Tracy

Inquiry is a systematic, organized approach to research and is typically project based. It is intentional and relevant to the person/people conducting the inquiry so it provides the participant(s) with ownership. The results of the inquiry are visible. All of these factors related to inquiry have the potential to create long-term learners.

I teach in a mixed age classroom. My students are between 6 and 8 years old. Birding is my hobby and an area that I feel comfortable teaching to my students. Birds are everywhere, and I find that children in my classroom have a natural interest in birds. Our school is located in a rural, agricultural area approximately 25 miles from Sacramento, CA. We are located near two large nature preserves - one is wetlands and the other is riparian. Our locale provides us with an extensive variety of birds - ones that migrate through twice a year and others that live in the area year round. We've participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count, and we've posted many of our sightings on eBird and iNaturalist. We use field guides to identify the birds we observe. We've been posting our iNaturalist observations under a project/organization where I received my Certified Naturalist training. However, since our school will be remote learning for at least four months, I plan to create our school as a project so we can accumulate our own observations. My plan is to use their observations as a foundation for many of our biology lessons while our school site is closed. My advice for citizen science (which I've recently heard referred to as community science) projects is to be realistic about what your students are capable of doing, especially if teaching younger children.