Welcome to Foundations of Inquiry Science – Year 1 
This project is designed to teach the foundations of science from the ground up through an inquiry-based approach, for free! It is inspired by Bernard Nebel's Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

I recommend that all learners, regardless of age, begin at the very beginning and work through the lessons at a pace that allows them to understand and retain the concepts. The curriculum is designed to spiral, revisiting ideas while building deeper understanding.

Although the curriculum is organized into Years 1, 2, and 3, those labels are primarily intended for families beginning with young learners. There is also an accelerated schedule that combines the content from Years 1–3 into a single 30-week school year, allowing older students to build a strong scientific foundation without spending multiple years on introductory material.

Because each lesson builds on previous ones, I strongly recommend not skipping lessons. Missing a foundational concept can make later topics much more difficult to understand.

Many of the slideshows are narrated (I'm gradually adding narration to all of them!), but I don't recommend simply putting learners in front of the videos and walking away. This approach works best when it's interactive. Ask questions, encourage discussion, and help learners connect what they're learning to the world around them. For example, after a lesson about energy, point out examples of energy transformations in everyday life. These conversations reinforce learning and help the concepts stick.

I also highly recommend having a copy of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) alongside this curriculum. While the lessons are designed to stand on their own, BFSU is an incredible resource for parents and educators who want a deeper explanation of the science or ideas for extending learning.

We will open up registration for the fall class by July! 

If you'd like to contribute to the creation of these resources, feel free to help, "Buy Me a Book"
Copyright Notice
All course materials including presentations and worksheets are original works created by Selene at Rabbit Hole Learning LLC. All rights reserved.
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Live Classes Fall 2026 Foundations of Inquiry Science – Standard Pace

Semester 1
Lessons 1-15
Wednesdays | 2:00 PM ET

Semester 2
Lessons 16-30
Thursday | 1:00 PM ET


Tuition: $150 per family for the full 15-week semester. Siblings are welcome to participate at no additional cost.

No class the week of November 25 or December 23.

Foundations of Inquiry Science – Accelerated Pace

Semester 1
Lessons 1-37
Mondays & Wednesdays | 3:00–4:00 PM ET

Semester 2
Lessons 38-90
Tuesdays & Thursdays | 2:00–3:00 PM ET

Tuition: $250 per family for the full, twice a week 15-week semester. Siblings are welcome to participate at no additional cost.

No class the week of November 25 or December 23.
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Get Started

Getting Started

Welcome to Foundations of Inquiry Science – Semester 1

Through hands-on discovery, observation, and careful reasoning, learners build a...

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Extra

Baloney Detection Kit

Want to learn about detecting fallacies?

Book Recommendation:

There's a Dragon in my Garage
...

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Lesson 1

Organizing Things into Categories

Learners discover that sorting things into categories is a skill they already use every day. This foundational thinking skill underlies...

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Lesson ​2

Solids, Liquids, and Gases Introduction

Everything around us exists as a solid, liquid, or gas. Learners sort familiar objects and materials into one of these three states of...

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Lesson ​3

Gravity Introduction

Learners discover what gravity is, explore why it never turns off, and connect it to the ideas of horizontal and vertical. Hands-on...

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Lesson ​4

States of Matter: Changes with Temperature

Learners observe how many materials, especially water, shift between solid, liquid, and gas states as temperature changes. They finish...

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Lesson ​5

Orbits and Gravity in Space

Learners connect gravity to orbits and discover why orbiting objects are in a constant state of free fall. They also explore why weight...

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Lesson ​6

What is Energy?

Everything moves, heats up, or lights up because of energy. Learners identify the different forms of energy and discover that all of them...

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Lesson ​7

Air is Real

Through hands-on experiments, students show that air takes up space and has weight, just like solids and liquids, proving that it is a...

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Lesson ​8

Energy Transformation

Learners explore how energy never disappears but constantly changes form, and how it always moves from where there is more toward where...

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Lesson ​9

Air and the Atmosphere

Learners connect what they know about air to the bigger picture of Earth's atmosphere, and are introduced to the four systems that make...

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Lesson ​10

Is it Alive?

Students sort a collection of living and nonliving things into three categories: biological, natural Earth, and human-made. The focus is...

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Lesson 11

Matter is Made of Particles

Through hands-on activities, students reason their way to the discovery that all matter is made of particles too small to see. They also...

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Lesson 12

Light and Shadows

Learners explore light as a form of energy, discover why shadows form and change, and find out that almost everything they see is...

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Lesson 13

Changes in Particles with States of Matter

Learners use the particulate nature of matter to explain why solids, liquids, and gases behave so differently. The key is not just...

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Lesson 14

Technology, Tools, and the Engineering Process

Students learn what technology really means, explore how some animals use and even pass down tools, discover the engineering design...

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Lesson 15

Reversible and Nonreversible Changes

Learners distinguish between changes that can be undone, like water freezing and thawing, and changes that cannot, like burning. The key...

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Lesson 16

Sound and Vibrations

Learners begin their exploration of sound by discovering its most fundamental truth: every sound in the universe starts with vibration....

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Lesson 17

Kinetic and Potential Energy

Learners discover that energy is not mysterious or invisible in the way we might imagine. Through hands-on demos with rubber bands,...

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Lesson 18

How Sound and Light Travel in Waves

Building directly on Lesson 16, learners investigate what actually happens when sound leaves its source and travels to a listener....

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Lesson 19

Plants vs. Animals

Learners explore the two major kingdoms of life and discover that the division between plants and animals is not about appearance or...

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Lesson 20

Energy in the Natural World

Building directly on Lesson 17, learners connect the principles of kinetic and potential energy to all living things. Starting with the...

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Lesson 21

Categories of Materials

Learners discover that the enormous variety of objects in the human-made world can be sorted into just eight basic material categories....

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Lesson 22

Weather and the Water Cycle

Learners explore weather as a natural phenomenon that changes from day to day and varies by season and location. Students observe and...

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Lesson 23

Properties of Different Materials

Building on Lesson 21, learners investigate how scientists identify and describe materials using observable and testable properties....

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Lesson 24

The Life Cycle Concept

Learners are introduced to one of biology's most fundamental organizing ideas: every living thing follows a life cycle, a predictable...

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Lesson 25

Understanding Force

Learners investigate one of physics' most fundamental concepts: force. Students discover that force is the strength of any push or pull...

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Lesson 26

Metamorphosis and Life Cycles

Building on the life cycle concept introduced in Lesson 24, learners investigate the remarkable variety of ways different organisms...

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Lesson 27

How Force and Energy Work Together

Building directly on Lesson 25, learners discover how force and energy are connected, but not the same thing. The lesson establishes...

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Lesson 28

Animal Adaptations and Diet

Learners investigate how animals' physical features reveal what they eat and how they survive. Students examine teeth, beaks, claws, and...

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Lesson 29

Reading and Drawing Maps

Learners develop spatial reasoning and visual literacy skills by exploring how maps represent real spaces. Students discover that all...

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Lesson 30

Food Chains and Energy Flow

Learners trace the path of energy through ecosystems, from the sun through producers and consumers. Students build food chains and food...