Ideas, Notes, Brainstorms

Brainstorming for this developing / pilot program

Top Ideas:

  • Science Camp in October is kick-off for 5th grades attending (replaces 2 field trips?)

    • 5th grades not attending get intro lessons to INIWIRMO, Ecosystems (maybe Discovery Swap, too) which are normally done at camp.

    • Could have intro for all in September - possibly an intro to Native practices and uses (but that may be best for later to better understand how they dovetail with ecosystems approaches and their benefits? Maybe do in December? Depending upon what is available...)

    • Ideally Science Camp Instructors would also be instructors for Branching Out (for the schools attending camp especially, to build on those camp relationships)

  • Ecosystems theme for program, integrating Indigenous understanding, use, and management of the land into lessons (aka TEK - Traditional Ecological Knowledge)

  • Address Science and Social Studies Standards:

    • Science Standards

      • 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.

      • 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

      • 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

      • 5-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect Earth’s resources and environment. ← this is key IMO - how Indigenous people have understood, used, and cared for the land forever

    • History / Social Science (from HSS Framework for 5th-grade)

      • Age of Exploration

        • Why did Europeans explore?

        • What exchanges were established as a result of the age of exploration?

        • How did European explorers and natives view each other?

      • Cooperation and Conflict in North America

        • How did European explorers and settlers interact with American Indians?

        • How did American Indians change as a result of the arrival and settlement of European colonists?

        • Why did American Indians fight with each other? Why did they fight with European settlers?

        • What role did trade play in both cooperation and conflict between and among European settlers?

      • The New Nation’s Westward Expansion

        • What did the West mean for the nation’s politics, economy, social organization, and identity?

        • How did westward movement transform indigenous environments and communities? ← at least touch on how colonists disregarded Indigenous knowledge and the results have been disastrous for many environments - especially in how we understand the role of fire in the ecosystem, water use and care, native species, and more.

    • Environmental Principles & Concepts: How one Outdoor School Integrates EP&Cs into curriculum: https://classroomscience.org/articles/fyi/how-one-program-uses-hands-experiences-outdoors-teach-environmental-principles-concepts-epcs


Ideas for Monthly Lessons

**My favorite ideas so far are starred

Timing:

  • Could be same time length as Taking Root (1.5 hours) or perhaps longer for 5th grade, and once a month (teachers seem to like the once a month idea)

  • Could be weekly for a few weeks at a time periodically (6 weeks in fall, 6 weeks in spring, or something like that)

  • Could be quarterly, one for each season, and half or full day programs (or multi-day)

Structure:

  • Definitely use the Learning Cycle/5e model and always include sit spots and nature journaling, but more advanced.

    • Also combine nature journaling with science notebooks for collecting data for any projects.

  • Either Project-based working towards one large goal/product, or lessons build on each other, or separate lessons - see ideas for these models below.

Educational Focus:




  • **Completely Nature Journaling Focused

    • This would seriously be the simplest way to implement this program!

    • Go through the https://howtoteachnaturejournaling.com/ curriculum - one each month!

    • Could still do a mapping/field guide focus this way and even include biodiversity surveys - sort of a hybrid with the PBL ideas above

    • An advantage of nature journaling is it can be adapted to different schools' preferences for curriculum - possibly.

    • This is so awesome! I found out an Outdoor Ed/BEETLES connection in San Diego is doing basically THIS EXACT THING! The Nature Collective So look at her program for ideas! (not using docents, training teachers, which is another option!)


  • **Adapt Vashon Nature Center's Everyone Counts program

    • it's 12 weeks, but could do it over 8 months instead - some won't work for school like visiting your sit spot at night. Could also do two some months if it works.

    • I like the structure and have other resources for our local environment and other changes to make it fit with timing and school. This would also be much easier than creating something from scratch!

    • It also has overlap with the PBL ideas with biodiversity surveys

    • Also has overlap with some of the Discrete Units of Nature Study below, or could be organized that way.

    • Big advantage is if we have distance learners it is already set up that way!


  • **BEETLES lessons

    • These could be organized in ways to resemble the above models

    • BEETLES has the Learning Cycle built-in, and has amazing instructor support

    • We'll be using BEETLES methodology no matter what, and it's written into their lessons.

    • We'll probably use at least some BEETLES lessons anyway!

    • Disadvantage is we use these at Science Camp, but maybe either use different ones, or it's not an issue because they can always do them again but go deeper.


  • Discrete units of Nature Study (literally from the ground up)

    • Soil

      • Composition, layers (use sifters from camp!)

      • Decompositon / formation

    • Fungus?

      • Lichen study? (is there lichen there?)

      • Rotting logs

    • Plants - herbs and shrubs

    • Plants - trees

      • Measure tree heights, find tallest!

      • Look at what lives in/on trees (habitat) - PLT resources

    • Wildlife

      • Invertebrates (could do after soil or integrated with soil)

        • Bark Beetle Exploration

        • Pond

      • Herps (reptiles and amphibians)

      • Mammals

      • Birds - do with 3rd-grade birding? (in a full year, would need an assistant!)

    • Weather / Clouds


  • Reflection and Expansion of Taking Root

    • Observation and practices of science

      • INIWIRMO at a higher level

      • Add I Think Maybe

      • Explanations from Evidence

      • Argumentation from Evidence - discussion routines

    • Autumn changes - focus more on photosynthesis, adapations

    • Seed Dispersal - may not need to revisit this?

    • Tracking and Animal Sign

    • Journaling (this would be integrated throughout, and built upon, so maybe not a separate lesson, or start with this, or do instead of Autumn or seeds)

    • Honeybees - do a more advanced invertebrate study instead

      • Bark Beetle Exploration

    • Birds

      • More in-depth bird language

      • Birding


  • Native Uses of the Land

    • Tie in better with Tribe/Museum/COSA

    • Not my area of expertise, but a worthy goal!!

Teacher Input / Ideas / Requests:

  • I think that food chain/ energy transfer would be right up your alley. :-) I usually use science camp to kick these off, but that's not happening, so... (Christy - Big Pine)

    • 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.

    • 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

    • 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

  • We'll we will be focused more on Social Studies/history than Science in the Spring... It might be interesting to focus on how local Native groups survived off of the land here... Different plant/animal species in the area. (Angelina - Lone Pine)

  • In my thought, this program could dovetail quite nicely with both history and science.

    • For history: We cover US history from the Pre-Columbian era to westward expansion. If we could do a few lessons relating to Native Americans- tools, ceremonies, stories, houses, anything specific to our local tribe it would be really neat for the kids. They may already get something like that in the 4th grade, but it still might be a cool refresher.

    • For science: I'm thinking this could tie in most closely to our Web of LIfe study. This includes understanding producers, consumers, decomposers, food chains and webs, the interconnection between species in an ecosystem and how disrupting 1 sends a jolt through an entire system. It would be awesome to dive into our local ecosystem. To show kids what lives and grows here, right in their backyards. We could even tie it into our study of water and weather... where does water in the Owens Valley come from? What types of clouds and weather patterns do we see here because of the mountains that surround us? Rainshadow effect, etc. (Tracy - Bishop)



MORE IDEAS:

Do 5th-grade Science Camp in the Spring as a culminating activity from Branching Out! (can't do Lava tubes if we do it in spring - Townsend's Big-eared Bat conservation March-August)

I'd have to move some other programs around - 4th grade would love to move back to October, but what I really would need to move would be May programs, like 2nd-grade Fish Slough and maybe the 6th grade creek study.

Might be too much.

Ideally, I'd have some of the same instructors from Science Camp either way, though, which I think would be a hit!

Better yet - do Science Camp as always in October as the kick-off!! That way we can introduce INIWIRMO and lots of the concepts and routines at camp, then expand upon them each month thereafter. Maybe one meeting in the fall after camp (Nov-Dec), then once a month from Jan-May. Ideally, some of the docent instructors will be from camp! So this year, include activities from camp, and for the Bishop 6th grade, have those be in two lessons Sept-Oct but for small schools do them at camp. We could also start in September with someone from the Tribe(s) doing a program on Native uses of and attitudes towards the land?

Again, if some of the Science Camp instructors could be docents, that would be ideal for continuity!

Materials:

Could use more tools with 5th grade such as

  • Hand lenses

  • Field guides

  • Dip Nets for catching pond critters

  • Soil sifters

Excerpts from a conversation with Kevin Beals (BEETLES)

Maggie: We want to look at this from an ecosystem perspective - emphasizing that people are and have always been a part of the ecosystem, affecting and being affected by it. We depend upon functioning ecosystems for our survival just as much as other species do. And looking at how Native people "tended the wild" for millennia (and how we are only recently beginning to understand indigenous land management practices, like using fire) Maybe see if the teachers could show the PBS series Tending the Wild.

As a science teacher, I would still like a focus on ecosystems, science practices, environmental literacy, etc, but Native perspectives are definitely an important part of that and highly valuable!

Kevin: BEETLES has a resource that is very close to publication: Ecosystems Theme Field Experience. It includes flexible options for experiences 2-3 hours in length or 3-6 hours in length (or shorter or longer), with the options of including matter and energy. Useful for planning a series of hikes on the theme of ecosystems.

Maggie: I added a thing related to matter and energy on the first day of our science camp - we did INIWIRMO with some seed pods, then looked at the seeds, then the instructor posed the question to the students "how does it get from this (holding up seed) to this (pointing to the tree)?" (maybe I learned that at BEETLES?) It's a great leading phenomenon for kids to consider and connects to that learner.org Annenberg Private Universe/Minds of Their Own study with the Harvard graduates not understanding that most of the weight of a log comes from air (CO2). I <3 Constructivism! Anyway, another related phenomenon I had them do is how is this (hold up a log/piece of firewood) like this (hold up a battery)? Stuff to get them thinking!!

After those questions (or just the first one) we just did the good old "Mystery of Life" LAWS in film containers, then thanked a leaf afterward with breathy Elvis voices...

A cool thing about understanding where the carbon in cellulose comes from is the tie-in with climate change and trees as carbon sinks... which could lead to a whole lesson on calculating the carbon offset of a tree, but that may be too advanced for 5th grade! But maybe...

Kevin: BEETLES also has a professional learning session for instructors on ecosystems, matter and energy, also close to publication, that has a puzzler for instructors about the matter that makes up a tree, inspired many years ago by that Annenberg video. We have an evidence sheet to go with it to inspire their ideas to help it be learner-centered. Then we discuss the opposite direction with "the bunny question" - about how lots more matter goes into a bunny in a year than appears to exit it, and where might that other matter have gone? We suggest focusing on matter with kids first - energy and matter together can be confusing - then adding energy into the mix, if the kids seem ready. Eg: many think the matter from the bunny burns off into energy - which is a very common misconception combining erroneously combining matter and energy. 5th grade is pretty young, and if it was me I might just focus hard on ecoystems and matter with them.

It's going to be included in the Ecosystems, Matter (and Energy) Model Field Experience, which will be published soon. It's meant to be followed up with the Card Hike (Ecosystems, Matter and Energy card set), which is here: http://beetlesproject.org/resources/for-field-instructors/card-hike/ Here it is excerpted:

The Bunny Question. (~10 minutes) - SEE Matter and Energy under Lessons!