Starting to teach science through inquiry can be intimidating for teachers who don’t have much experience with it. Some concerns about teaching science through inquiry often come from misunderstandings of what science entails (Authors et al., 2015). Yet, when students are taught through inquiry, they are often more engaged, curious, and learn more about science (Minner et al., 2010; von Renesse & Ecke, 2017). This article provides an example of how we started incorporating more aspects of teaching science through inquiry by having students engage in argumentation that some changes caused by heating and cooling can be reversed and some cannot (2-PS1-4) (NGSS Lead States, 2013). In this sense, we are warming up to inquiry by startin with a more guided process. Throughout the article, we work to strike a balance between student decision-making and teacher scaffolding by using a 5E.

Science learning that is connected with students’ experiences and interests has shown to be critical in fostering student enthusiasm for science and may be linked to later educational and career choices. Teachers, however, often feel pressure to teach curriculum quickly, without depth, disregarding student interests and experiences. Desiring a richer experience for our students, we re-evaluated our curriculum to make room for a year-long student-driven passion project that would allow our students choice in their learning and afford them the opportunity to dive deep into a topic of their interest. In this article, we share how we promoted students’ wonder about the world, structuring weekly sessions to help them identify and narrow down their “jams.” We explain how we promoted development of cross-curricular skills as they learned about, then communicated their passions. From our Friday “jam sessions” to our spring Jamboree, students were thoroughly engaged in finding, researching and sharing their passions. The reception to this project has been so positive and student engagement extraordinary. We can’t imagine a year without “jammin’” with our students. Through authentic choice, students had control over their own learning, which proved to be a strong motivator for all!

In a Community School located in a First Nation in Northern Ontario, grade 3 students draw on their connection with the land and their own background knowledge through a Land-Exploration-Based Approach to learn about structures and their functions. This method allowed students to become primary investigators in their own learning. In preparation for a summative engineering task, students first engaged in various activities to promote both cultural and scientific understanding. An outdoor Snowshoe Discovery Walk provided the opportunity for students to independently identify various structures found in nature along with the co-creation of working classroom definitions. A comparison of natural and human-built structures found in their surroundings was implemented to further develop foundational learning. In the classroom, students engaged in learning about and constructing beaver dams to cultivate essential engineering and design skills. The culminating activity was introduced through the integration of Indigenous stories to foster cultural relevance in students as they partook in designing and testing an animal shelter of their choosing. This holistic approach to teaching effectively engaged students, promoted curiosity, and built on their knowledge of structures and functions all while developing collaboration and problem-solving skills. Next steps are directed at solution improvement in the design process.

How are exploring snowy spaces, starring in children's books, and making science discoveries inextricably linked? Access to and representation in all three of these experiences have historically been inequitable. In this 5E lesson, we address these realities and students' real-life experiences to prepare demographically diverse pre-service elementary teachers to teach science in culturally inclusive ways through 3-dimensional learning about phase change that integrates English Language Arts in the context of Snowy Day, though the bulk of instruction described in the article is equally suitable for facilitation with second grade students as well.

All students deserve access to field-based learning experiences where they can conduct investigations and collect data to answer their questions about the world. These opportunities are particularly important in the context of complex climate-related water issues that will increasingly dominate their futures. Unfortunately, these experiences are rare in Title 1 New Orleans schools due to a number of constraining factors that include time, money, administrative support, and experience. We designed the Puddles to Floods Summer Science Institute to remove these barriers by structuring the program as a 4-week summer school and teacher professional development intensive. We scaffolded field-based investigations to give teachers and their third and fourth grade students multiple opportunities to explore the phenomenon at the heart of the unit: Why did the same amount of rainfall cause their urban schoolyard to flood but not a more natural setting nearby? The program supported students in developing sophisticated and transferable understandings of the causes of flooding, an issue of central relevance to their lives in New Orleans, where urban stormwater flooding shapes daily life. By the end of the program, students identified as scientists and problem solvers who were capable of driving their own learning in the classroom and beyond.