ARTICLE When Things Go Wrong Implementing Historical-Investigative Activities in the Classroom Renata da Fonseca Moraes Batista 1 & Cibelle Celestino Silva 1 # Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract In this project, we worked in partnership with school teachers who are frequent users of experimental kits available for loan to schools using the historical-investigative approach. The original kits bring a traditional approach to experimentation, without the presence of the history of science. We developed and implemented new guides to the kits, without changing their materials and instruments. Design-based research supports the development methodolo- gy; the school science topics covered in this paper are Joseph Black’ s studies on latent and specific heat. Although some of the challenges faced in the implementation of historical- investigative approach are known and well-documented, the present article addresses teachers’ perspectives and some of the problems they faced in the implementation process, most of them related to school and teacher working conditions. Even though this is a case study with a small number of schools and teachers, it is possible to say that there is a huge gap to overcome before the historical-investigative approach can be implemented in large scale. 1 Introduction Considering contemporary studies that highlight the benefits of inquiry and history of science (Cachapuz et al. 2005; Viennot 2010; Forato et al. 2012; Höttecke et al. 2012; Maurines and Beaufils 2013; Allchin 2014; Heering and Höttecke 2014), we worked in partnership with school teachers who are frequent users of experimental kits available for loan to schools. The original kits bring a traditional approach to experimentation, without any reference to the history of science. As a traditional approach, we understand the “cookbook” style, with direct instructions for conducting the experiments, step-by-step procedure, which limits the involve- ment and cognitive development of students. Despite its limitations, teachers tend to prefer the https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-019-00071-z * Renata da Fonseca Moraes Batista tata.fis@gmail.com Cibelle Celestino Silva cibelle@ifsc.usp.br 1 São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, PO Box 369, São Carlos, SP 13560-970, Brazil Science & Education (2019) 28:1135–1151 Published online: 28 August 2019