Meeting Abstract

P2.63  Saturday, Jan. 5  Inspiring future scientists in primary school, using place-based inquiry SWITZER, C.M.; Harvard University cswitzer@fas.harvard.edu

Many obstacles stand in the way of students’ science learning in K12 education. Some obstacles, such as school culture and pervasive attitudes that “science is not cool” are difficult to address. Less than half of public-school students currently achieve proficient scores on state tests. With great burdens and distressing statistics, what can teachers do? One approach is to make relatively easy, short-term changes in pedagogy that will increase motivation and interest in their students. This project explored place-based inquiry, which allows students to use the natural environment in which they live as an inquiry-based learning environment. Students gained knowledge and learned skills that could apply across the curriculum. In a low-income middle school in northwestern New Mexico, 160 students engaged in a mini-unit that broadly explored the nature of ecological research. Students designed an observational study, formulating questions, writing procedures, collecting data, and drawing their own conclusions. This type of pedagogy was successful for two reasons. First, students were motivated because they were addressing questions that could not be answered by simply looking at a textbook. Second, students gained knowledge and skills that could be used across the curriculum, linking what they learned to other subjects and to other aspects of their lives. They realized that human impact on the environment changes the types of animals and plants that can live in certain areas. In addition to using metric measurement in meaningful ways, students evaluated hypothesis, based on collected evidence.