I think best practices will be developed through more work with students but for now I plan to work within the new CDC guidelines and still have as open a learning environment as possible where students are given time, materials, guidance, and space to pursue their own interests and be creative while tracking their work and collecting data if appropriate. We'll use journals to record all possible ideas, creations, and more.
Framing the work globally and locally is of tremendous value to all of us today, as many young people lack a connection and understanding of how their food, clothing, and residence come to be available to them. This will be my first year teaching science in a classroom; I previously have only taught through informal educational venues. In my previous life making connections was the greatest contribution I could give and after teaching math last year in a classroom setting I started to see where the structure is and why there may be teachers skipping the connections; tying learning back to our local communities and the world will benefit us all.
I definitely want to use the Great Sunflower Project in class and at home; sunflower seeds are affordable and can go home with students as well as be planted at school. We can use this as a multi-tiered lesson for months until blooms occur. In all that I'm considering for this fall at school, I'm considering what components can be used at home and at school; those that have crossover are topping my lists while planning.
One of my favorite beginning of the year activities is to work with worms and discuss a bit about soil science so that students understand we need healthy soil for plants before planting a classroom garden. For these activities we create a worm habitat together and then in small groups learn more about worm preferences (dry/most, dark/light, response to touch, etc.). After this, worms enter the habitat and reside for a few days. Throughout all of this students are hypothesizing, writing and drawing in their journals, making observations, tracking data, and more. I am currently teaching 4th grade and plan to use this experience at the beginning of the year to set the stage for youth to start thinking about and devising their original questions they wish to answer while doing their science fair projects later in the school year. I love the idea that students can conduct open ended inquiry throughout the year but many of the experiences will be short (in regards to time allocated) but the possibility of online learning may yield much better science fair projects than in previous years!
After reading about inquiry, I’ve expanded my thinking about all it encompasses. I found the readings to reinforce the value that I believe inquiry holds, and gave me better ideas of how to share with others the value of inquiry as well as a broader way of thinking about it. A broad, deep understanding about the world around us is one of the greatest contributions I think we can make to our communities.