Inquiry Science For Kids: Tapping into Natural Curiosity

Inquiry science is all about curiosity and challenge.

Inquiry science in action.

You’re already familiar with inquiry science by more commonly known names. Curiosity being one and problem-solving being another. Where would humans be with either? Extinct probably.

Over the course of human history, everything we discovered or invented came from a need to survive, to solve a problem, or from just plain curiosity. Humans are naturally curious. Look at the way an infant is so attentive to the environment around them. Their brains are literally like sponges trying to soak up everything.

So, for the first five or six years of life kids will try to understand as much as they can. And the questions that begin with “why?” or explanations that elicit a “Why?” from the kid can drive most adults a little crazy.

Then something “magical” happens. They go to kindergarten where they are taught to conform to “sit down”, “raise your hand”, and “don’t talk”. By the time the kids get to late elementary school, early middle school, and definitely by the time they hit high school, that curiosity, for the most part, is either destroyed or buried by conformity.

Scientific inquiry by any other name.

All of the great scientific thinkers have one thing in common. They let their curiosity lead them to the great discoveries they made.

Consider, for example, the most common piece of lab equipment you find in a biology classroom—the microscope. Robert Hooke, the discoverer of the cell, developed the first microscope. But Anton van Leeuwenhoek took it and asked what would happen if he added another lens. By experimenting with lenses, Leeuwenhoek gave us the compound light microscope.

Educators would say that Leeuwenhoek used inquiry science. Most of the rest of us would say he solved a problem.

On the other hand, look at the accidental discovery of the x-ray by Wilhelm Roentgen. He didn’t use inquiry science. He used accidental science. Roentgen was studying the properties of certain kinds of light generated from specially built light sources. Reaching across a light source one night, his hand passed through the light beam and a picture of his hand appeared on a photographic plate. He was looking at the bones in his hand! He had no idea what this light ray was so he called it the “x” ray.

The Twentieth Century and mass public education.

The problem with how we teach science versus how science really works is buried in 20th century American mass public education.
American public schools are factories in every sense of the word. There is no time, nor any inclination, to foster the spirit of true scientific discovery. Bureaucrats establish what science content is taught, and how it is taught.

That changed in the 1960s, when we were shocked awake by Sputnik and the reality that we’d fallen behind in science. Curriculums changed as we brought inquiry science into classrooms. The driving theory behind this method is that the kids discover for themselves and reach conclusions for themselves, rather than being told what they are supposed to know.

In a traditional setting, a student would sit through a lecture on a topic, do a prescribed lab on the topic to illustrate the principles, and then take a test on the topic. They may have been required to do a lab report or keep a lab notebook. They certainly would not present their findings to others since all the findings would be the same. There would be no follow-up on how the lab could be different.

The critical missing ingredient in this approach is how any of this relates to our daily lives. People will only do things, learn things, and buy things, when there is something in it for them. The traditional approach to science education misses that very important point.

Traditional versus inquiry science.

The traditional approach to teaching photosynthesis involves explaining the entire process. Maybe the structure of the green leaf is covered. Then an analysis of the photosynthesis reaction is covered which includes the light-dependent and light-independent reactions, and the Calvin cycle.

Maybe the kids do a lab on the rate of photosynthesis or leaf chromatography. The teacher then caps this off with a test, which invariably includes questions on the steps and enzymes involved in the Calvin cycle. Truly important things for everyone to know. (Yawn)

The inquiry approach takes the teacher out of the center and places the kid in it. The inquiry approach centers on a statement. With photosynthesis it could be something like: Prove photosynthesis occurs.

By actually doing something, the kid is involved in the process, not a spectator.

You as the parent ask your kid a question, and have him or her figure out how to test it and come up with an answer. Once your kid understands the system, you have him or her ask questions, then test those questions and find solutions.

Inquiry science allows your kid to expand on any topic, since it’s an open-ended process. Using the “how photosynthesis works” example, your child can then ask and answer the question of why a majority of the plants on earth are green.

Why inquiry science works.

This scientific process works because it captures the true essence of how science works in the real world. It encourages the kids to ask their own questions and seek the answers to those questions.

This method is ideal for the homeschooler because of its open-endedness. You can tailor inquiry activities directly to your child’s age and ability level.

What ScienceLessonsForKids.com does is provide inquiry science lessons. You tailor these to meet your specific needs and you kid’s desire to learn science.
Use the contact link above to let me know where your kid is and where you want him or her to be.
John Turano