Traditional American education methods present facts that the student needs to memorize and then regurgitate for a test. If the student memorizes all the terms and keeps them in memory for at least as long as the length of the exam, we say the student has “learned” the material.
The problem with memorization is that once students have these facts floating around their heads, they will not stay there for long unless they are tied together in some fashion. Those facts need to be used to bring understanding to a greater concept. Higher order thinking needs to take place to really learn.
Instead of memorization based learning, inquiry-based learning can be used to develop higher order thinking skills while still learning those all important facts.
What Is Inquiry-Based Learning?
Inquiry-based learning starts with questions. Instead of just presenting fact after fact and then trying to tie them together some how, inquiry-based learning starts how any curious pursuit starts – with a question. That question serves as the base to which all information is added in order to find an answer.
So, instead of being presented with a bunch of facts and having to figure out how they relate to each other, students are presented with or come up with their own questions or inquiries and then have to search out supporting facts through research, observation, or experimentation.
Why Is Inquiry-Based Learning Important When Studying Science?
The memorization approach has scared away more potential scientists and science fans than I care to think about. Boring textbooks full of unpronounceable terms shoved down students’ throats like sour lemons is the picture I get of many science classrooms. That’s not what science is at all.
Science is inquiry. It is asking questions, observing, researching, and experimenting. It’s what kids and curious people do all the time. When people question and test and observe, they are learning, not just memorizing.
If we can show students the exciting, inquiry side of science, instead of the boring big word side, they would understand, appreciate, and just might even love science!
Where Can I Find Inquiry-Based Science Curriculum?
One of the best parts of my job here at The Homeschool Scientist is getting to review science curriculum and resources to share with you. I was recently sent a copy of By Design Science to review. (disclosure: I was given the curriculum for free and paid to review and present my unbiased opinion.) I was intrigued by their claim to be inquiry based.
I decided to review By Design Science for 8th grade with my daughter. She is a pretty good judge of curriculum herself. The first thing she noticed was that instead of lesson titles, this curriculum used questions.
These questions served as the starting point of our journey into different topics. My daughter and I discussed how all each topic related to the question given at the beginning of the lesson. Circling back to link concepts helped her understand not just memorize.
Questions are used throughout By Design Science from the structured inquiries which allow for hands-on experimentation and observation to the concept checks that do not just ask for definitions, they ask the why and how of concepts.
By Design Science is a great example of inquiry-based science that promotes and develops higher-level thinking. It also makes science fun and easy to understand. My daughter, who loves her science curriculum, even asked to do more lessons with By Design Science.
By Design Science is available for K-8th grade, homeschool and traditional school. Textbooks and student journals make up the core of the curriculum. Science kits with all the supplies you need for experiments are available, too.
Kendall Hunt also provides faith-based programs in Reading Language Art called (Pathways) and a New Kindergarten program (Stepping Stones). In addition, Kendall Hunt offers Talented and Gifted programs in mathematics (M2 and M3) as well as products developed in collaboration with the CFGE (Center for Gifted Education) College of William and Mary in subject areas such as language arts, social studies, and science.