Place-Based Scientific Inquiry: A Practical Handbook for Teaching Outside
A new open-access book by Benjamin Wong Blonder, Ja’Nya Banks, Austin Cruz, Anna Dornhaus, R. Keating Godfrey, Joshua S. Hoskinson, Rebecca Lipson, Pacifica Sommers, Christy Stewart, Alan Strauss
Get a free PDF copy online here!
Description
Learn how to facilitate scientific inquiry projects by getting out of the classroom and connecting to the natural environment—in your schoolyard, or in your community!
Providing a contemporary perspective on how to do scientific inquiry in ways that can make teachers’ lives easier and students’ experiences better, this book draws on authentic inquiry, engaging with communities, and teaching through project-based learning to help students design and carry out scientific inquiry projects that are grounded in their local places. This accessible guide will help you to develop skills around facilitation, team building, and learning outdoors in schoolyards and parks, acting as a go-to toolkit for teachers to help build confidence and skills in these areas.
Written according to the Next Generation Science Standards, this book supports teachers in fostering community engagement and a justice-first classroom. The approachable resources included in this book will help teachers with all levels of experience succeed in empowering students grades 3–12 in their science learning.
Additional support materials including template documents for student use and for teacher planning, as well as examples of real student work, are available online.
University of Arizona Sky School
The University of Arizona Sky School provides place-based and inquiry-based science education programs to Arizona K-12 students. Using the unique sky island environment of the Catalina Mountains, the Sky School strives to merge a wide variety of science and engineering disciplines to foster a deeper understanding of our earth, while building an appreciation for sense of place. Programs are available year-round. Learn more at our website.
We also make available a range of educational resources supporting inquiry-based education in outdoor contexts. Most can be accessed via our resource wiki (lesson plans, readings, etc.) while others are provided during teacher developments.
Other educational resources
- Community ecology labs - a set of 9 computational labs + solutions (in R + tidyverse, based on public datasets) for an upper level population/community ecology class, for free re-use
- The secrets of leaves - leaf venation networks - art, visualization, software
- An introduction to R for ecologists - a week-long course for learning statistics and data visualization. First taught at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, summer 2011. (upper-level undergraduate/graduate)
- The Physics of Biological Systems - taught at Swarthmore College, spring 2008. (upper level undergraduate)
- Tree scaling - a lesson on limits to tree height and radius. Contains theory, field experiments, and computer analysis resources. Paired with additional resources files and MATLAB code. First taught at the University of Arizona for an upper-level undergraduate course.
- Weird plant lesson - a list of strange plants and a lesson plan for guided research projects. Taught in Tucson for 6th-8th grade. (middle/high school)