Inquiry in Action- Investigating Matter Through Inquiry is a FREE 470 page resource with multiple inquiry activities for teaching K-8 science process skills in the context of understanding matter .
You can download individual lesson or the entire book as a pdf.
Likes: The activities in this set are hands-on, use everyday materials, and target developmentally appropriate process skills. The Think About It extension activities provide a non-fiction reading comprehension supplement.
Wishes: I would like to see more opportunities for uncovering student preconceptions about Matter (the first density lesson does this). The assessment rubrics could be more developed and specific. The focus of the lessons seems to be more on the activity/materials/procedure with less emphasis on “making sense” of the content. A direct link to national or state science standards would have been a welcome addition as well.
For another example of FREE instructional materials on Matter please see a resource from Michigan State University… A middle school unit on Matter & Molecules. This was created in the late 80s, yet follows the 3 Key Findings from How People Learn and is well-reviewed by AAAS.
The entire Teacher Guide and Student Sheets are available as free pdf downloads. It is interesting to compare these two materials.
Science for All 