ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the importance of structuring inquiry-based science activities so that students are actively involved in investigations that challenge their curiosity, encourage them to ask questions, explores possible solutions, uses evidence to help explain different phenomena, and understands how to engage in argumentative discourse. The evidence for inquiry-based science being able to motivate students’ interest in science, and, in turn, enhance their approach to learning science is fairly consistent. The teachers perceived that cooperative learning acted as a driver for the inquiry, allowing students to exercise responsibility for what the group learned and to think outside the box when needed. J. Krajcik and L. Sutherland have identified five instructional and curricula features that can support students in developing scientific literacy. Constructing explanations and arguments are essential components of scientific discourse, and it is critically important that students have opportunities to use these ways of talking to illustrate how they reasoned from the evidence that was available to them.
