Leaves & photosynthesis for the elementary studen

This article is a great means to design inquiry for elementary students, to combine it with nature journals and to open the classroom to the environment outside the school. An excursion int... See More

This article is a great means to design inquiry for elementary students, to combine it with nature journals and to open the classroom to the environment outside the school. An excursion into adjacent parks or green areas offers students the opportunity to observe and to ask questions about trees. The students’ questions lead to a lesson to answer why leaves change color. The sound pedagogy, student-centered learning, and writing across the curriculum are awesome ways to integrate science into any curriculum, be it a dedicated science class or a means to include some science into other content areas. The focus of the investigation lends itself to reading interesting stories about nature and scientists who study nature while the science leads to ideas about photosynthesis, how trees eat, and how scientists collect, quantify, and discuss data. The level of the content and the methods of inquiry reflect Piaget criteria for this age level. In addition, inquiry of this nature is affordable and is readily integrated into an exciting science journey for all students. Standard correlations exist to further support the methods and strategies employed in the inquiry.

Transition to inquiry

Moving from a traditional model to an inquiry model of science can be frightening, because we are accustomed to seeing"results" immediately. As the article describes the approach, the teache... See More

Moving from a traditional model to an inquiry model of science can be frightening, because we are accustomed to seeing"results" immediately. As the article describes the approach, the teacher-author discusses her concerns and observations as the year rolled along. Obviously, implementing inquiry was a bit scary, but the enthusiasm and process the kids learned made the year-long trial a success.

Science is Not Meant to be Like a Spectator Sport

For elementary teachers looking for lessons that are seeped in easy-to-follow strategies for embedding inquiry into science teaching, this article fits the bill. A second grade classroom em... See More

For elementary teachers looking for lessons that are seeped in easy-to-follow strategies for embedding inquiry into science teaching, this article fits the bill. A second grade classroom embarked on a unit of plant investigations that became a treasure trove of opportunities to investigate the important science concepts that needed to be covered in the unit. The author commented that by the end of the tree investigation, her students had experienced a richness and depth in conceptual understanding that she had not seen before. She trusted in student inquiry to guide the learning and empowered the children to be inquisitive about what they were observing around them. The blending of science processes with science content removes science learning from the spectator sport status; students learn best by “doing science”.

Letting Students Guide the Inquiry Process

I liked how this article included the teacher's journal reflections which provided insight into one teacher's struggles to continue to honor the student driven inquiry process in her classro... See More

I liked how this article included the teacher's journal reflections which provided insight into one teacher's struggles to continue to honor the student driven inquiry process in her classroom. The article shared some insights into how to do student driven inquiry as well as keep focused on the content and nature of science understandings that the teacher wanted the students to have as well. This science content in the article was focused on plants, but could be adapted to other curriculuar areas as well.