Nurturing Inquiry: Real Science for the Elementary Classroom

By Charles R. Pearce

Book Overview

Every day children make astounding scientific discoveries. The playpen, sandbox, backyard, and playground are their laboratories. What, then, can we offer these young scientists who have spent their lifetimes acquiring knowledge through their own investigations? What experiences can we provide to enhance the growth of the scientist within each child? Charles Pearce found the answers and shares his discoveries in Nurturing Inquiry. The book offers a tour of Pearce's inquiry science classroom, where students are given daily opportunities to do what they do best: investigate, explore, and discover, using their own questions, curiosities, and interests.

Nurturing Inquiry provides all the information you need to incorporate inquiry into your curriculum. Part I is a detailed account of how Pearce prepares his classroom, his students, and himself for the introduction of inquiry. In Part II, Pearce explains how to sustain interest throughout the school year by giving students more and more ownership in their investigations both within and beyond the classroom. Part III includes ideas to help you meet the particular challenges of assessing inquiry and offers examples of various assessment instruments, including surveys, checklists, and dialogue journals.

Replete with practical ideas for materials, activities, and strategies, Nurturing Inquiry is the perfect resource for teachers looking to create a community of scientists in their classroom. But it is much more than a how-to manualit is also an inspiring look at the reflection, choices, and values that shape the practice of a highly successful teacher.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325001359
• ISBN13: 9780325001357
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.4" x 9.2"
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 5

Customer Reviews

Great guide

Before reading this, I was always told to do inquiry science in class, but never really told what it is or how to do it. This book gives a step by step of what one teacher did to include inquiry in the classroom and is a wonderful guide to direct any teacher into inquiry.

The best, most practical book on inquiry that I've read.

I'm a teacher who reads many books, but I'm finally writing my first review because every elementary teacher and middle school science teacher needs to know about this book. Charles Pearce describes how he uses inquiry periods, discovery boxes, the Kids' Inquiry Conference (KIC), and more to set up an inquiry-rich environment in this amazing book that definitely extends beyond the elementary age group! He also provides useful forms for tracking student inquiry. For anyone frustrated with the misuse of the word "inquiry" as a buzz word synonymous with "hands-on," this book describes true inquiry: students asking questions, designing investigations, and sharing their findings. I've used his strategies and done my own KIC with my 7th grade students. If you want to find out more about KIC, read his book written in collaboration with other teachers from the Elementary Science Integration Project (ESIP) called Beyond the Science Fair: Creating the Kids' Inquiry Conference. With the ESIP strategies, you'll see that science enhances literacy instruction and doesn't have to "take away time" from the "testable" subjects.

Solid educational methods and great practical advice

I just discovered this remarkable book and immediately decided to recommend it to all schools that invite me as a visiting author. My school visits are designed to promote inquiry-based science and cross-disciplinary learning, and this book provides a solid grounding in educational theory and a wealth of practical advice for both. Kids are natural scientists, and Mr. Pierce has never lost his childlike appreciation for the subject. This book makes clear why he won the President's Award for excellence in teaching science. I'd love to be a kid again so I could be in Mr. Pearce's class.

great ideas for teaching elementary science

Wow! This book is full of wonderful ideas for teaching elementary science. Don't expect the usual recipes for science experiments--instead, expect to find ways to empower your students to be scientists and to take the lead in their learning. Read about inquiry time, using an outdoor classroom, discovery boxes, and the amazing Kids' Inquiry Conference. A must-have for anyone who wants their students to research their own questions, design their own experiments, share their new understandings, and develop a genuine love of science.