Vanessa
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Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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Understanding the 'why' behind why I started project with students helps me to better decide what TYPE of reporting I will have them do. This is the first step in developing an assessment of HOW to report findings. Next I will think of WHO I want to be reading or using this report, that is my second step in understanding what TYPE of report I will have students do. Is it for students/teachers/parents/themselves?
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A challenge I have faced personally in leading and assessing inquiry-based activities is time. As an informal teacher, I have limited time (approximately 1-2 hours) with a group of students. As a result, it is hard to fit in inquiry learning, curriculum and have clear outcomes. Currently, I am working on developing a rentable Citizen Science Inquiry Collection kit that will provide educators with the material resources and lesson plans they will need to facilitate inquiry-learning in their classrooms without spending lots of money on equipment and time creating plans. Hopefully, providing teachers a 2-week rental kit for $250 CAN will provide them with the tool they need to overcome the challenges they experience facilitating inquiry-based education and citizen science in class. This will also help to overcome my obstacle of time!
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Which citizen-science project did your research? Provide a brief background. eBird, a global citizen science project that gathers data about the quantity and distribution of bird species on Earth. Is the database accessible to anyone? Could someone who has not participated in the project use the data? Can students access the information? This database is accessible to everyone that has internet access. Even if you do not have an account you can use the data. Students can use the information without the need to create an account, it is easily accessible and user-friendly. How might your students use this citizen-science project data to conduct an investigation? It would help to answer a research-focused hypothesis. Perhaps to extend their knowledge of their local area to create a hypothesis. As well to compare species, regions and time.
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We have a nature journal that we take when we are outside exploring/looking for birds/wildlife. In that book there is a few blank I wonder pages for them to jot down their "I Wonders" while we are out and reflect upon them in the classroom or during sharing circle. We could do an exercise where we take all of our research questions and see if we can make observational experimental ones from them.
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- eBird - I experienced a challenge to identify birds - Discussion: inquiry questions such as : I wonder where the birds are going, I wonder how far they have travelled. This could lead to a variety of cross-curricular projects and studies.
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We can expose them to a variety of circumstances and topics which would be foreign to them. Or perhaps prompt them with inquiry learning to look at familiar situations differently. We can help them by practicing observation and I wonder questions (in a nature journal, on a board or in a sharing circle).
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I believe that work locally and globally is important. Not only does it allow for clear cross-curricular connections, but it also provides them with an understanding of the community. They are scientists that are a part of a broader scientific community they can participate in. We will do this by exploring some of the maps/data which are submitted from global citizen scientists. Understand how the data which we collect can make changes. Perhaps provide examples of how citizen science has created structural changes in the past.
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We have used the following: eBird & BumblebeeWatch. I don't have any big advice to give at the moment.
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Students are given the question, procedure. Students are asked how many birds (and species) are in their neighbourhood, how they will collect the data (bird watching). Through the procedure, they are able to collect data and then analyze it and draw a conclusion of how many birds and species live in their neighborhood. Students are able to use a question, come up with a hypothesis, collect the data and then use that data to create a conclusion. Give students a topic and allow them to create their own question/make the question more open ended. Confirmation/Structured
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My concept of inquiry is based around the idea that we are there to teach children how to think, not what to think. Inquiry is encouraging/building the confidence and competence of students to formulate scientific questions about experiences they encounter in their world, look for the answer through research and experiments/more observations and then come to a conclusion based on that
My concept of inquiry is based around the idea that we are there to teach children how to think, not what to think. Inquiry is encouraging/building the confidence and competence of students to formulate scientific questions about experiences they encounter in their world, look for the answer through research and experiments/more observations and then come to a conclusion based on that Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)