Planning

Planning for inquiry-based science teaching is multi-faceted.  Teachers must consider not only the content they hope students will learn and how they will assess it, but also the processes students will engage in to acquire new insights, knowledge, and understandings.  In an effort to support LeTaS! teachers as they reconstructed and reconsidered their science instruction the following guides were developed:

• Planning for Inquiry-Based Science
• Science Planning Template
• Guide to Writing Inquiry-Based Unit Plans

These documents were helpful to teachers as they utilized available resources (e.g., state-adopted science textbooks, science activity kits, NSF materials) to create inquiry-based lessons and units that were aligned with required grade level standards.  As one P.K. Yonge LeTaS! first grade teacher always says, “You begin by turning what you have into a question.”