Susan

I think it's important to take a risk and try something new.  I am sponsoring a club and I would like to try nature journaling.  I have no experience doing this but I think being volnerable and open with students---modeling that I am curious and willing to learn and try new things will help them do the same.  I also love hearing the different perspectives and insights students have and highlighting these. I enjoy having open-ended questions and allowing the questions to linger without answers.  This, in my mind prompts curiosity and shows students that getting answers quickly isn't the name of the game but is a part of learning and being oopen to possibilities outside of one's perspective or experience.

I suppose the idea is really a romantic one.  In my minds' eye it just seems to be a great way of stepping away from the hustle and bustle of the 21st century and communing with nature.  I also want to capture the beauty of what I see and what appeals to me.  I have very little art experience, so it's a bit intimidating.  More like a dream than anything else.  But I'm also hoping the drawing will help me truly see and be able to identify what I'm looking at and help me to learn more about the natural world around me.

During this virtual time, it's difficult to spark interests with students who come to the afterschool program.  I would like to be able to take students on nature walks and introduce them to the varieties of flora in the suburban landscape---discuss introduce vs. native species.  I would also like to introduce them to bird watching.  I've given them choices (so far, I only have 2 students so that really makes things difficult) and they only want to take pictures of squirrels and submit those photos to iNaturalist to the squirrel mapper project.  I'm a bit frustrated because I get the impression they are afraid to venture outside of their comfort zones---taking pictures of squirrles and uploading the image is pretty safe. In the past, I've taken students on bird walks throug the neighborhood and also just walked around one of the man-made lakes to see what we could find.  The students really enjoyed this.  I've also had them pull invasive plants on school property.  They enjoyed that a lot too.  But due to Covid, these activities are not permitted. I am encouraged by the number of citizen science opportunities that are listed in the Inverstigating Evidence Citizen Science Spotlight pages.  At this point, I'm simply thinking of introducing each one for students to "check out" and see if anything sticks.

As I do not teach science, I am unable to reflect upon a lesson that involves a spectrum of the leel of inquiry.  I am a sponsor of a conservation club for students in 7th through 12th grade.  I would like to guide the students away from "creating posters" to incourage recycling and get students to develop a curiosity about the world and the impact they personally have upon it.  During this time of COVID, we are meeting virtually, so getting students to engage is difficult.  My goal is to get students to make observations of whatever peaks their interest in their "sphere of influence".  My goal is to get the students outside and become curious about the natural world.  Thus, I am going to ask students to decide on a place to go within a 2 mile radius of their home with the spirit of curiosity--just make observations.  From those observations, whatever they may be, I plan on encouraging students to ask questions.  They will then share their observations with other members of the group, along with their questions.  Students will be encouraged to ask their own questions about the observations other students have made.  From here, I will ask students to pick a question they are interested in investigating and to set up their own protocol for how they think they can figure out the answer.  Students will share thier protocol with others and the other students will give feedback.  Once the students have thier protocol, they will "go out into the field" and collect their data---either qualitative or quantitiative, depending on their question and the protocol they will devise.  Students will meet after a couple of weeks to share their findings, any obstacles or difficulties they've encountered, or additional insights into their experimental design.  Students will give feedback and possible suggestions on how to "improve" their investigation.  Students will then be encouraged to decide when they will present their findings. Because this is a club without any standards attached and without curriculum constraints, the students are free to develop their own investigations without curriculum constraints or time deadlines.  However, due to the lack of structure and meeting in a virtual world, this might hamper what I would like to accomplish.

The more I think about the entire inquiry process, the more I think the starting point is noticing, simply being aware.  But noticing also stems from an innate curiosity.  From noticing springs the inquiry---Why?  What if...?  What else?  How?  It is an active participation with our surroundings that brings awareness of causes and conditions and the interdependence of everything.