Veronica

Assessment has always been the hardest part of inquiry science for me because it takes me away from the doing part of the investigation. I tend to enjoy the doing and become stuck in that part of inquiry based teaching and learning even though assessing design, and what students have learned are important aspects and parts of the process. I feel that assessment is my weakest area when it comes to creating inquiry based investigation opportunities for students. This course has given some examples that I can use to strengthen my assessment skills with the use of rubrics as well as examples of how students can present their data via video.

I  chose the Budburst  database. This database helps people identify the plants in their area. It has information about  300 different plant species. The information is accessible to anyone and is student friendly. You can search for plants by name, plant family/group, and state with out participating in the project. What is also great about this site is that they encourage observations of all plants even those not in their database. I could see students using this database to help identify neighborhood plants, trees, and shrubs in a plant study. The information in the database can give a wealth of information for numerous plant related activities.

I did the Project Feeder Watch citizen science project for a 2 day observation cycle of the live bird feeder cam in the Cornell Lab Sapsucker Woods.  I have attached the tally sheet. It was very exciting to watch the various birds that are visiting this bird feeder. I am hoping to observe it more on my own. One challenge which I over came was the fact that I was not familiar with a few of the bird species. At first I confused the Grackle with the Crow. So I really learned about differentiating the species and paying careful attention to the sizes, colors, and markings on birds that look similar. A small challenge I experienced was actually counting the birds while there is so much movement around the bird feeder. I might expect students to learn the importance of using your sense of sight to observe. I might also expect students to learn how to carefully observe and describe things in nature by color, size, markings, patterns, and other traits to compare and contrast. In addition I might expect students to see the value of such an activity and understand how their participation in it serves a greater goal beyond the classroom.  

What impacted me mostly as I created my Sound Map were ideas related to "time" and "repetition".  I realized how long 10 minutes might seem for young children and thought about alternatives like building up to 10 minutes or adding additional time to observe depending on the students.  I also considered the idea of sounds that were repeating and questions came to my mind like "How do I record repetitive sounds?", "Do I hear sound patterns ? (3 chirps of a bird 4 times)", and "What am I missing with my eyes closed?"  I might have students do observations with just their ears for a while, and then with just their eyes, and eventually with both ears and eyes in order for students to be able to compare the quality, amount, and detail of the observations they are able to make of the natural world.

I would like to model for my students the ability to see themselves as "people who do science" not just as students who have to learn science. Many of the students I teach feel a since of defeat before they even get started with certain academic subjects like reading and writing. However, I have seen that glimmer in their eyes when science and discovery enter the picture. Science topics (animals, the planets, plants, etc ) provide interest for my students and are a entry point for getting students to be more vested in their own learning. If I can show students that they " belong to the club" so to speak they will begin to feel more comfortable taking risks as well as feeling that they have something important to contribute to any group, project, or discussion. I also want to extend that self confidence to the extent that students develop themselves as experts who are in charge and take ownership of their learning and do so with a vested attitude.

I engage my students in neighborhood walks at various times of the school year when changes in weather and seasons are observable.  One year at the onset of winter my students noticed nests in a few trees and it sparked a huge amount of questions and wonderings.  We went back to the classroom and the students wrote their questions and wonderings on index cards. We then read and sorted them into some categories and to see if any questions were similar and I wrote them out on large chart paper.  I asked the students to look at, reread, and think about which questions they really wanted to find the answers to. Eventually, the students put them selves into small groups and a few partnerships based on their interest in the questions. I assisted the students by directing them to books, videos, and other resources to help them start getting information to answer their questions. One question that a small group investigated was  "What are the nest made out of?" This question lead to explorations around different materials that birds used to make their nests.  The nest materials exploration led to a subsequent question "How strong are nests built with various materials?" It was like a circle the way one question led to another and how different groups investigating different questions very fluidly merged into and out of each other.  I knew there had to be some form of closure for some students while others were happily moving from one thing to another as they had "wow" moments of learning new things. The days work included students engaged in reading, writing, drawing, recording, and thinking about their findings and discoveries. At the end of each days work we had a sharing time for students to share what they learned that was new that day.  At the end of the year students had created these really elaborate projects that either answered their original questions, or showed the process they engaged in throughout their investigation cycles. I believe my students were engaged in many of if not all of the science practices although I did not name them for the students. I also believe this was an open inquiry because it was very student driven and I made sure I had a variety of resources available for students to express and represent their thinking.