Choice, another factor shown by Palmer (2009) to be associated with interest in inquiry activities, was not found to be a significant predictor of interest in school science in our study. Palmer (2009) suggests that ‘the actual source of interest was probably not choice alone, but choice in combination with other factors such as their level of background knowledge and the opportunity to experience novelty’ (p. 160). Since students in grade 4 have little experience carrying out experiments in school, virtually any experiment they do is likely to be a novel occurrence that would arouse interest. This is evidenced by the fact that hardly any student could think of an experiment they did not like. This may also explain why ‘students investigate own problems’ was not a significant predictor of interest in school science. Thus, choice may not be as important to students at this level as virtually any activity they do, whether chosen by them or by their teacher, will be a new experience.