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Inquiry means to freely investigate one's natural curiosity, questions, and ponderings on a matter. Inquiry-based education in my classroom includes using manipulatives and materials to explore concepts. For instance, magnetism involves working with several activiites that employ magnets and objects. Inquiry of this manner is generally done on an individual basis. Whole classroom inquiry involves much less hands-on experience and is grounded instead in mostly observation and discussion.

I would like to develop and offer a broader range of activities for children to have hands-on, self-directed inquiry based exposure to science concepts. I would like to explore the beneficial balance\threshold, for any given science concept, between unstructured (totally self-generated exploration) activities and structured (modelled exploration) activities.