Sara
Forum Replies Created
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Totally agree that students should be able to decide how they want to present their results. Of course that would require students to have equal access to resources, or require in-class time to create their presentation. I found the 6th grade rubric most helpful as it contained examples of what the student report would include for each point valuie. Seems like a comment box would be good, to offer tips and suggestions for students to strength their report.
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@Jessica That's a great suggestion Jessica! No doubt the lack of support from the school community would be so disheartening. Involving admin and staff from the start would hopefully make them cheerleaders for the students and projects! Veronica - don't give up, teachers like Y O U make the difference in kids wanting to go to school, to develop a passion for learning!
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My problem is time too, since most of the classes I teach are a one-day, field trip format. Our lesson on the scientific process/inquiry has to fit in one hour! That's the inquiry design (with students), observations, data analysis, and sharing time. Even though this is super rushed, we do get positive feedback from teachers - the hands on practice we lead supplements the formal classroom instruction. How fun would it be to stretch this out over the course of a school year!
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Thanks for sharing Elizabeth, good to know that you can access this dataset even if you don't operate your own. I'm defintely going to check it out!
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Good to know! I could see using CoCoRaHS data to layer over species observation data to really emphasize the influence weather has on say - bird migration or the observation of artic species moving south in response to our warming earth (beluga whale sighting off San Diego).
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I spent some time looking througj SciStarter, as I wanted to explore other projects, but I didn't an option to sort by projects with datasets. Popped into a few projects but no obvious dataset to utilize so I chose iNaturalist. It's def my fav for a few reasons, mostly because this project has such a large scope - you can look at data from land to sky! iNat is free and easily accessible if you create an account, though I believe you have to be 13yo to create your own account. Still, this tool would be easy for a family, or classroom, account so I don't think that age restriction is a huge deal. Truly there are so many ways you could use iNat's huge dataset to conduct investigations: - Range reduction/expansion: How are invasive species moving throughout your county, state, region? Combine that with weather data to investigate patterns - Space use, preffered habitat: Determine preferred habitat type of X species - where are species located (ground, tree, etc) in observation photos? -Temporal: Are migrating species spending more time in breeding/non-breeding locations? -Exploring the concept of 0 in data collection: In your neighborhood, state, etc are we missing data and if so, why?
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Many of the classes I lead start with a group discussion determing who a scientist is, what do scientists do, and what tools do scientist use. Starting this way allows us to chat about the different fields of science and review that scientist ask questions, learn, and make new discoveries. This sets the stage for our outdoor explorations. When asked reference questions, I typically respond with a question, encouraging the student to slow down and think. Demonstrating curiosity and wonder is key so I get really excited when we spot animals. We also review how to move if we want to discover animals, so I purposely slow them down, quiet the group, and explain that sometimes we have to go into 'bobcat' mode if we want to see animals. This strategy also allows us to review trophic levels and keeps the students thinking about how animals respond in the wild. When we spot something we'll gather and ask questions to expand learning and hone our observation skills. Making curiosity and discovery a full body experience helps keeps my groups engaged and always on the ready for a new chance to learn! I rarely get the chance to have a group for more than a day as we run a lot of school trips, so my role is to model how to observe and get excited. I can't wait to incorporate what I'm learning in this course but that might be down the road for day camps next summer.
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Great idea to show super strange plants as your hook for plant lessons. Who wouldn't be curious when you see a plant growing sideways or growing around other trees?! Love that you set the scene for kids to be excited and marvel at the natural world. I think this serves as a great observation introduction, which will undoubtly make their outdoor experience even more special.
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Kathleen I love that you suggest this could be an entire school project, from science to shopclass! With school admin support this integrated approach would be a game changer for a LOT of public schools. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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I'm a huge iNaturalist fan so for the sake of time, I used this for my discussion My challenge with iNaturalist is grabbing a good photo. Using my expeience, a few photos are necessary for ID, and even more photos for plant ID. For this reason, I think it's important to go over how to take a good photo and what angles/shots you need in order to get a research grade ID. There is so much to learn! I would like to use this project with a student group to track the movements of invasive species. This would be a perfect tie in with Globe Observer so students could investigate how weather impacts almost everything, including the movement north by invasive lizards in Florida. With this, I think apps that are easy to use, like iNat, show students that observation and inquiry can happen ANYWHERE. Beyond adding observations, I'd like to teach students how to interpret citizen science data for their own investigations.
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I agree that learners must feel comfortable and safe in the classroom setting in order to be vunerable and learn that 'I don't know' is a perfectly acceptable answer. Modeling this behavior by also showing that there are many discoveries for us (educators) to explore can help students understand learning is a life-long process. Encouraging observation and acknowledging the contributions of all learners, through the 'I Wonder' board, is a great way to practice this in the "classroom". Repetition seems key too - learners have to see this process over and over to really develop a critically thinking mind. As an educator, I must learn to provide great follow up questions to help students expand upon their initial observations, guiding the curiosity into the process of open-inquiry.
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Nancy I totally relate with your comment! The time management loop with large groups certainly inhibits how much time is spent on observation - at least with the structure of our largest programs (school groups). As a guide I want to show them how cool nature is and I tend to point out animals in the beginning of the program and allow the group/student to take over this role near the end of the experience. I've started purposely avoiding telling all the answers and flipping that to provide prompts that lead to their discovery. For example, I ran into guests that were exploring our trails and they asked the most common question on campus - "what can I see here?" A lot of our wildlife are small and secretive in our mangrove forest so visitors have to slow down, learn to blend in, and hone their observation skills. When asked this question I responded by hinting at what they might see, look for something on the tree branches, with claws, etc. I think this course will certainly help me develop a habitat of more open ended inquiry, and I'm so thankful for the experience to learn from fellow classmates like you!
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@Amy This is a great reminder for us all to remain curious! When educators participate in the learning process students begin to understand that we're all learners, learning and discovery are FUN, and it's completely normal to not have all the answers! Totally agree that we have to model that behavior and enthusiasm for inquriy so students see the process repeatedly.
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Try doing it with your eyes closed next time! It's a lot of fun and allows even more attention to sound.
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The space to fully observe, without technology dinging or ringing. I've done this activity a few times, both in trainings I've attended and those I've led. For me I find it helpful to pick a place that's far enough away from very obvious distractions (and temptations) to open your eyes. So, a spot far from a road or gathering - at least for the first time doing a sound map. One of my most memorable maps came from a very relaxing wellness retreat - though you would never know that looking at my map that day. I chose to represent sound intensity with lots of wavy and obnoxious lines, that consumed anything else on the paper - as this was how it felt while I was experiencing all the motor sounds from boats, cars, and planes. I think it's important to guide students through observation, so providing prompts like : - listen for the closest sound - what sound do you hear the loudest, the farthest away -what sound makes you feel happy? This helps children, even adults, focus their attention on the experience and the senses by giving them suggestions of HOW to pay attention. Love this activity combined with a sit spot so the observer can compare changes over time, season, weather, etc and start to explore questions, patterns, trends...
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Sharing also helps educators check for student understanding, think on the fly, and experience that love of learning as their auidence might propose even more questions!
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Jessica, 100% agree. The kids have to feel it's something that is a part of their expeience - and by allowing them to ask the questions they naturally follow their own interest to discover the 'answers'. If they cannot connect it to their world - why does it matter to them? I so wish our center had more opporuntities to work with students on a repeat basis so I could facilitate an open inqiry format. What fun!
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Since I work at a nature center, the most important way we can help layer upon classroom instruction is to encourage students to make observations. We regularly chat about what a scientist looks like and what scientists do - calling attention to alternative careers beyond the mad scientist cliche image. So far this unit has helped me understand just how important it is for students to be involved in the entire process, from proposing the question to recording the data and then the dissemintation of results. Although we don't always have time ffor this entire process in a single-day visit, I think this approach would work well for summer camps and youth mentor groups.
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I love that in first grade your students are discovering how we are a global community! Have you looked into the NOAA marine debris tracker app? You could setup your own team and collect trash around the school yard as a way to engage your students in a project that helps keep waterways clean. The website has a map showing data about the trash collected (pics), location, and collector so it'd be a great way for your class to see how their effort helps the entire world!
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Real Science in the Palm of Your Hand is such a great resource to remind us that we as educators, are facilitors of the learning process. When the students are involved from the start of the process through the very end, the lesson's impact has the ability to grow beyond the orignial intent. Teaching students to see themselves as scientist is the most important practice for my role as an educator. In order for students to practice science in an authentic way, they HAVE to see themselves as scientist, they HAVE to engage as a scientist. In doing so they gain skills and confidence that will help motivate them to communicate and engage locally (in their school community) and well beyond. Attend to the unexpected is a practice that speaks to the beauty of discovery - taking time to observe/explore/discuss the unexpected adds layers to the entire process. New discoveries lead to new questions and new investigations!