Explore These Inquiry-Based Learning Topics With Your Class

Once your class has worked through one or two inquiry-based learning projects, it gets easier to picture the process working with almost any topic. If you have already explored our posts on any subject area, insects, weather, animals, or dinosaurs, here are six more topics worth adding to your rotation.

Each of these follows the same 5-step process from our guide to teaching inquiry-based learning: pose a question, conduct research, interpret the information, share the learning, and assess the process.

Farm Animals

Farm animals give students a topic that feels familiar even if they have never set foot on a farm, since picture books and media expose most kids to farm life early on.

Sample questions to try: What does this farm animal eat? How does this animal help farmers? What sounds does this animal make, and why?

Our Farm Animal Inquiry-Based Learning Project includes sample inquiry questions and the full set of templates to run this unit start to finish.

Oceans

Oceans open the door to some of the biggest "I wonder" questions in a young student's world, from what lives in the deepest parts of the ocean to how big a blue whale really is.

Sample questions to try: What is the biggest animal in the ocean? How deep is the ocean? What lives at the bottom of the ocean?

Our Ocean Inquiry-Based Learning Project gives students a structured way to dive into these questions with age-appropriate research support.

Plants

Plants work especially well paired with a spring science unit, and the topic lends itself to hands-on extensions like a classroom seed-growing observation alongside the research.

Sample questions to try: What does a plant need to grow? Why do some plants have thorns or bright colors? How do seeds travel?

Our Plant Inquiry-Based Learning Project walks students through the full inquiry process with plant-specific questions and templates.

Magnets

Magnets are a favorite for classrooms that want to pair inquiry with a simple hands-on science experiment, since students can test their questions directly instead of relying only on books.

Sample questions to try: What materials do magnets attract? Why do magnets stick to some things and not others? How strong can a magnet be?

Our Magnet Inquiry-Based Learning Project includes everything needed to guide students through researching, and if you have magnets on hand, testing their own questions.

Sports

Sports is an easy topic to connect to student interest, since many students already follow a favorite sport, player, or team outside of school.

Sample questions to try: What rules make this sport fair? How did this sport start? What skills does an athlete need to play this sport well?

Our Sports Inquiry-Based Learning Project comes with sample inquiry questions ready to use with your class.

Illness and Disease

Illness and disease is a more sensitive topic, but it can be a genuinely valuable one, especially for building health literacy and helping students understand their own bodies.

Sample questions to try: How does this illness spread? What helps a person get better? Why do doctors recommend certain habits to stay healthy?

Our Illness and Disease Inquiry-Based Learning Project is designed with this age group in mind, and works well alongside a health unit.

Choosing the Right Topic for Your Class

The right topic for your class often depends on what pairs naturally with your current unit, and what your students are already curious about.

If you are not sure where to start, ask your class directly. A quick class discussion about what they wonder about often reveals which of these topics will get the strongest response.

Explore the Full Collection

Between this post and our posts on any subject area, insects, weather, animals, and dinosaurs, you now have eleven inquiry-based learning topics to choose from. For the full breakdown of the five-step process behind every one of them, visit our guide to teaching inquiry-based learning.

Not ready to commit to a full resource yet? Grab our free Inquiry-Based Learning Starter Kit to try the process with your class first. And for strategies to support non-writers, reluctant writers, EAL students, and more during any of these projects, see our guide to differentiating inquiry-based learning.