Inquiry refers to the activities of students in which they develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world. Inquiry is a multifaceted activity that involves making observations; posing questions; examining books and other sources of information to see what is already known; planning investigations; reviewing what is already known in light of experimental evidence; using tools to gather, analyze, and interpret data; proposing answers, explanations, and predictions; and communicating the results. (NRC 1996, 26.) In this article, the author discusses inquiry teaching and why science teachers resist it. He poses the question, "If teaching by inquiry is recommended as a practice for science teachers because it models the practice of scientific researchers and research supports it, why do scientific researchers resist it?" The author states that part of the problem is that the term inquiry is used in many contexts. In the National Science Education Standards (NSES) there are discussion of inquiry learning, inquiry teaching, and scientific inquiry, and while they are treated separately, the overlap among them can lead to some confusion. Faced with no clear definition of inquiry, yet confronted with the demand that they change their teaching to a more inquiry-based style, it is not surprising that science faculty resist. Fear of the unknown is a considerable obstacle to progress, and current paradigms (another overused and misunderstood term), theories, practices, and personal understandings are not discarded until there is a replacement. The author suggests that the resolution to this problem should be to educate teachers about teaching by inquiry, by encouraging them to connect with what they know about conducting research and mentoring students in the research process to what they currently do in the classroom, making every day in the classroom a research experience for their students.