Planning and Managing for an Inquiry Based Lesson

Chapters 3 & 4

In chapters three and four of our text, it helps prepare future teachers to teach and inquiry based lesson. Chapter 3 focuses on what an inquiry lesson consists of, and chapter 4 helps teach methods of planning and managing for an inquiry lesson. 

Inquiry is...

"The careful and systematic method of asking questions and seeking explanations" (p. 38)


In our inquiry lesson, students were asked a question "How did the fire begin in the house?" they then had to "seek explanations" by conducting research to come to a final solution of how the fire occurred. Once the research concluded and students found their answers, they presented their information using FlipGrid and wrote a letter to conclude the project about how they could help save the environment.

With an inquiry lesson, students learn by constructing knowledge through asking questions, seeking evidence, and justifying their explanations.  

Practices that should be followed are asking questions and defining information, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking, constructing explanations (science) and designing solutions (engineering), and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. 

When children use inquiry, they develop skills such as: observing, using space/ time relationships, using numbers, questioning, classifying, measuring, and communicating. 

Implementing inquiry based instruction is discussed in chapter 4. The chapter begins by discussing a unit plan, and the components that make up a unit plan. For a good science unit plan, the book suggests teachers use textbooks as resources and science kits (if the school supplies them). 

Components that make up a unit plan:

A unit plan consists of a series of lesson plans. To create a good unit plan, it must start with good lesson plans. A good lesson plan consists of six elements: 
1. Content to be Taught
2. Identify Misconceptions Commonly Held about the Core Idea
3. Performance Objectives
4. Concept Develop (5E's)
5. Evaluation 
6. Accommodations 

 After reviewing chapters 3 and 4 in the text, and actually giving an inquiry lesson I have become much more confident in creating science inquiry lessons, as well as direct lesson plans and unit plans. I feel my knowledge of creating a beneficial lesson plan and performing it has excelled over the course of the semester. 

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