So, What is this Constructivist Science? A lot of us, when we think of inquiry based science think of those darn trays of stuff we have to set up the night before class, or knowing that Wa-Wa and Wal-Mart are your one stop Science shopping stores, and frequenting them often…
It’s also six different teams all using the same directions finding six different ways to do the same experiment; It’s kids out of their seats; It’s looking for the two lost pairs of scissors; It’s cleaning the dead fish out of the aquarium; It’s wondering how in the world they got glue there…
It’s the fear of being asked a question you might not know the answer to…
It’s giving up some of the control in your classroom… 
But it’s also students taking responsibility for their own education….Students finding new answers based on their own experiences and attitudes. It’s a chance to believe in your students…A chance to respect your students….
An opportunity to prove to your students that you believe they’re capable and competent…A chance for them to respect and believe in you.
Science in its pure essence, especially constructivist science, is teaching student how to think. It offers students a plan to study and solve any problem in any set of circumstances in any realm of their life.
Define the problem, create a hypothesis, come up with a plan, test and analyze the plan. Whether the problem is what makes things float or what is a noun…It always works the same way.
Science allows Students the opportunity to take a stand based on their own experiences…It says to them that their experiences, their opinions, and therefore ultimately they themselves are important. And in the long run that’s what they really want… to be important.
So the next time you walk into your classroom resist the urge to tell your students the “right” answers. When you see a student obviously going in the wrong direction, ask that student a question that will show him why he is off track. Let him find his own answer based on facts he has collected himself. 
Pretty soon you’ll see the same thing I see in my classroom every day…the sense of pride and ownership this process produces in your students. That look of pride and self-satisfaction that says maybe I am smarter and more capable than I thought I was. And it’s right at that point in time… when you see that light in their eyes… that you will realize that you have changed the world for the better. That’s the joy of teaching. We get to change the world one student at a time… each and every time we get them to think.
