Inquiry-Based Science Activities in Grades 6-12

Dr. Patrick Brown, PhD is the STEM coordinator for the Fort Zumwalt School District in O’Fallon, Missouri.Dr. James Concannon, PhD is a science teacher educator at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.

• ContentsMeet the AuthorsIntroduction Chapter 1: What are the features of evidence-driven inquiry? Chapter 2: Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)Chapter 3: How Thin Is Tin Foil? Chapter 4: An Interdisciplinary ThemeChapter 5: Students’ Use of the PSOE Model to Understand Weather and ClimateChapter 6: Teaching Bernoulli’s Principle through DemosChapter 7: Gravity Is Easy to Understand, Right? The Difference between Calculating and ComprehendingChapter 8: Students Investigations in Temperature and Pressure Chapter 9: 2-Liter Bottles and Botanical Gardens: Using Inquiry to Learn EcologyChapter 10: Students Conceptualizing Transcription and Translation from a Cellular PerspectiveChapter 11: Are You Teaching Your Students about Stem Cells? Chapter 12: Transforming Osmosis: Labs to Address Standards for InquiryChapter 13: Lessons Learned

"This resource is an informative, thought-provoking read, and it’s essential for anyone serious about understanding the science education research that supports the NGSS." —Victoria May, Assistant Dean of Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis"I like the way Brown and Concannon articulate the importance and usefulness of evidence-based inquiry for teachers and students. Their emphasis on 'understanding from experiences' is refreshingly reminiscent of John Dewey and the need to not only have a child’s experience at the center of our teaching but to also showcase the importance of 'Science as method' not just as subject matter. This book is very useful for teachers as they work to engage learners in science by 'providing students with immediate experiences to form accurate understandings'."—Robert W. Blake, Jr. Professor and Chair, Towson University