Inquiry labs in the science classroom help students make connections and discover scientific relationships for themselves. This article describes an inquiry-based laboratory in which students explore the properties of a pendulum. This activity illustrates basic physical science concepts such as forces in motion and physics. In addition, it gives students the chance to play with things, in keeping with the important suggestion made in the National Science Education Standards that there should be less emphasis on activities that “demonstrate and verify science content” and more on those that “investigate and analyze science questions” (NRC 1996).