How do you set your students up for inquiry learning? There are a lot of resources available, but when it comes to science topics, it is often hard to know exactly where to start.

One good resource with lots of real-world, thought provoking questions is Predict, Observe and Explain from the NSTA press.  A sample of the forces and motion section of the book is available here.  

Another way to start is to get your students generating questions about their environment.  In fact, the First Nations Education Steering Committee has included in its Science First People’s resource a new learning cycle–the 7 E’s (which adds Environment and Elder to the previous 5 E’s of science learning). Take students for walks and stimulate their science thinking by asking thought provoking questions:

• Where is there evidence of heating and cooling?
• How is water travelling around our neighbourhood?
• Where do we see chemical reactions?
• Why did the leaves fall? What happens to them? What service do they provide to the ecosystem?
• Where is the sun in the sky today? How is that different than in September? Can we see the moon today? Why or why not?
• What is the impact of our school on the land?
• What is the impact of the land on our school?

Stay tuned to this blog and the staff development calendar–after the winter break, I will be holding some workshops focused around inquiry and the big ideas of elementary science.