Eight Essentials of Inquiry-Based Science, K-8

Are you both fascinated and baffled by inquiry-based science? Do you want to tap the strength of inquiry-based science to help your students build deeper understandings? Do you want to use inquiry-based science to foster high-quality instruction across the educational board? This guide provides clear and simple explanations for engaging students in meaningful and hands-on, minds-on ways of understanding science.

Eight Essentials of Inquiry-Based Science, K-8 breaks each essential into sample lessons that include sample data, discussion questions, and tools such as graphic organizers and analogies. Hammerman draws on more than 20 years experience in the fields of science instruction and professional development to address basic and complex principles related to inquiry, including:

• How to discuss data, information, models, graphics, and experiences
• How to interact with one another to strengthen knowledge and skills
• How to extend learning through guided or open-inquiry investigations and research
• How to apply new learning and research-based best practices for improving student achievement

When you harness the immense power of inquiry-based learning, you can fully discover the inquisitive nature of each of your students!

This guide provides clear and simple explanations for engaging students in meaningful and hands-on, minds-on ways of understanding science.

Elizabeth Hammerman is a dedicated science educator and consultant. Her professional background includes teaching science at the middle school and high school levels and over 20 years of experience teaching university science education courses and co-directing funded grant projects. She has done extensive professional development with teachers in the field, specializing in curriculum development and implementation, performance assessment, and effective teaching and learning. The need for high-quality professional development programs and materials in science education became apparent throughout the many projects and professional relationships with teachers who were eager to increase their knowledge base, skills, and confidence for teaching science more effectively.

Hammerman has co-authored a book on performance assessment in science and authored a database of science assessment tasks. She has published articles, presented programs at national conferences, consulted nationally, and developed curriculum and assessments for cutting-edge school districts and commercial products.

Since relocating to North Carolina in 1999, Hammerman has been a math/science consultant for a consortium of seven county school systems, has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in teacher education and science education, served as director of education and professional development for Virtual Learning Systems, and worked as a consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. She is actively involved in professional development and continues to work on a series of professional development books for science education for Corwin Press.