Shelley

I also agree that rubrics are really valuable and also need to be adaptable and tweaked.  Because rubrics can be too simplified (or else at other times too detailed and hard for students to read without being overwhelmed), I think it's necessary to add a peer review or another adult review for perspective.  It would also be helpful to the student to be able to discuss the report with me during a one-on-one conference as time permits. (I realize that time constraints are often an issue and depend on so many variables.) I just think that especially after a very long project and process, this verbal communication could allow for communication that can't happen just from a rubric. Having feedback from others besides the teacher through a real-world presentation of the report could also be so valuable for the student and validate their hard work in ways that a rubric can't .

I really like the sticky note idea as well for students. Sometimes just making things seem a little more informal and open for mistakes allows students to focus on the process and not the "right answer."  It can make them feel like it's ok to change it; that it's not necessarily permanent.

I took a look at Monarch Watch and Journey North because we raised monarchs last summer but didn’t do any tagging or data collection.  I was curious to see what we could do in the future if we did it again. Monarch Watch – This site gives information about raising monarchs, getting tagging kits, how to properly identify and tag monarchs, how to collect and record data and how to upload data to the project. It looks like a fairly straightforward project.  From my brief look at the website, there are some simple graphs under some blog entries using the previous year’s data. It looks like anyone can access the information and the tagging and data submission process seem pretty straightforward. There are also several other projects available to student-scientists: larval monitoring, monarch size and mass, monarch flight vectors, and hydrogen isotopes. Could be used by individuals, families, small groups or classrooms. Journey North -  This project’s focus seems to be seasonal migration patterns for several different species of insects and birds – hummingbirds, monarchs, robins, loons, orioles to name a few – also  earthworms and gray whales.   It also collects data for first signs of spring, ice-out dates, leaf-out dates as well as locating pollinator patches. It relies on collecting data in the form of sighting dates and locations. It looks accessible to anyone.  There is a whole section of the website devoted to maps showing the data being currently collected as well as data from previous seasons.  You don’t have to be part of the project to access the maps.  The maps would be great for classroom practice with data and maps even if you weren’t participating in the project. It would also offer a wide variety of simple data collection and recording practices for the classroom for birds as well as some other species.

I'll add my agreement.  This one sounds great for individuals, families and the classroom.

I love the idea of a "sit spot!"  We do a lot of hiking and exploring but don't take the time to do a lot of quiet observation.  This idea would help us build our observation skills for sure.

I made and submitted an observation to Project Squirrel. Owing to the large number of oak, maple and pine trees, there are a large number of squirrels in the backyard. It's not hard to observe them, but the time of day when they're the most active might factor into getting the best observations and be challenging based on our schedule. We know they eat acorns and have been watching them for awhile from last fall through this summer (find, bury, dig, eat.)  However, we weren't sure about other things they eat and have been fascinated this summer to learn that they eat the seeds from the numerous immature green pine cones.  So already, this has gotten us curious about the various types of foods that squirrels eat. I would expect that if we continue to make observations for Project Squirrel we would become more skilled observers, learn various methods of recording data, practice reading and analyzing data  and maps from others' observations, make charts or graphs and perhaps come up with our own experimental design to find out answers for any questions that we're wondering and need more data than just simple observations.

Grades really do tend to get students thinking about what the right answer is rather than wondering and discovering. They tend to just want to know if it's going to be on the test, especially older students.

We do a lot of nature walk and hikes in  great outdoor spaces around us already but I'm seeing how a citizen science project can really amp up those outdoor observation times into doing science and creating our own investigations.   We use notebooks to do sketching and make notes but I want to take that further and develop them into science notebooks with more detail and a definite place to record questions and more written observations that could lead us to investigations and a place to record those investigations. I really like the idea of having an I Wonder board, so I'd like to set up one of those to use. Citizen science projects can also help us find more ways of communicating our discoveries which we haven't really done so far.

Last summer with the help of a friend from a local zoo, we raised Monarch caterpillars.  She showed us how to find caterpillars on milkweed and care for them until their metamorphosis.  She also taught us to identify different varieties of milkweed and help her plant a new pollinator garden on her property.  I wish I would have known more about citizen science projects then, so we could have tagged our Monarchs to help with research. One of the reasons I chose to take this class was to learn more about citizen science because I think it’s the right next step for science in our homeschool.  We’re currently watching and learning about ants in our ant farm (thanks to my daughter’s wonderings about ants), so I think the School of Ants project might be a good first step into citizen science for us.  I’m also looking at Project Squirrel since we already do quite a bit of squirrel watching due to the high number of oak trees and squirrels on our property.

This is my initial concept map before reading the chapter.  In defining inquiry my initial response is that inquiry is asking questions and searching for the answers - both the why and the how. This is innately both simple and complex. In thinking about students, I immediately thought of toddlers and their constant asking, "Why?" - the earliest form of learning and exploration.  It seems to me that all true and lasting learning in all disciplines comes from asking questions.  It is taking what we already know and building on that knowledge with continued questions. There are several things that struck me while reading the chapter. I liked how the author talked about a "disequilibrium in the mind" that has to happen and is crucial to the process of inquiry.  Because inquiry is process-based, there has to be time to allow for pondering/wondering in order for this "disequilibrium" to occur.  And because the process isn't nice, neat and linear, it's often difficult to allow for this time in a traditional science classroom setting.  Use of the scientific method in the traditional classroom setting is often more results-focused than process-focused. This quote from Hunkins (1995) stood out to me: "In many schools, students are not challenged to make meaning; rather, they are asked to remember the meaning of others."  If we want to guide students of any age to independent, lifelong learning, the challenge then is to find ways to encourage their innate curiosity and guide them through the inquiry process so they can create meaning.