This study examined the effects of using creative drama as an extension within a
well-known and widely used inquiry curricula, FOSSTM Physics of Sound and Solar
Energy. Learning outcomes support the use of creative drama as an effective
strategy when appropriately implemented and integrated within the FOSSTM
materials. The study’s data analysis showed significant main effects for grade level
and time. Students in fourth grade had a significantly greater learning outcome than
students in fifth grade. This may be explained by the greater difficulty of the
concepts and skills required in the solar energy curriculum used in fifth grade. Also,
students in all grades significantly increased their learning over time in this study.
This is likely due to the nature of strong inquiry-based curricula used. Most
importantly for this study’s intent, there was also a significant increase in learning
over time for the drama treatment classes over the non-drama classes.