Ashlee
Forum Replies Created
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I just moved into a new house that is a little less urban than where I was living. I had been noticing a female Baltimore Oriole and so I put up a feeder with jelly. I now have a male that visits the feeder every day! They are gorgeous. I like the Wall of Birds to show my 7th and 8th grade science students.
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OOh I like this. Do you make the class come to a consensus? I am invisioning grading 120 projects in 120 different ways and that seems overwhelming!
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For my middle school class, I plan on using a checklist-style of summative assessment. Before they are graded on their project, each will be peer assessed, and our librarian/former Language Arts teacher will run small groups to talk about citing, grammar, and strong writing skills in general.
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It is a challenge having 30 students in a class who all want to do different inquiry activities, literally a nightmare to plan for. Some activities may take one day to look at (analyzing data in eBird), while others might take months (determining when hummingbirds migrate to and from northern Indiana). In the past, I have narrowed down investigations to 2 or 3 and let students chose which ones to investigate (trying to pick ones that take around the same amount of time).
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I chose to research eBird. I love that it is a free resource that anybody can use. If you just want to look at data you do not need to create an account. If you want to collect data you do need to make an account, but still free! Students could conduct many research questions using this site. For instance, if they really liked a rare bird, they could see how often it is seen in our area. Migration paths and times are always fun to research as well.
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Answering with questions is great and frustrating, but if the students are given the time to process they love it!
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I think the most important way to facilitate curiosity and observation is to give students the time to do so. Most often our cookie cutter labs give one answer and that's it. My biodegradable plastics inquiry lab allows students to design their first prototype and see what it turns out to be before making a second. Then students talk in their groups and research what the problem was and what they need to add or take out of their recipe to solve it.
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I love that kindergartners are involved in watching birds!!!
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I chose to do eBird, I have also participated in Hoosier Riverwatch in the past. I did not have any challenges with eBird except for the fact that I wanted to keep counting birds after I was done! For Hoosier Riverwatch, it is hard to find a safe accessible place to test the Wabash River and hard to carry all of the materials down steep slopes to reach it. For eBird, the learning curve for identifying birds would be steep. It would take some practice from the students to ID birds. I think overall students would realize just how many birds there are when they are truly looking! I dislike that many of the citizen science projects (like Feeder Watch) you have to buy memberships for.
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@Anna I agree that wait time is powerful. I have students who raise their hands immediately and I will tell them, lets make sure everybody has time to think the question through.
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I will often state my wonderings out loud as well.
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On a weekly basis, in my 8th-grade science class, I will ask a controversial question for a bellringer. A few were: 1.) How important do you think it is for us to explore our solar system? 2.) Do you think access to water is a human right? 3.) How will artificial intelligence change our future? Students cannot be correct or incorrect in their thinking as long as they back up their answers with some evidence. I can become better with this by asking open-ended questions relating to the curriculum I teach, such as genetics, weather, and chemistry.
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I had to specifically focus on one noise because I was getting distracted as well!
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While making my sound map, I focused on bird calls that I knew. On an ordinary day in my backyard, I would be working in the garden, mowing, grilling, or reading a book. But while making my sound map I noticed at least 11 different types of bird calls. I focused my attention on one particularly persistent voice. I have shown the markings by using hearts. After ten minutes was up, I looked for this bird. It was a male house sparrow and he had a nest in my bird box. I wonder if his very persistent calls were warnings because I was there to his mate, his offspring, or if he was claiming his territory. The most impactful thing was I noticed things I would not have if I were doing my every jobs outside.
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One thing that I have gained from the video, and the Investigating Evidence guide, is students need to ask questions But also have time to research, observe, or experiment to answer their own questions. As a teacher, I need to resist the urge to answer everything for them. This also plays into the growth mindset, not everything comes easy in life. Students need to work on their problem-solving skills.
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I also like the idea of peer reviews. This happens in scientific journals for adults, and it should also happen with students!
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Just as the video said, if students can see they are capable of scientific processes, then they will be more likely to apply for a science job.
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I believe all three teaching practices are important for students to truly embrace citizen science. I use a PBL that I have called "Mythbusters: Do Try This at Home". Students can either pick from a list of questions or come up with their own that they run by me to test. They have to develop their own procedures and come up with how they collect data. In 8th grade I have my students make biodegradable plastics using different starches of their choice. I tried to develop these lessons so the students can see, they are capable of doing real science. For our Hoosier Riverwatch program after school, I first show the kids the website where the data is collected. It shows data from all over the state, some collected by adults who are scientists, adults that are citizen scientists, and students. I explain to them that the state uses this as a predictor and if they see a problem they will go take a look themselves. We are helping to find problems more quickly than the state can. The third practice of attending to the unexpected is the challenging one for me as a teacher. It becomes overwhelming when every student in the classroom is asking for me to come and help them with something (I literally have bad dreams about this). Next school year, we are starting the year with the theme "Make growth mindset second nature". The pun is definitely intended. I have posters made, and a monthly lesson that includes a quote such as "Roads were made for journeys, not for destinations". That lesson will be about knowing that you can improve. I am going to make it a point to also demonstrate, that I am also still learning and am not a perfect scientist or teacher.
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As a student in college, I never would have guessed I would love ornithology as much as I did. This was partly because of seeing the enthusiasm from my professor as we would bird watch at 7 am on a Friday morning. I also because hooked when our professor made it a competition to see who could identify birds the fastest. Those suggestions will not work for every student, but I thought I would share what worked for me!
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I have an after-school science club for middle school students. We have participated in a citizen science program called Hoosier Riverwatch. Our school has an outdoor classroom that my mom (who taught science for 38 years) developed and received grant money for. This outdoor classroom runs next to the Wabash River. Hoosier Riverwatch is a program where people from around the state are trained to collect data about our local waterways. We collect temperature, nitrates, nitrites, bacteria levels, how fast the water is moving, how much water is moving, and the types of invertebrates found. The advice I would have for any citizen scientist is to get trained. We need to be able to collect accurate data for the program to be worthwhile. Also, those collecting data should also know the purpose to what they are doing. It will make the experience more meaningful. In my science focus class, I would like to use eBird along with our outdoor classroom.
