CS and inquiry-based learning are fun for children and adults.  The young birders' club that I lead visits nearby natural areas monthly.  I would like to explore ways to make these field trips more actual science based rather than a hike for families and a chance to be outdoors. The kids attend with their parents who provide the transportation.  Most parents want their children to have these experiences or the children are interested in birding.   I wish there was a method of conveying to the parents the value of these field trips and what their children are gaining through these experiences.  This class has brought these deficits to my attention.  Furthermore,   the club often visits natural areas and the staff at these sites generously shares their time and knowledge with the kids.  These talks with the experts  (scientists) could be framed as more of inquiry experiences where the kids can ask questions.  Using the "I wonder" board may be a method for the kids to reflect and develop questions in advance what they would want to know when we talk to these experts.   I am not sure if the families and kids are utilizing the science lessons that can be realized through these encounters.  It would be great if they could take more responsibility in these field trips.   Since the viral outbreak, may of our field trip have been cancelled.  The young birders club offers these hands-on and engaging field trips, I need to contemplate a better approach to make these field trips more science bases with inquiry components identified.  Perhaps using something where the club members could stay engaged beyond the monthly field trips would be smart.  These lessons have given me a lot of consider.

Stating to think of inquiry at different levels and taking that approach I think will be helpful. I can be more deliberate in how I structure my learning. There has been a lot of confirmation of my belief system of how teaching should be done.  I now have some items tools in my tool belt. I've been wondering how to use citizen science in my classroom in any capacity.

I plan on using this whole unit this upcoming year.  I started with it this year and then when Covid hit, things went sideways.  The thing I'd like to get better at this year is becoming more familiar with some of the Citizen Science platforms so I feel more confident using them in the classroom with students.  I think I will start with Celebrate Urban Birds.  I really want to have a deeper understanding of eBird so that I can capitalize on all the rich opportunities for data analysis.

Because I mainly work with young students in the gardens, where anything can spring up anytime, I think the "Early bird club" and the "Wonder board" are practices that will be useful for promoting observations and posing questions among students. Also, inquiry-based and citizen science learning is local-based, with readily available materials, and can be done without expensive laboratory settings, so it'll be great for public schools with limited resources in our city.

I feel like the most important practice or key point so far is choice of project to make it meaningful an authentic to students. By choosing a meaningful project students are invested in and feel connected to, it will be easier to hit on other key practices such as following and promoting inquiry and investigations, teaching them scientific processes, connecting both globally and locally and having youth "do science." If a project is not age appropriate or does not match up with curriculum, these other points will be very difficult to achieve.  

I like the ideas of the "I Wonder" board and "Meet a Scientist."  My students were fortunate over the last couple of years to have parents and a grandparent who are scientists/teachers.  We invited them to our class, and each visit was hands-on, inquiry based, unique and interesting.  The students created "thank you" books with photos and their thoughts. We have perfect opportunities to participate in more than one citizen science project with our own garden and the discoveries we make on our own school grounds.  It will be a focal point for us this year.

I continue to believe if we can find that 'spark' of what interests a student, it will continue to motivate and excite their learning.  I was reminded in the readings of the different scientists how many of them could recall back to a time in their early childhood when something peaked an interest and their scientific pursuits took off from there.  I was also reminded of how research can be done, and then be looked at again as in the vulture study to find new information.  I liked this perspective especially because a well-known name like John James Audubon made some observations, but also some assumptions that were subsequently questioned and disproved.

I really appreciate the reminder to share information with outside audiences. It's a great way to get the students involved and allows them to "make a difference".

I love the idea of having an "Early Bird" club.  Students that get to school early or can arrive early could participate in this club if they are interested.  The eBird project will probably be a great place to start.  It makes sense to start on a small scale and build from there.   I plan on using the idea to have students design ideal bird feeding areas, and finding the best location for birdhouses and bird baths.  With all the resources I have read and listened to, I think I just need to prioritize and start with one idea find out interests and go from there.

My organization is a support group for the area's National Forest and Wildlife Refuges. The students get the opportunity to explore and learn about these places. I would like to connect these lessons and experiences so that the students don't forget about their public lands once they leave the field trip. A goal of our environmental education programs is to inspire young students to become motivated citizens that will continue to protect our public lands. I think that citizen science and inquiry-based learning can spark this interest to want to protect the places they learned about and even take their new knowledge back home and spread it to their family and friends.

I am lucky in that my program is completely outdoors and designed primarily for the homeschool community, so I don't have any standards or curriculum that I must follow, and I don't have to answer to an administrator. Citizen science has always been one of the main pillars of my program however I want to be more intentional about it moving forward. I want students to not just collect data but actually begin to use the data to ask questions and solve problems. I also want to include the step of having their peers review their claims prior to submitting their evidence and claims to scientists. I also hope they can go a step further and actually implement their solution. Throughout this course, I have used my fall theme, of invasive species as an example. So when I talk about taking it a step further an example relating to invasive species, would be them helping the park with restoration and/or eradication of the species in question. Another aspect I am adding into our citizen science work is having students create informational brochures and/or posters that they can share with the public to raise awareness about invasive species and why they are a problem for our fragile desert ecosystem.

My school has an overall traditional way of teaching science that I have tried to move away from. They use prepackaged science kits and scripted curriculum that leave little room for inquiry and discovery. Students become consumers rather than doers of science. I think it is going to be real important for me to redirect students thinking about what it means to be a person who does science. Although most students in my school are drawn to science topics they seldom have the opportunity to have their questions answered about wonderings and noticings through their own investigations and discoveries. If I can offer and teach students the skills they will need to carry out their own investigations I will be kind of like giving them the tools to fish on their own. Also, students at my school are taught to be compliant to get a good grade without seeing the personal value or real world connection their learning might have. I want to help students see the real world connections and impact that  doing science can have in their lives. I think open inquiries based on students interests will help start a movement toward more inquiry based, student centered, teaching and learning of science at my school.

I can see that student involvement in observation and collecting data creates questions by students. When they are able to pursue activities to answer these questions through investigations, they 1) are more invested in the project, 2)gain confidence as a student and a scientist, and 3)become leaders and peer teachers. This process is flexible, with the ability to start and progress as teachers and students become more familiar and confident with their citizen science project. Knowing that makes this venture a little less scary, and modeling the citizen science learning process along with the students will help everyone to become more successful!

I think the most important thing to engage youth in Citizen Science is allowing youth to take the lead and internalizing the need for their research, allowing them to have time to go off track and ask more questions in an open inquiry setting.  In college I was taught the use of KWL charts, What you Know, What you Want to Know and What you Learned, as a way of assessment and youth taking a lead on their own learning; this closely relates to the “I Wonder” statements being discussed.  I love the idea of asking kids to observe their I Wonder statements and brainstorming questions.  I would use this as a group opportunity, let youth ask questions about the statements they see displayed, helping each other frame the questions as most effective for conducting an experiment.  This would allow youth that have trouble with coming up with their own research question to reflect on their statements in a positive learning environment.  After brainstorming questions, allowing time for youth to explore articles and other research being done on the topic, bringing in real-world examples and making connections to other scientist.   I also like the idea of peer reviewing, this allows for youth to see and reflect on other’s work adding to their repertoire of ideas and concepts while giving others constructive feedback and ideas to consider.   Likewise, it is important for youth to have a purpose for their research, whether they create a science project from the data they collect, create a podcast or submit their findings to the  BlueSleuth Investigator Magazine, giving youth a connection to a real-world will help instill the importance of science and how they can contribute or even make a difference. This way of teaching is not only allowing youth to gain knowledge about a topic of their choice but it is teaching youth how to become life-long learners, teaching them to ask questions and use non-biased researched based articles to seek answers.

I believe my students need to be the major stakeholders in Lessons. They need to develop the skills to take the lead on investigations and  bring their interests  and curiosities to the table.  Authentic experiences that are student led have a deep and meaningful impact and lead to students who want to develop and investigate their own ideas. This natural intrinsic motivation will help students become vested in their own education and foster a love of learning and the knowledge that they are capable of questioning and researching ideas,  collaborative learning and their ideas are valued and important.

There are many benefits for incorporating so many aspects into the educational spheres in Hong Kong, but the most compelling is to have 'a reason' to conduct the investigation in the first place that is relevant to the students' lives.  Sometimes it is about satisfying an internal curiosity, but most often the satisfaction comes from contributing to something bigger than oneself and having a positive impact on something.  I would like to tap into intrinsic motivations and curiosities, and with the range of CS projects, the capacity to build collaborative or co-created CS projects with the help of various NGOs and experts locally and globally (one of my goals is to build a database to bridge the gap between experts and public/teachers/students) and with access to technology (including DIY and Maker-culture), our imagination is our only limiting factor to support some incredible experiences possible for our students! I've written about things related to this (in a 3-min read on Medium) from the perspective of my colleague who has been one of my greatest allies while bringing citizen science into our curriculum: "Exploration + Education + Citizen Science = Students as 'Agents of Change'.

In the previous discussion post, I explained how I would like to use CS to frame the work globally and locally for students in my classroom. To begin, establishing a culture of respect in the classroom that will allow for effective communication and discussion in the classroom is a first step that must be taken in my highschool classroom. From here, students will be able to 1) investigate and share their findings in a respectful setting, 2) work in collaborative groups and 3) debate/discuss how their questions, findings and suggested practices can benefit the local and global community. I think working collaboratively and communicating with teachers, classmates, and other stakeholders are important practices for students to become familiar with and to become comfortable with. Then, students will be able to further their curiosity and investigations by learning about and responding to the opinions or findings of others.

Some of the practices I feel will be most important and work best in my classroom are setting my students up as scientists, have them start thinking and acting locally and globally, and of course, welcome the unexpected.  I am looking to set up some lessons and activities that will both encourage and promote my students as scientists.  Their minds should feel empowered to ask, explore and discover.  I want them to be thinking about the world around them, but then challenge them to think broader and more encompassing.  I want my students to look for surprises and relish in what is uncovered.  With these practices I hope to open up minds to new thinking, nurture new ideas and guide findings into new investigations.

Engaging in citizen science projects is a good introduction into inquiry based learning in the classroom. Reading through both lessons of Investigating Evidence I noticed a significant overlap of science practices. One of the practices I am going to keep at the forefront is "positioning youth as people who do science". Through observation and data collection students will be engaged in working towards a larger goal. They will also have opportunities for coming up with their own questions. I like how the first lesson has students focus on observation and posing questions without the weight of having to find answers for them. Through time students are able to using multiple methods to answer the questions. Questions that students think are important or keep coming back to are the ones that they can later focus on and answer. It is a natural process that they authentically engage in.

As mentioned in the last module's discussion post I felt that "positioning youth as people who do science" is still the top priority for what I feel is most important for my first graders.  Even at a young age they have the power to answer those questions that ignite their curiosity through investigations and citizen science projects.   I want to teach my students to have the drive, the confidence, and the perseverance to take charge of their learning and to know that their discoveries can go beyond our school and community. I absolutely loved the idea of the "I Wonder" board that was discussed in lesson one of the text.  It reminds me of the "W" acronym in the KWL charts that we do in class...what do they want to learn?  What questions do they wonder about?  Through this "I Wonder" board students can pose questions at any time with sticky notes.  I think it's important to teach them about how to find answers to the questions that they are asking through referencing materials, exploring and analyzing data, observational studies, and experimental studies.  This is a great tool to utilize with any topic or focus and comes with many extension activities that can be explored as well.  I'm excited to try using one of these boards in the upcoming school year.

I believe it will be important for me to approach inquiry and citizen science projects with students having ownership of the projects.  It is important for me to respect the questions and answers students are developing as we work through the projects together.  Nothing alienates a student more or destroys their interest faster than for them to feel that their input is not valued.  In students having ownership of the project, it will be important for me to work with students to develop the plan for the project.  It needs to be a project that excites the class or at least holds their interest.

I think positioning students as scientists will be the most important approach in my setting because I believe it's an opportunity to empower students and allow them to participate in meaningful, authentic learning. I think starting with observation and inquiries -- like in the "I Wonder" board is also important, though I think this is something that my students may need a lot of modelling of and practice in. I also really liked the example vulture activity -- I think examples and models will be very important for my students.

I really liked the teaching practice of positioning students as scientists, as I think it is a great way to get students more engaged and interested in the scientific process and will also make them care more about the environment around them. Citizen science helps connect students to their local environment, and I think that we need more of this from the younger generations in order to ensure there is a more positive future ahead.

I love the Wonder Board and will most likely use some of the "extension" activities from Lesson 1 with my group. Since I do not have a set group of students for an extended period of time (90 minutes once a mo.), I would introduce the activity and lead the discussion to sort the types of questions produced on the day's topic.  I think pairing that with some outdoor exploration would lead the students to see themselves as scientists. This would be a good introductory activity as we venture into inquiry based/ citizen science learning throughout the school yr.

For my setting, positioning students as scientists is most important. I want them to understand how the process of science works and everyone can do it not just a select few.