This study was an exploration of the conceptions of inquiry science held by exemplary elementary teachers. The study explored the ideas, understandings, and the recommendations for teaching inquiry science of exemplary elementary teachers and the ways that they use inquiry science in their classrooms. The findings reveal that the six exemplary teachers held ideas about inquiry as ‘‘finding things out’’ and all described themselves as having been children who explored and experimented with the world around them. The teachers in this group all recommended that when encouraging other teachers to implement inquiry, they need to first recognize its importance, and certainly this will take involving teachers in authentic inquiry experiences as learners so that they will be able to begin to view themselves, as these focus group teachers did, as problem-solvers and experimenters.