What is scientific inquiry in school science?
Scientific inquiry is a multifaceted activity that involves making observations, posing questions, examining sources of information, planning investigations, reviewing others’ data, using tools to gather and analyze data, proposing explanations and predictions, and communicating the results of investigations (National Research Council, 2000). In short, inquiry is the process that scientists use to make empirical observations and develop evidence-based explanations of the natural world. A role of science teachers is to help students model this process in the classroom (National Research Council, 2000). The National Research Council describes five key features of inquiry-based instruction in science: Learners are engaged by scientifically oriented questions. Learners give priority to evidence, which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations that address scientifically oriented questions. Learners formulate explanations from evidence to address scientifically oriented questions. Le
