Science centers have been established in an effort to promote science and technology in society, among children and young people. They are basically institutions that have prepared a series of scientific experiments, observations, games and similar attractions working on a selected phenomenon. A surprising effect, unexpected behaviors or inexplicable phenomena that are supposed to raise curiosity and desire to discover in a visitor are offered to them as a rule. Visitors of science centers are often groups of school children on a school excursion. From a teachers' point of view it would surely be welcome if besides motivation the excursion had an educational aspect and if it could be possible to use it to complement subject matter or to develop selected skills, which schools do not have appropriate conditions for. For support of such ideas we established Inquiry science laboratory within the science center SteelPARK in Kosice, where groups of school students can participate on two different inquiry activities prepared for each mostly one month period. Activities are guided by a lecturer, a pre-service physics teacher, in parallel for 5 groups of 3-4 students. Our laboratory teaching centers around key problems, pre-selected for each inquiry activity. Total time for one activity is 60 minutes. Conceptual test questions are discussed during the first part of the activity as a tool for the student's involvement into the problem and also as a source of motivation. Activities are on the level of guided inquiry, which we specified through examples of ESTABLISH project units. After the activity, formative assessment tools are used for self-evaluation of selected development skills. In the paper we present the results of the conceptual tests and rubrics, basically created within the SAILS project, for skills mapping across the sample of more than 600 students discussed and analyzed on the basis of one exemplary activity. After two years of experience with more than 4500 participants from lower and upper secondary schools, the level of selected inquiry skills across 15 different inquiry activities is presented. All of our worksheets as well as findings from non-formal educational activities are recommended for use by teachers in school practice.
