Key highlights from Topic Exploration
- Children nowadays do not have an emotional connection (sense of place) to the natural environment around them (Judson, 2018). Judson (2018) believes all educators can help children develop a sense of place by taking the learning outdoors.
- “The future of our planet depends on raising children who have reasons to protect the world they live in (Krusekopf, 2015)
Guiding questions for this inquiry:
- What do you wonder about in the natural environment?
- How can we connect to the natural environment?
- What is our responsibility to the environment and community?
- How can we take care of our Earth?
- How does the natural environment and community help me?
- How does the natural environment and community help the world?
Plan for proposed inquiry project
- Field: Outdoor Education
- Topic: Living Things
- Grade: Kindergarten
- Project design: unit plan
- I plan to use the forest at the back of my school regularly with students to explore and learn about living things in our natural environment and for students to build an emotional connection to the natural environment
- Students will have the opportunity to study living things in our local forest in small groups or individually. There will be whole class activities, small group and individual throughout the year
- I think this field could and should be year long, however the inquiry project topics will change as inquiries can lead to more questions, so we could focus on different topics if students discover new things they want to learn about in the natural environment. Outdoor education should be year long in my opinion because it will help students build a stronger connection to the natural environment if it lasts longer than a term or few weeks. Also, I think it’s important to have outdoor education throughout the whole year because students do not experience the natural environment these days.
- Right now I think the project will be somewhat discipline-based inquiry as I want some of the experiences to be authentic (e.g. how to preserve the natural environment and our responsibilities to the natural environment), and the students to connect with experts so the learning is meaningful and relevant to students’ lives.
- I will connect with Surrey Nature Centre to have experts involved in our learning and possibly bring in guest speakers or go on a field trip
- Also, I will involve BC Forest Association in our project and invite a professional as a guest speaker
- Also connect parents to the inquiry by allowing them to come with us into the forest and updating FreshGrade (e-portfolio my district uses) regularly so parents are up to date with the project and able to contribute with students at home
- Assessment would be ongoing and include observations, note taking, photo and video documentation, and include co-created criteria with students and students will document their observations through writing (or pictures) and iPads.
- Resource to use: https://www.forestsontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/FoF_Forestry_Guide.pdf
Possible lessons/activities
- Intro to each lesson could be from A Walking Curriculum (Judson) – 30 day challenge intentions https://docs.google.com/document/d/14qkwlhBtAibwdqGIPaj32ePk8_3QdaZ6k4rmezWvIT0/edit
- Using some activities from Knapp (2013) article that has 25 outdoor activities connected to Indigenous principles
- Read alouds about nature – this blog has picture book resources about nature https://thecuriouskindergarten.blog/category/outdoor-classroom-2/
- Lesson 1: students explore the forest and find living things (no discussion of what this term means yet), sort into living and non-living, then share findings with the class. At the end of the class, we will clarify what living and non-living things are.
- Lesson 2: students explore the forest again and look for a living thing they want to study. Take a picture of it (student could take a picture of the living thing each time we go outside, which could be compared later to notice how it has changed). Guiding question in mind: What interests me about this living thing? Why do I want to study this living thing? What do I want to learn about this living thing?
- Another lesson or lessons: be a forest expert
- students experience the role of a forest expert through field labs
- bring in forest experts into the class and have them lead the field labs
- Another lesson: students come up with questions they have of the forest or living thing they are studying for an expert then interview an expert at a later date
- Another lesson: Storytelling with objects in nature about living things
- Create a story using objects from the forest (remember not to hurt living things) about how you think this living thing came to Earth or this forest
- Create a story in the perspective of this living thing (e.g. what this living thing does in a day)
- Another lesson: Andy Goldworthy Art
- Find things in the forest (remember not to hurt “living” things) to collect and create art with
- Final lesson/final assessment: Discuss similarities/differences of living things in groups. Possible questions to discuss: How does this living thing help the environment? What would happen if this living thing went extinct? Does this living thing hurt the natural environment? How?
Questions about the proposed project:
- What other experts can I have as a part of our inquiry? Some ideas (Ontario Foresty Association, 2016, p. 12)
- Registered Professional Forester
- Forest Technician
- Biologist
- GIS Analyst
- Conservation Officer
- Environmental Engineer
- Arborist
- Forest Operator
- Scientist Forest
- Fire Fighter
- Park Worker
- Does each lesson need to have a guiding question students know of before the lesson starts? Is it okay to have a lesson without a guiding question and uncover the curriculum after (like Forest Schools do)?
Learning Principles from BC Curriculum & First Peoples Principles for Learning
- First Peoples Principles for Learning
- Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
- Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions.
- Learning recognizes the role of indigenous knowledge.
BC Curriculum
Core Competencies
- Communication
- Communicating
- Collaborating
- Thinking
- Creative Thinking
- Critical & Reflective Thinking
- Personal and Social
- Social Awareness & Responsibility
Subject: Science
Big Ideas (Understand)
- Plants and animals have observable features
- Daily and seasonal changes affect all living things.
Learning Standards Content (Know)
- living things make changes to accommodate daily and seasonal cycles
Learning Standards Curricular Competencies (Do)
- Questioning and Predicting
- Demonstrate curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world
- Observe objects and events in familiar contexts
- Ask simple questions about familiar objects and events
- Processing and analyzing data and information
- Experience and interpret the local environment
- Discuss observations
- Communicating
- Share observations and ideas orally
- Express and reflect on personal experiences of place
Subject: English Language Arts
Big Ideas
- Language and story can be a source of creativity and joy.
- Through listening and speaking, we connect with others and share our world.
- Curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us.
Learning Standards Content (Know)
- Story
- Structure of a story
- Strategies and processes
- Oral language strategies
Learning Standards Curricular Competencies (Do)
- Comprehend and connect
- Engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop understanding of self, identity, and community
- Create and communicate
- Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding
- Create stories and other texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community
Subject: Art
Big Ideas
- Engagement in the arts creates opportunities for inquiry through purposeful play.
- People connect to others and share ideas through the arts.
Learning Standards Content (Know)
- personal and collective responsibility associated with creating, experiencing, or sharing in a safe learning environment
Learning Standards Curricular Competencies (Do)
- Communicating and documenting
- Express feelings, ideas, stories, observations, and experiences through the arts
- Experience, document and share creative works in a variety of ways
Current understandings of inquiry-based pedagogy
Inquiry is the desire to explore meaning, purpose, and different perspectives. Inquiry is purposeful and focuses on the process. It is more effective when inquiry is completed in groups than individually as inquiry focuses on gaining perspectives to become more creative and flexible (Bai, 2005).
- Students’ questions and ideas are valued and drive the learning rather than solely the educators (Forest and Nature School in Canada, 2014).
- All Forest Nature Schools (FNS) regularly and repeatedly go to the same natural space, and are emergent, experiential, inquiry-based, play-based, and place-based (Forest and Nature School in Canada, p. 12).
- Activities depend on “the season, the community context, climate, landscape, animals that have visited the night before, trees that have blown down in the wind, the kinds of provocations elicited by the educator, the kinds of tools and loose parts provided, the children who are in attendance, how long the group has been formed, and—most importantly—what interests the child(ren)” (Forest and Nature School in Canada, p. 12-13).
- Educator actively sparks children’s interests, quietly observes and plans, learns alongside students, ensures the safety of the group, and creates connections with students, their parents, and the community (Forest and Nature School in Canada).
- Inquiry prepares students for their future and helps them become social change agents (Friesen, Saar, Park, Marcotte, Hampshire, Martin, Brown, & Martin, 2015)
- Discipline-based inquiry is an in-depth study of a domain in a discipline. The tasks students complete reflect the living realities of the discipline being taught (Friesen et al., 2015).
- Discipline-based inquiry helps students learn content and develop lifelong habits.
- Discipline-based inquiry focuses on a question, problem or exploration that is meaningful for students and connects to the world beyond the classroom (Friesen et al., 2015).
- Students participate in real world tasks, such as field work, labs, interviews, construction, etc.
An effective task in inquiry is hard fun, and has students design and build to try to resolve big issues or essential questions. It also invites an audience beyond the teacher and school population. - Students and teachers observe and collaborate with experts in the discipline. Experts in the field should be able to recognize the tasks.
- Teach students to be kind and gentle to nature, such as through read alouds (McDonnell, 2016)
- Read alouds could be starting point for outdoor learning just like other learning (McDonnell, 2016).
- Some students could find it difficult to form questions at this age. In their outdoor kindergarten classroom, Santangelo-Williams, Messier, Naqvi, Kraan, & Warfield (2015), found their students shared many observations, but very few questions. The kindergarten students had difficulty verbalizing questions but showed curiosity about the natural world. From my teaching experience, I can relate to this. Kindergarten students usually share lots of information but have difficulty coming up with questions. For example, when I ask students before starting an activity if they have any questions, they will start sharing things rather than asking. I think it is important to continue to emphasize and explore the differences between a question and a comment with students throughout the inquiry process and before starting an inquiry.
- McQueen and Norrish (2015) created a “wonder wagon” with a variety of materials (e.g., clipboards, pencils, magnifying glasses, string) and had bins for specific seasonal items (e.g., specimen viewer for bugs collections in the fall/spring and mittens and shovels for the winter) to “make outside inquiries easily and readily available for both spontaneous and planned learning.”
- Students can take part in assessment at this age too – McQueen and Norrish’s (2015) students recorded their ideas on paper or using the class camera and iPads for documenting
- “The outdoor classroom allows students to freely explore, question, create, build, problem-solve and connect their interests with one another and the outdoor world” (McQueen and Norrish, 2015).
My reflection
- Topic is very broad and can lead to more questions so could be a year long project. For example, some topic McQueen and Norrish (2015) studied with their kindergarten students were:
- changes to our trees/plants, animals and habitats (monarch caterpillar to butterfly, worms, ants, animals storing food for winter), water and ice, how do we connect to our world?, how can we take care of our Earth?, what do you wonder about?, how can we make sounds and patterns outside?
- I should explore the forest myself first to be familiar with the area and come up with safety plan before taking students in the forest
- Need to find activities related to the field for a more disciplinary approach
Peer feedback
- Could have a field trip to the farm and visit farm repeatedly to learn of a different outdoor environment and living things
- Good to have a specific topic to explore with younger kids because they are new to the school system and being too general will be hard
- Topic ties to First Peoples Principles nicely of interconnectedness to environment
Description: The Inquiry Project Brainstorm will consist of ideas for a project based on a K-12 BC Curriculum topic, (or other curriculum, as discussed with your instructor). Projects will take up a wide variety of curriculum subject areas, and interdisciplinary projects are welcome. This project can be theoretical or practical, and very wide (ie yearlong inquiry for the classroom) or very focused (ie weekend workshop). The level of detail and focus will be reflected in this choice. At this stage, students will describe the possibilities they see within the topic, and propose some emerging ideas for how they might invite learners (K-12, adults, or other specific group) into the topic that they have been studying.
Required Elements for Inquiry Brainstorm:
- Key highlights from your Topic Exploration, and some key questions for inquiry within the topic.
- A description and broad strokes plan for your proposed Inquiry Project, along with questions that you may have about the proposed project.
- A short list of the appropriate Learning Principles from BC Curriculum: K-12 Core Competencies, Big Ideas (Understand), Learning Standards for Curricular Competencies (Do), Learning Standards for Curricular Content (Know), and First Peoples Principles for Learning.
- An explanation of your current understandings of inquiry-based pedagogy related to your topic and proposed project.
- Explanations and APA citations for at least three required and recommended resources, plus three outside resources, on inquiry-based pedagogy.
- Images and diagrams, educational supports, and topic resources are welcome and encouraged. Please include as appropriate.
Possible Project Designs:
- An original “inquiry project” for K-12 (or other) learners for implementation in a classroom.
- A re-imagined “unit plan” that takes an existing plan (from one’s own work or other source) and shows how it can be re-imagined for inquiry.
- A series of inquiry-based class resources, teaching strategies, assessments, and inspirations around your topic of interest.
- A field trip or resource-based project design.
- A research project that engages community members and/or professionals in the field, to gain practical understanding, and/or to test and develop an approach to inquiry, such as a class resource, assessment strategy, or a lesson or project design.
- A workshop or online resource for professionals in the field.