The Visual Geophysical Exploration Environment (VGEE) aims to use learner-constructed visualizations as an anchor for student inquiry in the geosciences. Formative evaluation of visualization tools revealed that learners often have difficulty connecting multidimensional visualizations of complex phenomena to underlying physical principles and that learners lack a systematic method for performing inquiry. The VGEE, therefore, includes a set of additional tools specially designed to help learners connect visualization to physical principles and a model inquiry strategy to guide learners in using these additional tools. The inquiry strategy begins with identifying and relating patterns using a specially constructed visualization environment, explaining those patterns using idealized concept models, and integrating multiple explanations into a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena using probes. The strategy will be demonstrated in the context of a learning scenario, or curriculum, built around the phenomenon of El Nino-Southern Oscillation. Our presentation will also discuss the results of implementing this strategy in an undergraduate meteorology laboratory class and emphasize the adaptability of the inquiry strategy and VGEE architecture to other geoscience disciplines.