The Pros and Cons of Outdoor Science Education

The benefits of taking our science students out of the classroom for an outdoor activity are many ... BUT, you better be prepared and super organized!

If I ask my students what the term “environment” means to them, I am going to get a wide variety of answers.  Many of them will automatically think of a beautiful setting in nature, such as a bubbling creek through a forest, a field of wildflowers, or a stand of shimmering evergreen trees along a mountainside.  However, the “environment” is so much more.  It is everything that exists around us.  It is the natural world as well as all of the things that have been produced by humans.  The environment is an incredibly complex web of interactions between the living and the nonliving components of Earth.  I'd wager to say that most of our students pass through their "environment" on a daily basis without ever noticing that "things" are going on.  They may frequent a public park or live on a lake or pond, but rarely do they notice the complex web of interactions that are taking place right before their eyes.

 

When I go outside my mind is racing a mile a minute.  Even if I am walking across the parking lot to enter my local Wal Mart I am going to notice a bird singing or that the clouds are particularly fluffy.  Admittedly, I am a big nature nerd, but I get so much joy from experiencing nature, and I want my students to experience this as well.

The million dollar question is, "Can I get my students to think like me?"  

The students sitting in our classrooms today are going to be the decision makers (and voters) of tomorrow.  The bottom line is that Planet Earth needs our protection.  We have to teach our students about the natural world, and about the things that damage the natural world.  And the first step to effective environmental education is simple ... We have to get our students to NOTICE what is going on around them.  

How do we accomplish getting teenagers to notice nature when that is probably the last thing swirling around in their teen-aged brain?  The answer is:  Take them outside and force them to notice.  Oh, don't be fooled by their initial excitement when you announce to the class that the next few days will be spent outdoors.  They are already thinking that this is going to a welcome holiday away from the classroom setting!  You, the instructor, will have to be organized.  You must have a solid plan and procedure for what the students will be expected to do.  And you must give enough weight to the grade that it grabs their attention.

Let's think carefully about the pros and cons of this venture before we begin.

Pros:

• The first is obvious:  Students love to go outside!
• The ecological concepts we teach in the classroom can be reinforced by a quality outdoor activity.
• Students practice the skill of making good observations.
• It teaches and reinforces a different sort of data collection than they normally experience in a laboratory setting.
• An outdoor activity will probably involve drawing and mapping which will appeal to many of the students.
• It teaches students to pay attention and notice the world around them.
• Instilling a love of nature in a student will hopefully lead to an adult who wants to protect nature.
• The benefits of group work and the reinforcement of social skills are certainly life lessons that will be utilized long after the subject matter is forgotten. 
• It doesn't matter if you live in the city or in the country.  If you have plants, then you have an ecosystem that can be studied.

Cons:

• It can be time consuming:  Can you give up several days to carry out one project?
• Classroom management:  Will the students behave outdoors?

Tips on Getting Started:  

• Know what you want to accomplish.  Have a well thought-out plan with concrete objectives.  Don't take students outside and "wing it." That is a recipe for disaster.
• Have specific goals in mind when designing your activity.  Know what you want the students to learn from doing the activity.
• Make the assignment an important part of their grade so that most of the students will be willing to do quality work.

I like to do an activity that I call "Exploring an Ecosystem" in which I have my students study and analyze the physical features of an ecosystem, the living organisms within the ecosystem, and the interactions between these two components.  It involves marking off an area with stakes and string that measures 5m x 5m.  Students are required to work in close-knit groups to draw a detailed ecosystem site map and provide a color-coded key for everything in their ecosystem.  The students will identify the living organisms in their ecosystem and answer a detailed set of 29 questions designed to prompt them in making good observations.  Students will make food chains and food webs using the organisms in their ecosystem.  Students look for abiotic factors, biotic factors, evidence of competition, camouflage, predator/prey relationships, limiting factors, etc.

My objectives may seem simple, but they are actually quite involved:  

•   The student will survey an ecosystem to map out the physical characteristics of the land and to identify the living organisms that inhabit the ecosystem.

•   The student will describe and analyze the various relationships that exist within the ecosystem.

To ensure that my students accomplish my objectives I provide them with a set of handouts that provide clear instructions, safety precautions, and detailed analysis questions.

Click on image to view this resource in my TpT store.

Make sure that the students read the lab handouts, including all analysis questions, before beginning the project.  The questions are designed to guide the students in their observations of the selected ecosystem.  Students will often miss interactions that are occurring simply because they do not know to look for them.  Many of the questions used in this activity will prompt students into making good observations.

Click this image to view my Ecosystems PowerPoint.

I highly recommend that students receive prior instruction before tackling an outdoor project. In order to complete this ecosystems study, students should be familiar with key concepts in ecology. A few days of classroom instruction are needed to make sure that the students benefit from the days spent out of the classroom.  If the students are unprepared, the outdoor activity can quickly degenerate into playtime and goofing around. The benefits of outdoor learning are many, and the negatives are few, provided that you have a quality assignment, concrete learning objectives, and a good classroom management plan in place.

Have fun teaching outdoors!!

Charles Darwin: The Tale of Evolution

Over 130 years have passed since the death of Charles Darwin.  Despite the passage of time since Darwin first presented his ideas on natural selection, there continues to be controversy surrounding his theory of evolution.  In 1973, Theodosius Dobzhansky published an essay in American Biology Teacher in which he stated, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.”  Truer words were never spoken.  When teaching a biology class, we shouldn’t limit our students to a single unit on the theory of evolution.  Rather, the theme of evolution should be woven throughout every unit we teach.

I designed this teaching resource to teach my biology students about the man, Charles Darwin.  Darwin was a religious and thoughtful man, as well as a superb scientist.  However, I have found that I still have students in my class who view him in a less than complimentary light.  My main goal in writing this journaling activity was to provide my students with the facts and information they need to form their own opinions and conclusions based on the evidence presented.  After all, that is the goal of science, right?

I had two goals in mind when writing “Darwin’s Diary.”  First, I wanted to include enough biographical information about Darwin to teach my science students about his life.  Second, I wanted to produce a class project that would require my students to be thoughtful and introspective, while at the same time, ensure that they master the concepts of evolution.

What will the students be doing?

This teaching resource is written as if it were a diary kept by Charles Darwin throughout his life.  The entries in the diary are designed to teach about the life of Darwin, and the events that led him to develop his theory of evolution.  The 26 diary entries include facts and information about Darwin as well as actual quotes from Darwin.  Students are asked to respond in some way to each diary entry.  In some diary entries students will be asked to offer opinions, but in others, they must provide correct answers to questions.  In order to complete this project, students need to receive instruction in the concepts covered in an “Introduction to Evolution” chapter of a typical high school biology textbook.

Click on any image to view this resource in my TpT store.

I had such a great time doing the research for this evolution journaling activity! Darwin's life was full of the same drama, struggles, accomplishments, and tragedies that we all face today.  Darwin was witty, introspective, and very adventuresome!  I was able to find and use his own writings to use in the diary entries, and his descriptions of his daily life are simply amazing.  In one dairy entry Darwin describes collecting beetles.  Both of his hands were full holding beetles, so in order to catch a new beetle, he popped one into this mouth to free up a hand to catch another!  He describes his struggles trying to please his father, his tiny quarters aboard the Beagle, riding on the backs of Galapagos turtles, marriage, and his concern about the uproar that would be caused by publishing his theory.  As you can see, I am completely captivated by the details of his life, and your students will be as well!

What is needed to complete this assignment?

In order to complete these assignments, students will need to use the following resources:

•  Biology textbook

•  Notes taken during class

•  Online Resources

This diary activity is perfectly aligned with my teaching PowerPoint, “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.” It includes a 96-slide PowerPoint with notes for teacher and students. Click the image to the right to view this product on TeachersPayTeachers.

How can you use this in your classroom?

•    I suggest copying all pages and passing them out to your students on the first day of your evolution unit.  The activity is designed to be used over multiple days as you teach your unit on evolution.  

•    Use only the pages you want.  There are enough student pages included so that you have the flexibility to choose the pages best suited for your needs. 

•    Each day during your unit, have students complete a number of the dairy entries.  These pages make great classroom activities as well as quality homework assignments.  You will find that the content of the diary entries will generate much classroom discussion.

•    The questions used in this assignment are of two types.  Some questions require the students to express their opinion, but most questions require a research-based correct answer.  I accept any and all answers to opinion-based questions as long as the student has given an honest effort to express his/her opinion.  If this assignment is to be graded make sure that students know that they are expected to provide correct answers for the majority of the questions.

      

    At the end of "On the Origin of Species", Darwin writes, “There is grandeur in this view of life … from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” This teaching resource is a journey through time that allows our science students to learn about the events throughout Darwin's life that led him to write and publish "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection."

  

Wanna Chat? Reasons why my Chat Lab Stations are working!

The Background Story: A few years ago, I wanted to do something different on the first day of school. Most of the teachers at my school, including me, were doing the same thing all daylong ... Going over the course syllabus, passing out textbooks, reading the dreaded classroom rules. After one class period of this, all that the students heard was "Blah, blah, blah...."  It was definitely time for me to do something different. After giving it some thought, "Biology Chat" was born. My goals for the activity were simple:
(1) Get the kids actively engaged in science on the very first day so they don't dread coming to my class the second day, and (2) Help the students make new friends in our very large school. These goals were accomplished! In fact, the activity was so popular with my biology students that I quickly developed Chemistry Chat for my chem classes.

TL;DR click on any image to view in my TPT store. Or you can click here to view all  my Chats.

Biology Chat

Chemistry Chat

Physics Chat

What is the purpose of my "Chat" lab activities? My "Chat" activities are rotating lab stations and involve collaborative student groups. At each station, students collaborate to resolve a problem, accomplish a task, or conduct a minor science experiment. The term "chat" is used to encourage students to engage in meaningful conversation and teamwork, hopefully deepening their comprehension and mastery of the subject matter content. Let's face it. High school students have "socializing" on their minds all day long. The term "chat" resonates with them, and it has a “fun” tone.

What are the benefits of my Chat Lab Stations?

1.  Students are up, out of their seats, and moving! It is a rare student that can sit in a desk for eight hours and still be conscious at the end of the day. Chat lab stations allow students to move around the room, giving them a bit of a mental break between each station.

2.  Group work is an important part of what we do in a science class, and it is a skill that will be needed throughout life. Lab station activities teach students how to work together to achieve a goal.

3. Differentiation! We all teach classes that contain students of widely-varying ability levels. It is not necessary for every student to complete every lab station. For students with IEP's, have them complete only the stations that are appropriate for them. By carefully selecting the small groups, you can create groups that are supportive and will provide an educational atmosphere that will benefit all members of the group. It is also a good idea to have a "challenge" lab station for the early finishers. I never want idle hands in my classroom!

4.  All too often we throw so much information at the students that they quickly become overwhelmed by sheer volume. Each chat lab station focuses on a single task or concept. This prevents students from becoming overwhelmed by too much information.

5.  Peer teaching/tutoring is highly effective! A struggling student may likely learn more from a fellow student than they do from the teacher. One student can offer another student explanations in a low pressure setting that feels safe to the struggling student.

6.  The more informal classroom setting allows me more time to interact with my students. I love being able to walk around the room and speak to every student. It allows me to connect with the student, both personally and academically. Secondary students may not show the same affection for their teachers as do elementary students, but they still want to be noticed, complimented, and see a friendly smile from the teacher.

Tips for Implementation!

1. Consider very carefully how the students are arranged into groups. I never (or rarely) allow students to choose their own lab groups. Do I want the students to have a little "chat" or social time during the activity? Yes, but I want to control it. I want my students chatting, but I want them chatting about the topics and concepts that I need to teach and reinforce. Before my students arrive in my class, I have already placed them in groups. Each week I change the composition of the groups. This prevents the students from becoming too comfortable and failing to accomplish the goals of the lesson.

2. Make sure that your lab stations offer a good mix of teaching styles and strategies. You don't want students labeling a diagram at every single station. They will quickly lose interest in the activity. Make sure that each station offers a different sort of task or activity.

3. Make sure that each station is independent of the other stations. The activity works so much better if students can rotate from one station to another in any order. If the stations have to be completed in a certain order, a lab traffic jam will likely result.

4. Monitor the students! Make sure that students are on task ... all period long!  

Since developing Biology Chat years ago, I continue to expand on the idea of chat lab stations. Click on any of the photos below to view in my TPT store.

Let's continue the "converstation" in the comments section below. Let me know your questions. Is there a certain topic/concept you would like to see in a future Chat?  Thanks for stopping by, and have fun teaching!

"Words to Live By" from Famous Scientists

These famous scientists teach us about life as well as about science.

#KindnessNation

#WeHoldTheseTruths

We teach about the work of famous scientists all the time in our classes.  If you take one of my classes, then it is a given that you know that Jonas Salk developed a life-saving polio vaccine, that Stephen Hawking changed the way we think about our universe, that Jane Goodall works tirelessly on behalf of her beloved chimpanzees, and that nothing makes sense in a biology class without the work of Charles Darwin.   These people made (and make) tremendous contributions to various fields of study, but they also have a "human" side.  They teach us not only about science, but about human nature, about the value of hard work, about tolerance and acceptance, and about the importance of perseverance, never giving up, and never losing hope.

Click image to download free mini-posters.

With this in mind, I have developed a set of classroom mini-posters highlighting quotes from scientists that offer words of wisdom.  This is a "forever free" product in my TeachersPayTeachers store.  All of the mini-posters print out on 8.5 x 11 sized paper.  They can be quickly laminated and used to make a bulletin board or wall display.  As our students sit in our classes and look about the room, hopefully their eyes will land on one of these posters and provide them with the inspiration to succeed and overcome the hurdles of life.

So, what's up with the hashtags?  I am honored to join a large group of teacher-authors on TpT in this hashtag event to provide lots and lots of free classroom materials for all subjects and grade levels.  The idea is to provide a wealth of free materials that teach and reinforce character, kindness, tolerance, anti-bullying, empathy, inclusion, and equality for all.  Let's face it ... 2016 was a very difficult year for our nation.  Regardless of your beliefs, opinions or convictions, teachers need materials to bring out the best in our students.  This hashtag event will offer "forever free" materials that are not political in nature, but rather offer quality life lessons.

Here is a sample of the mini-posters.

Be sure to search on TpT, Facebook, and Instagram for these hashtags:  #KindnessNation and #WeHoldTheseTruths.  

This blog post is part of the Secondary Smorgasbord Blog Hop event.  As always, thanks to Darlene Anne Curran (The ELA Buffet) and Pamela Kranz (Desktop Learning Adventures) for hosting this event!  

An InLinkz Link-up

Motivating Science Students

Consider these points when developing a plan to motivate your students.

As we begin this new semester, I have been giving some thought to the concept of “motivation in the classroom.”   We teachers hold widely varying opinions on this subject.  Some teachers believe whole-heartedly that it is their job to do whatever it takes to gets the students excited and motivated about the learning process.  Other teachers feel that motivation comes from within, and that the student should be held responsible for their own motivation.  I think most teachers, including myself, fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum.

How hard we must work to motivate our students is directly proportional to the classes we teach.  Every student in our school must take a Biology 1 class, and many of them have no interest in doing so.   But the students in my AP Biology course enroll by choice, and the difference is huge!   My Biology 1 students are often less enthusiastic on the front end of the experience.  I may never convince some of my students to love biology and chemistry as I do, but it is my job as a classroom teacher to instill in my students the desire to succeed.  To that end, I have identified four factors intrinsic to the healthy motivation of students in the science classroom.

We cannot expect students to be willing to learn unless we as teachers are energetic in our approach to instruction.  Students will be more engaged if they see us up, moving about the classroom and burning calories.  Science teachers in a laboratory setting have an advantage.  Demonstrating lively behavior in a lab is built in to the demands of helping and watching students.  We must be careful that lecture opportunities do not turn into a chance to rest.  Don’t be the teacher that sits behind the desk the entire class period.  Your desk is a barrier between you and your students.  Moving amongst your students while you teach will draw them in.  It will encourage them to be engaged and participate more fully in the lesson.

It is essential that some element of fun be attached to instruction.  This does not have to be joke telling or game playing.  A bit of eye candy in the form of colorful and engaging photos or interesting video, or the occasional social opportunity (grouping) will go a long way toward helping a student look forward to returning to your class.  Occasionally the material we must teach doesn't rise to the level of thrilling and exhilarating, but since it must be taught, we should try to find a way to make it more interesting to our students.  A competitive game format, a lab station activity, or a lively class discussion can go a long way to eliminating the boredom factor.  It is imperative that we change our approach from time to time to avoid monotony and stagnation.

Praising students will go a long way towards motivating them.  It is, however, important to note the methodology used when praising them.  Elementary students find more incentive in public praise than do high school students.  It is often necessary to praise high school students individually and not in front of the class.  To older kids, the “cool factor” is sometimes affected by how they are praised.  Know your kids.

The final step in motivating students is to show them the relevance in what they are being asked to do.  Sometimes that relevance is personal (college admission, testing for scholarships, simple work ethic) and sometimes it is professional (job centric subject matter).  Occasional reminders as to the importance of these issues will help, especially considering how many important issues are vying for control of the teenage mind.  Students love to ask, “When will I ever need to know this?”  Making clear to students why they need to master a particular concept or skill is highly motivating to them.  Make this information part of the lesson, rather than waiting for the question to be asked.

In the ideal world, all motivation for students would be “self motivation.” Anything we as teachers can do to help students maintain focus will surely pay dividends in their future.