In this paper, I discuss historical moments in which the perspective of inquiry Education was debated by Science Education and Education researchers. I have investigated John Dewey's papers in the beginning of the 20th century that proposes the inquiry perspective at school, using the scientific method. I have investigated the curriculum reforms on the Science Education in Brazil during the decades of 19501960 in which the didactic material recommended the scientific inquiry. And at last, I investigated a recovering of the inquiry perspective in the end of the 20th century, influenced by discussions about the nature of Science and the relations between Science and Society in Science Education. I point out that the bases of the inquiry perspectives in Science Education are intimately connected to the conceptions of Science in discussion at each historical moment.
Science Education; Inquiry Activities; History of Science Education