This study aims to explore the effectiveness on the learning motivation and achievement of rural junior high school students after teachers implement a PBE-based inquiry temperature and heat teaching module. This study adopts a quasi-experimental research method. The sample is all eighth-grade students in a coastal rural junior high school in central Taiwan. The experimental group implemented PBE-based inquiry teaching, while the control group implemented general inquiry teaching. The research results found that: in the quantitative part, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in overall learning motivation, scientific learning value, and learning environment incentive scales for the temperature and heat unit. The overall learning effectiveness, temperature and thermometer, and heat proposition concepts of the experimental group were also significantly better than the control group. And the learning motivation and learning achievement of the experimental group showed a significant positive correlation. In the qualitative part, The PBE-based inquiry teaching module, making good use of common life examples, fish pond situations in the community, and coastal life experiences, can provide students with a bridge for learning adaptation, promote students’ understanding of the concepts of temperature and heat, and overall significantly improve the learning motivation and achievement of the temperature and heat unit for rural students.