Often teachers are told that students learn best by doing hands-on activities and constructing their own knowledge. Yes, research agrees with the constructivist learning too. However, many teachers find that preparing and creating these lessons are very time consuming. Most teachers want to use these lessons but find not only the preparation time but the time within the classroom eats away at the daily schedule. I am going to present an outdoor science lesson that does not overwhelm you with preparation time or classroom time. This lesson was demonstrated by one of my students in a science methods class and I want to share it with you.
Your goal of this lesson is to discover some evidence of animals in your school yard. Engage your students by telling them that you heard that the principal spotted evidence of two elephants in the school yard this morning. Ask the students what evidence they believe the principal used to conclude this information. Some of the answers may be droppings, footprints, broken gates, etc. After all the suggestions have been stated, ask your students if they believe this is true? Most will agree that elephants do not live in the area.
Next have the students take their science notebooks out and explain that we are going to be scientists and go outside and record all the evidence they see of animals that have been in the school yard. Have them set up the T chart like this to collect data:
Evidence of animal Animal type
Prior to going outside define the perimeters for this investigation and any outdoor rules you may have. Allow the students to work in pairs and go outside. Encourage them to use all their senses, including sound. Walk around and ask some probing questions as the students discover some evidence. After five to ten minutes ask the students to come inside so you can analyze your data.
Explain to the students that they have collected data and now we need to analyze it. Show them a short PowerPoint or pictures you have collected from magazines to demonstrate the categories of evidence of animals. Show a picture of animal tracks, chew marks (like a beaver or insect on leaves), house (bird nest), droppings (bird droppings), animal parts (feather), smell (skunk), sound (bird singing), and food (flowers for bees). List these eight categories on the board. Now have your students categorize the evidence they found. As a teacher you can walk around and assist them categorize. Have them share their findings with a neighboring group. Allow them to modify any analysis if necessary.
Have each group write one of the evidence findings on a sticky note. Have each group place the sticky note under the categories you wrote on the board. After each group has placed the notes on the board go over the evidence findings.
After each group has shared with their sticky notes ask the students to tell you the animals they believe may have been in your school yard. Again list them on the board as they tell you. At this point you can conclude your lesson with the difference between observation and inference. The evidence would be all the observations and the inferences would be the animal, unless the students observed the actual animal.
Your assessment will be the evidence they collected in their science notebooks and the verbal discussions you hear. You can include a participation category in this activity if you wish.
This is a simple way to discover science with little preparation and big results. Your students will get better each time you ask them to find evidence. Go outdoors today!
Dr. McDonald
