Inquiry learning provides students with opportunities to build knowledge, abilities and inquiring habits of mind that lead to deeper understanding of their world and human experience. Inquiry is more than a simple instructional method. It is a philosophical approach to teaching and learning, grounded in constructivist research and methods, which engages students in investigations that lead to disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding.

Inquiry builds on students' inherent sense of curiosity and wonder, drawing on their diverse backgrounds, interests and experiences. The process provides opportunities for students to become active participants in a collaborative search for meaning and understanding.

Secondary students who are engaged in inquiry in science should be able to:

• identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.
• design and conduct scientific investigations.
• use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications.
• formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence.
• recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models.
• communicate and defend a scientific argument.

(NRC, 1996, pp. 175, 176)

An important part of any inquiry process is student reflection on their learning and the documentation needed to assess the learning and make it visible. Student documentation of the inquiry process in science may take the form of works-in-progress, reflective writing, journals, reports, notes, models, arts expressions, photographs, video footage or action plans.

Inquiry learning is not a step-by-step process, but rather a cyclical process, with various phases of the process being revisited and rethought as a result of students' discoveries, insights and construction of new knowledge. Experienced inquirers will move back and forth among various phases as new questions arise and as students become more comfortable with the process. The following graphic shows various phases of the cyclical inquiry process.

Inquiry focuses on the development of questions to initiate and guide the learning process. Students and teachers formulate questions to motivate inquiries into topics, problems and issues related to curriculum content and outcomes.

Well-formulated inquiry questions are broad in scope and rich in possibilities. Such questions encourage students to explore, observe, gather information, plan, analyze, interpret, synthesize, problem solve, take risks, create, conclude, document, reflect on learning and develop new questions for further inquiry.

In science, teachers and students can use the four learning contexts of Scientific Inquiry, Technological Problem Solving, STSE Decision Making, and Cultural Perspectives (see Learning Contexts section of this document for further information) as curriculum entry points to begin their inquiry. The process may evolve into interdisciplinary learning opportunities reflective of the holistic nature of our lives and interdependent global environment. 

Developing questions evoked by student interests has the potential for rich and deep learning. These questions are used to initiate and guide the inquiry and give students direction for investigating topics, problems, ideas, challenges or issues under study. 

The process of constructing questions for deep understanding can help students grasp the important disciplinary or interdisciplinary ideas that are situated at the core of a particular curricular focus or context. These broad questions lead to more specific questions that can provide a framework, purpose and direction for the learning activities in a lesson, or series of lessons, and help students connect what they are learning to their experiences and life beyond school.

Questions give students some initial direction for uncovering the understandings associated with a unit of study. Questions can help students grasp the big disciplinary ideas surrounding a focus or context and related themes or topics. They provide a framework, purpose and direction for the learning activities in each unit and help students connect what they are learning to their experiences and life beyond the classroom. Questions also invite and encourage students to pose their own questions for deeper understanding.

Science challenges, which may include science fairs, science leagues, science olympics, olympiads or talent searches, are instructional methods suitable for students to undertake to achieve curricular outcomes. Teachers may incorporate science challenge activities as an integral component of the science program or treat them similar to other extracurricular activities such as school sports and clubs. Teachers undertaking science challenges as a classroom activity should consider these guidelines, adapted from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) position statement Science Competitions (1999):

• Student and staff participation should be voluntary and open to all students.
• Emphasis should be placed on the learning experience rather than the competition.
• Science competitions should supplement and enhance other learning and support student achievement of curriculum outcomes.
• Projects and presentations should be the work of the student, with proper credit given to others for their contributions.
• Science competitions should foster partnerships among students, the school and the science community.

Science challenge activities may be conducted solely at the school level, or with the intent of preparing students for competition in one of the regional science fairs, perhaps as a step towards the Canada-Wide Science Fair. Although students may be motivated by prizes, awards and the possibility of scholarships, teachers should emphasize that the importance of doing a science fair project includes attaining new experiences and skills that go beyond science, technology or engineering. Students learn to present their ideas to an authentic public that may consist of parents, teachers and the top scientists in a given field.

Science fair projects typically consist of:

• an experiment, which is an original scientific experiment with a specific, original hypothesis. Students should control all important variables and demonstrate appropriate data collection and analysis techniques;
• a study, which involves the collection of data to reveal a pattern or correlation. Studies can include cause and effect relationships and theoretical investigations of the data. Studies are often carried out using surveys given to human subjects; or,
• an innovation, which deals with the creation and development of a new device, model, or technique in a technological field. These innovations may have commercial applications or be of benefit to humans.

Youth Science Canada provides further information regarding science fairs in Canada.