ICE BREAKER
Statements about Science as Inquiry
1. Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world
and propose explanations on the evidence derived from their work.
(Source: National Research Council. 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards,
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, p. 1)
2. Inquiry refers to the activities of students in which they develop knowledge and
understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the
natural world.
(Source: National Research Council. 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards,
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, p. 1)
3. Inquiry investigations in the classroom can be highly structured by the teacher so that
students proceed toward known outcomes, or inquiry investigations can be free-ranging
explorations of unexplained phenomena. Both have their place in science classrooms.
(Source: National Research Council. 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards,
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, p. 10-11)
4. One critical aspect of science education is to help children develop the skills they need to
think like scientists in their pursuit of understanding.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 1)
5. All hands-on is not inquiry; all inquiry is not hands-on.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 34)
6. Inquiry teaching is not chaotic—it is a carefully choreographed activity.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 36)
7. In order for inquiry to be effective, a teacher must lay a foundation in which students
can begin to take more responsibility for their own learning.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 36)
8. Good science inquiry involves learning through direct interaction with materials and
phenomena.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 43)
9. Inquiry science requires student discussion with others—working cooperatively and
sharing ideas. In additional to these being important skills to learn, dialogue and
socially gathered and shared information is a powerful means toward building
individual conceptual understanding.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 48)
10. Scientists move back and forth among processes to refine their knowledge as the inquiry
unfolds. Inquiry is an artistic endeavor, and not the following of a recipe.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 61)
11. In the inquiry classroom, the teacher’s role becomes less involved with direct teaching
and more involved with modeling, guiding, facilitating, and continually assessing
student work. Teachers in inquiry classrooms must constantly adjust levels of
instruction to the information gathered by that assessment.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 82)
12. To use inquiry to answer a question, you have to become good at knowing what you
don’t know. I would argue that that’s exactly the opposite of what happens in schools.
Classrooms focus on what you do know (or are supposed to know) and leave you
unprepared to deal with the things you don’t know.
(Source: National Science Foundation. 1999. Inquiry: Thoughts, Views and Strategies for the K-5
Classroom. Foundations, Volume 2. Arlington, VA: Division of Elementary, Secondary, and
Information Education, National Science Foundation, p. 109)
13. Inquiry is a content different from other content. It’s not something to be studied for a
short time and then left behind. Inquiry has a meta-content character that demands its
presence while all the other content is being learned.
(Source: Wheeler, G.F 2000. The Three Faces of Inquiry. Inquiring into Inquiry Learning and
Teaching in Science. Ed: Minstrell, J. and E.H. van Zee. Washington, D.C.: American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), p.18)
14. To implement inquiry in the classroom, we see three crucial ingredients: (1) teachers
must understand precisely what scientific inquiry is; (2) they must have sufficient
understanding of the structure of the discipline itself; and (3) they must become skilled
in inquiry teaching techniques.
(Source: Bybee, R.W. 2000. Teaching Science as Inquiry. Inquiring into Inquiry Learning and
Teaching in Science. Ed: Minstrell, J. and E.H. van Zee. Washington, D.C.: American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), p.30)