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Seeing the world through a scientist’s eyes

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  • Curriculum more

    Curriculum

    • Grade 3
    • Grade 4
    • Grade 5

    The Inquiry Project takes a unique approach to a study of matter for grades 3-5, bringing together core ideas, scientific practices, and crosscutting concepts...

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    Articles

    • Five Great Reasons for Inquiry
    • What do kids do?
    • Does it have to take three years?
    • Why math in a science curriculum?
    • Do students learn to make graphs?
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  • Assessment more

    Assessment Resources

    Concept Cartoons

    Student Notebooks

    Talk Science Checklist

    Assessment Opportunities

    Assessment for learning, also called formative assessment, is central to The Inquiry Project and provides the means to identify and chart the development of students' scientific ideas as well as to identify obstacles they encounter in their learning.

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    Formative Assessment Cycle

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  • PD for Teachers more

    Implementation
    Workshops

     
     
     

    Onsite Implementation Workshops are grade-specific and designed for teachers new to the Inquiry Project curriculum. These workshops help teachers to become familiar with ...

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    Talk Science PD

     
     
     

    Talk Science PD is a blend of web-based study, opportunities to try ideas in the classroom, and face-to-face study group meetings designed to help teachers ...

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    Notes

    for Teachers

    for School and District Leaders

    for PD Providers

    Library of Resources

  • Research more

    Inquiry Project Research

    The Inquiry Project research investigates students' developing concepts of material, weight, volume density, matter, and states of matter from ages 8-11.

    • Overview
    • Methods
    • Impact

    Talk Science Research

    The Talk Science research investigates how teachers develop their capacity at leading productive science discussions to foster students’ scientific reasoning.

    • Overview
    • Methods
    • Impact
  • About more

    About

    the Inquiry Project

    The Inquiry Project establishes a foundation for developing students’ ideas about matter, a core idea in science. The project is founded on a learning progression for matter and material and brings together research, curriculum, assessment, and profession development.

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    About

    Talk Science

    Talk Science is scalable, web-based professional development to deepen students' scinece understanding through better science discussions. The project project provides a “PD Pathway” to help teachers...

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    About Us

    • Terms of Use
    • Presentations and Reports
    • Contact Us
    Who are we?
    • Inquiry Project Team
    • Talk Science Team

In Professional Development:

  • Talk Science
  • Implementation Workshops
    • Grade 3
    • Grade 4
    • Grade 5
  • Notes
  • Library of Resources

Curriculum Intro

Screenshot from Video Introduction to the Inquiry Curriculum Video Intro to Curriculum

Video Intro to Curriculum

Watch the Video Introduction to the Inquiry Curriculum

Website Tour - Grade 5

Screenshot from the Grade 5 Website Tour Grade 5 Website Tour

Website Tour
Grade 5

Watch the Grade 5 Inquiry Project Website Tour

Grade 5 Implementation Workshop

Implementation Workshop Guide

The Implementation Workshop Guide (pdf) will help you get ready to lead an Implementation Workshop for the Grade 5 Inquiry curriculum.

Teacher Handouts

The Teacher Handout Packet (pdf) includes:

  • Science Concepts Grades 3-5 Chart
  • Directions for Making the Mini-lake and Recording Measurements (pdf)
  • Mini-lakes: A Long-term Investigation
  • Data Table: Weight of Mini-lakes (pdf) - Student Notebook, pg 5
  • Weight of Mini-lakes Over Time Graph (pdf) - Student Notebook, pg 4
  • Student Sample Mini-lake Graphs (pdf)

Additional Resource

Interactive Weight and Volume Chart from Investigation 3


National Science Foundation

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Terc Tufts

The Inquiry Project: Seeing the world through a scientist’s eyes

Research | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Teacher Resources | Assessment | Professional Development | About

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Standards

Alignment with the NRC Science Framework and NGSS

Supported by the National Science Foundation, grant #0918435A.
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