The purpose of this study is to obtain clues for evaluating the practice of river and water education in inquiry learning by analyzing learners' utterances. The practice of river and water education fosters scientific knowledge understanding and practical attitudes that form the river basin concept. For example, children form an image of rivers through the practice of "how water flows" in science classes, but this image is often far removed from the reality of the rivers around them. Underlying this is the difference of inductive assessment of subject matter and assessment of inquiring study, but both teachers and children have difficulty in recognizing this fact. In the evaluation of inquiry learning, the state of children's motivation must be observed attitude, but there is no established method of evaluation. The evaluation of inquiry learning must focus on the state of the child's motivation, but there is no established method of evaluation. A matrix that observes motivation is the basis for identifying the learner's process of inquiry and for assessing learner-centered learning through river and water education