Melanie Biddinger

A Walk in the Woods

Wed, Nov 28, 2018 2:07 AM
A Walk in the Woods Review

I would recommend this article for other readers because it is a well-organized, informative, and easy to read article about nature walks preschool children engaged in at a public park. The authors provide various safety tips that teachers and parents should consider, such as proper clothing and footwear, which will help ensure their students’ well-being. The authors also provide some of the overreaching ideas, observations, discoveries, and questions children made while on their nature walks, which will help prepare teachers for some of the things they may encounter while engaging in this activity with their students. Lastly, the authors provide examples of some of the open-ended questions adults asked the children as well as how some of the children’s findings were used/expanded upon in the classroom. This allows teachers to consider some of the questions they may want to ask their students and the classroom activities students can engage in to expand their thinking. Overall, this is a great article for teachers to read if they want to use the outdoors and have their students engage in scientific inquiry that uses the natural environment.

Scientists Like Me

Wed, Nov 28, 2018 2:05 AM
Scientists Like Me Review

This book chapter is a great resource for educators who want to teach their students about scientists and the various scientific practices they engage in to make discoveries. The authors provide a detailed description of the lesson that teachers can implement, which includes information, such as the materials needed and the bibliographic information of the books that are used during the lesson. The authors also provide detailed step-by-step procedures of how students are to complete the activities. Throughout the lesson, students not only read about different scientists, which will foster their reading comprehension skills, but they have opportunities to actually engage in the different scientific processes, some of which include observing and experimenting. In addition, this lesson allows students to work both independently and collaboratively, which will help them develop both their autonomy and their social skills. Lastly, the authors conveniently provide the worksheets that students complete during the lesson so that teachers can print them out and use it for their own use. Overall, it is a great lesson that I feel can be adapted for any grade.