In addition, scientific research draws upon tools from other disciplines, most notably mathematics. Inquiry-based methods can easily be applied to the questions that arise in the other core subject areas students encounter each day. In many cases, the science teacher can anticipate and plan for the questions that will naturally arise. Likewise, any recently acquired mathematical tools can be put to good use in the measurement and data analysis techniques that accompany scientific inquiry. Inquiry facilitates the development of good communication skills through the sharing of scientific ideas and findings and allows students to learn from each other.
Science is a social endeavor, and social endeavors require good communication.
Furthermore, the objectivity and systematic methods of science require precise communication for the accurate sharing of methods and findings. Similarly, learning is a social endeavor, and when students have active roles in constructing their own knowledge through inquiry methods, they benefit greatly from the frequent exchange of ideas for hypotheses, experimental methods, and interpretations of results with their peers, and not just with the teacher. Through these ongoing interactions with each other, students become more skilled not only with the methods of science, but also with the skills of communication that are essential to science and all other disciplines. The process of science involves the critical and logical examination of evidence, and the acknowledgment that alternative explanations for phenomena may exist. Middle school students, as well as adults, are subject to a barrage of information from various media, some of which may be inaccurate or misleading.