The Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry

Useful links:

Chapter 1 from Science for All Americans published by AAAS's Project 2061 focuses on the Nature of Science

Here is NSTA's position statement on the nature of science

A whole issue of The Science Teacher was dedicated to the History and Nature of Science (November, 2004). Click here to view the table of contents of that issue. The LHUP Library now provides access to The Science Teacher through the LHUP Journal Finder.

Introducing Inquiry and the Nature of Science This activity (the Cubes Activity) introduces basic procedures involved in inquiry and concepts describing the nature of science. Itcomes from a teachers' resource entitiled Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science. It provides answers to frequently asked questions about evolution and the nature of science and offers guidance on how to analyze and select teaching materials.

Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards A practical guide for teachers, professional developers, administrators, and others who wish to respond to the National Science Education Standards call for an increased emphasis on inquiry.

Here is a website of lesson plans for teaching about the nature of science from Berkley's Understanding Evolution for Teachers site. You need to scroll to the bottom of the page to access the list of lesson plans.

Here is a collection of lesson plans related to the nature of science from Indiana's Evolution and the Nature if Science Institutes.

Here are some lesson plans from The Bakken Library and Museum for teaching history and nature of science. Lesson are available here for elementary, middle, and high school students.

Project ICAN is a project whose goal is to help teachers incorporate instruction to promote student understanding of scientific inquiry and nature of science into the classroom, There are numerous resources for teachers at this site including lesson plans for teaching about the Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry.

A list of Necessary Conditions for Scientific Explanations

A list of Abilities of and Understandings about Scientific Inquiry as stated in the National Science Education Standards