Which of the following illustrates 'science as inquiry'?

Science as inquiry is a pedagogical principle, emphasised in NCF 2005 and NCERT's science curriculum, under which students learn science by actively investigating a question: framing it, forming a hypothesis, identifying and manipulating a variable, gathering evidence through experimentation, and drawing a conclusion, rather than by passively receiving information, sorting objects into known categories, or simply observing a phenomenon.

Exploring the factors which affect the rate of germination in gram seeds requires a learner to pose a question such as whether the amount of water or the temperature changes how fast the seeds sprout, form a hypothesis, set up a comparison by varying one factor at a time, record the germination outcomes, and interpret the results. This full cycle of questioning, experimenting, and concluding is what defines the activity as an inquiry.

• Classifying plants into herbs, shrubs, and trees applies an existing scheme to sort given specimens — a classification exercise, not an investigation of a question.

• Listing five uses of the coconut tree draws on memorised facts — a recall and enumeration exercise, with no variable to test.

• Observing the types of venation in various leaves records a fixed structural feature — a descriptive observation, with nothing manipulated or tested.

Because it alone involves posing a question, testing a variable through experimentation, and drawing a conclusion from evidence, exploring the germination-rate factors is the activity that illustrates science as inquiry.