Invitations to Science Inquiry

Book excerpt: This fascinating book is dedicated "to those teachers who want to put some excitement in their teaching," & the infectious enthusiasm of its author, a leading educator of science teachers, is evident on every page. Specifically designed & written for elementary, junior high, & senior high science teachers, "Invitations to Science Inquiry" is a collection of 411 carefully selected & tested "discrepant events." Discrepant events are surprising, counterintuitive, & paradoxical phenomena. Liem's discrepant events are simple & ingenious demonstrations for the teacher & activities for the student that can initiate or reinforce the teaching & learning of a wide range of scientific concepts. The book, is broad in scope, covering such topics as the environment, the properties of air, factors influencing the weather, characteristics of matter, the behavior of chemicals in our daily lives, energy, static & current electricity, the properties of sound & light, space & living things. Each event is self-contained on its own page & includes a list of materials, a lucid step-by-step procedure, a series of provocative questions, an explanation, & in one or more clear sketches. A 19-page introduction deals in great detail with the psychological background of the successful science teacher, & a useful 7-page index concludes this highly recommended volume.