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Introduction to Inquiry - Part III
Go to our forum (click on links) to add your answers to the questions:
Look at this picture from a schoolyard in Tucson Arizona and in the space provided: Write as many ecological questions as you can about the schoolyard and what you see there.
Questions are the cornerstone of inquiry, and fostering inquiry teaching and learning is one of the primary purposes in running a Schoolyard Ecology Institute for teachers.
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Look at the other questions people have entered to discover just how rich a resource for teaching this schoolyard really is.
Click here to go to a list of questions about this same photo that a group of ecologists came up with. How did they do?
Now answer the question, "How are schoolyards where I live being used for inquiry-based teaching of ecology?" using the following scale. Be sure to consider the responses we've gotten so far.
- 1 = not at all
- 2 = very infrequently by teachers or environmental education/science education specialists
- 3 = sporadically
- 4 = often, at least by many teachers or environmental education/science education specialists
- 5 = schoolyards are integrated totally into the curriculum.
What do they tell us?
Schoolyards vary in quality with somewhat of a 'normal' distribution around 'average'.
The use of schoolyards varies, but with a 'skewed' distribution towards 'infrequent'.
The difference in the two distributions suggests that schoolyards are an under-utilized resource for teaching.
Answer the question:
What limits the use of the schoolyard for inquiry-based ecology teaching and learning?
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