself “What is important?” and “What should I be looking at?” Direct your attention to the things you decide to look for.

When to use this tool:

• Just before you begin an activity that will show you something. For example, just before you pour two chemicals into a test tube to see if they react with one another.

How to use this tool: Ask yourself “Can I explain this in my own words?” If you do not understand, find help! If you are not sure, try explaining the information to yourself or to a partner, or ask the teacher.

When to use this tool:

• When you collect data from an experiment.
• When you see a formula or equation.
• When you see something happen during an experiment.

How to use this tool: Compare results for each experiment or for each part of the experiment. Ask yourself “What do the results tell me?” Do the results all point to the same answer?

When to use this tool:

• When you conduct an experiment that uses several parts to collect data. For example, you might observe three different forces on the movement of an object. You would compare results for the three different forces.

How to use this tool: Try to imagine an object or sequence of events. Use your imagination to draw a picture or create a movie that shows the object or event in great detail. You can also use your imagination to re-run your experiment and see it happen all over again. You can change something about your experiment and imagine what would happen if you did the experiment over again.

When to use this tool:

• When you are learning about cause and effect.
• When you are learning about a system such as a simple machine.
• When you read.
• When you want to re-run your experiment in your head.

How to use this tool: Ask yourself “Why did that happen?” Then try to find the answer! If you can understand why something happened, you will remember it better. You will also be able to use the information in the future.

When to use this tool:

• When you see something happen during an experiment. You should definitely ask yourself “Why did that happen?” if you see something unexpected.

How to use this tool: If you come across information that you know you have to remember, try repeating it several times to yourself.

When to use this tool:

• When you need to remember something, such as the amount of liquid in a beaker, or when studying for a test.

How to use this tool: Ask yourself “Does this fit with what I knew?” and “Does this agree with my prediction?”

When to use this tool:

• When you find out a new piece of information. For example, your experiment may give you data that helps you answer decide whether or not your prediction was correct.

How to use this tool: Look back at the questions you asked at the beginning. Ask yourself “Were my questions answered?” Did you answer the “Why did that happen?” question?

When to use this tool:

• After you have completed an activity or experiment.
• After any activity that began with a question.

How to use this tool: Ask yourself “How does what I have just learned add on to what I knew before?” If what you learned is different from what you thought was true, think about why.

When to use this tool:

• If you find out that your first ideas were not correct, it is important to compare what you thought before with what you know now.
• When you find out something that extends what you already know. For example, you learn about a new species of bird.

How to use this tool: Science experiments and activities often show rules. Ask yourself “Can I find a rule to describe my observations?” If you can find a rule, write it down then ask yourself “Can I think of a real-life example of this rule or idea?”

When to use this tool:

• When you have drawn a graph.
• When you have put your data into a table.
• When you have compared your results and noticed similarities and differences.

How to use this tool: Ask yourself “How does this apply in the outside world?” and “Can I solve a problem with this information?”

When to use this tool:

• After you have discovered a rule.
• After you have learned a science term.

How to use this tool: A summary contains the most important ideas but not all the supporting details for each idea. Write a short paragraph or give a partner a short speech that includes the key ideas and, if necessary, one detail that describes each idea.

When to use this tool:

• Whenever you feel that you have encountered more information than you can hold in your mind at one time.
• When you have finished reading a section of a book.
• When you have completed the analysis section of the lesson.

How to use this tool: Ask yourself “What is my overall conclusion?” A conclusion describes more than just your findings for a particular experiment, as it may describe a rule that applies to other situations. But it often makes a statement that your data can support.

When to use this tool:

• After a CELL or a number of experiments, you can draw a general conclusion about the topic or question.
• When you finish up an activity or experience.

How to use this tool: Compare the results of all the activities. What do the results tell you? Is there a theme? Is there a common concept? Create a report, poster, concept map, diagram, speech, or presentation to explains your learning.

When to use this tool:

• At the end of a CELL or at the end of any investigation.
• As you study for a test.