Nature of science (NOS) has been a target of interest for decades. The main goal of this study is to explore the impact of the science, technology, society, environment (STSE) approach on students' understanding of NOS, taking "Galileo's study of free-fall motion" as an example. Participants in this study were 350 students of grade 10 from a public high school in China. The "Student Science Understanding and Scientific Inquiry" (SUSSI) instrument was used in the intervention and control groups to explore the impact on students' NOS. The intervention group (N = 210) participated in the STSE class, whereas traditional instruction was applied to the control group (N = 140). Results revealed that there was a significant difference between the two groups, and the learners in the intervention group understood NOS better than the control group. STSE approach is an effective way to enhance students' understanding of NOS. Despite the fact that the implementation is challenging for teachers, it appears that the STSE approach has positive effects on students' understanding of NOS, which offers some reference for physics classroom teaching.