Teachers in inquiry
classrooms take on the role of a coach and model the learning process for students. Students are
responsible for naming the scientific question under investigation, designing investigations to
research their question, and interpreting findings from investigations. In this classroom,
students may be working on different research questions, or may be at different phases in the
research cycle. Students in inquiry classrooms are self-directed learners and there is not one
official authority of knowledge in the classroom.
Sandoval and Millwood (2007) described an inquiry-based unit on plants and adaptation in