The Curious Naturalist

Environment

Overview:

This inquiry resource package on the environment for ELKP is designed to assist teachers in planning an inquiry-based learning opportunity. This resource outline is to be supplemented with learning objects that your own class has presented in their discovery learning around the topic of the environment, life cycles, and stewardship, and how they can make a difference since we are all connected. The time required and the direction of the inquiry-based learning activity will depend on the time that you can allocate to the learning activity, students’ prior knowledge, skills, and level of interest.

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Strand and Topic: Science and Technology

Inquiry Focus:

The time required depends on students’ background knowledge, skills set, level of interest, and any additional time required for completion of student work.

Big Ideas:

  • Children are curious and connect prior knowledge to new context in order to understandthe world around them.

Specific Expectations:

Science and Technology

  • 1.1 ask questions about and describe some nature occurrences, using their observations and representations
  • 1.2 explore patterns in the natural and built environment
  • 2.1 state problems and pose questions before and during investigations
  • 2.2 make predictions and observations before and during investigations
  • 2.3 select and use materials to carry out their own investigation
  • 2.4 communicate results and findings from individual and group investigations
  • 4.1 identify practices that ensure their personal safety and the safety of others, and demonstrate an understanding of the importance of these practices
  • 4.2 state problems and pose questions as part of the design process
  • 4.3 make predictions and observations throughout the design process
  • 4.4 select and use tools, equipment, and materials to construct things using the design process
  • 4.5 communicate and record results and findings after constructing things either individually or in group

Mathematics

  • NS1.1 investigate the idea that quantity is greater when counting forward and less when counting backwards
  • NS1.2 investigate some concepts of quantity through identifying and comparing sets with more, fewer, or the same number of objects
  • NS1.3 begin to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects
  • NS1.8 use ordinal numbers in a variety of everyday contexts
  • M2.2 demonstrate through investigation, an awareness of non-standard and measuring devices
  • G3.3 compose pictures, and build designs, shapes, and patterns using two-dimensional shapes using various tools and strategies

Language

  • 1.2 listen and respond to others for a variety of purposes
  • 1.3 begin to use and interpret gestures, tone of voice, and other non-verbal means to communicate and respond
  • 1.4 follow and provide one- and two – step directions in different contexts
  • 1.5 use language in various contexts to connect new experiences with what they already know
  • 1.6 use language to talk about their thinking, to reflect and to solve problems
  • 1.8 ask questions for a variety of purposes
  • 2.4 respond to a variety of materials read aloud to them
  • 2.5 make predictions regarding an unfamiliar text that is read by and with the EL-K team, using prior experiences, knowledge of familiar texts, and general knowledge of the world around them
  • 2.6 use prior knowledge to make connections
  • 2.10 retell information from non-fiction materials that have been read by and with the EL-K team in a variety of contexts
  • 4.2 demonstrate an awareness that writing can convey ideas or messages
  • 4.5 experiment with a variety of simple writing forms for different purposes and in a variety of context

Visual Arts

  • V1.1demonstrate an awareness of personal interest and a sense of accomplishment in visual arts
  • V2.1 explore different tools, materials, and processes of their own choice to create visual art forms in familiar and new ways
  • V4.2 responds to a variety of visual art forms from various cultures, including their own
  • V5.1 communicate their understanding of something by representing their ideas and feelings through visual art

Key Concepts:

Environment, stewardship, respect, alternative energy, solar energy, Indigenous people, organic, farming, gardening, life cycle, soils, recycle, reduce

Environment

Natural Curiosity

Engage

Spark interest in your students through nature walks, field trips, human interest stories, students’ personal connections

Extended

Observe and discuss human impact on nature and the balance in nature
  1. How can we tell about the things that we know, i.e., WonderWall, drawings using paper and iPad drawing apps, charts, Knowledge Circles?
  2. How can we learn from the experts in our class?
  3. What can we learn from experts in the field, i.e., person-to-person interviews, guest speakers, skype calls?
  4. Watch for students making personal connections.

Hands-on Inquiry

Explore a variety of natural materials and exploratory tools. Provide students with the opportunity to question, critically think, and problem solve through free exploration and play-based learning.
Observe and document children’s thinking for future learning opportunities.
Provide -children with good inquiry-based questions to develop critical thinking.

Big Idea

How do humans impact the environment?
Cluster 1 / Cluster 2 / Cluster 3
  • Pollution
  • Indigenous connection
/
  • Animals
  • Indigenous connection
/
  • Nature
  • Indigenous connection

Cluster #1 - Pollution

Big Idea – How does pollution affect our classroom, our community, our world?

#1 Invitation to question: Can we get rid of garbage?
Pollution Control Officer
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation.
  • How can we get rid of garbage that finds its way into our lakes and streams?
  • What is living and non-living in the garbage?
  • Why does the polluted water feel like that?
  • How could we see the affect litter has onsea creatures?
  • Is there a difference in how things compost in garbage?
  • Why do we create garbage?
Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Garbage experiment
  2. Oil spill connection
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.
#2 Invitation to question: How can we reduce garbage in our classroom?
Recycle Rangers
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation. Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
  • Why do we need to recycle?
  • What would happen to our planet if we didn’t recycle?
  • What kinds of things can we make with recycled material? Why do you think this is important?
  • How could we recycle better? Why is this important?
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Litterless lunch
  2. Recycled material sort
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.
#3 Invitation to question: What changes can we make to reduce pollution in our community?
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation.
  • Why do we need energy?
  • Where can we get energy?
  • Why is natural energy important?
  • Why do you think solar energy is a good alternative energy source?
  • Why does the sun feel hot?
  • Why do you feel cold?
Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Pizza box solar oven
  2. Carbon footprint
  3. Pick up garbage in your school yard
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.
#4 Invitation to question: Indigenous connection
Inquiry-based questions – Learning Circle using talking stick or flower
  • How are we connected to nature?
  • How can we respect all living things?
Hands-on activities
  1. Read aloud Ojibway story, The Lily Story
  2. Sun Dance Song – children explore movement as they listen to music
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.
Assessment
  • Inquiry circle – child-to-child sharing of collaborative exploration
  • Learning facilitated by teacher
  • Learning wall – living visual doc
  • Idoceo
  • SeeSaw – free

Descriptions of Activities

Garbage Experiment

Materials:

  • bin to hold water
  • water
  • cooking oil
  • dirt
  • examples of other materials could be: foam plate, plastic water bottle, cooking oil, shredded paper, string, banana peel, orange rind, drinking straw, bottle cap, plastic rings, sponge, paper towels, cloth, tongs (Do not put sponge, towels, cloth, or tongs in the water.)

Instruction planning - Initiate your experiment by looking at the clean water. Gradually have children add different materials to the water. Observe and discuss what is happening to the water. Once all the materials have been added to the water, what happened? Through investigation and discovery, have the children try to clean the water. You and the students can record these observations on the smart board, iPad, or audio. Have the children try to remove the materials from the water.

  • Does the water change?
  • How does the water feel and smell now?
  • How might the water change again if we left it overnight with the materials in it?

Oil Spill Connection

Materials:

  • Read aloud book,Oil Spill by Melvin Berger

Instructional Plan:

Show pictures of oil spills and have children discuss what is wrong in these pictures. How can they make things better? Children can experiment with materials (water and baby oil) and try to remove oil from a variety of objects. What tools will they need?

Litterless Lunch

Materials:

Note- children create a litterless lunch at home.

  • sorting bins
  • scale

Instructional Plan:

Decide as a class what days will be litterless lunch days. Measure the litter that is collected on these days compared to the litter that is collected on non-litterless lunch days

Recycle Material Sort

Recycle Rangers

Materials:

  • a variety of recyclable and non-recyclable materials
  • sorting bins or hula hoops

Instructional Plan:

Have children collect a variety of materials from home and at school. Ask them how they could be sorted? Observe their thought process and conversation. How can this be extended to include a recycling program for the classroom or school?

Technology:

  • – YouTube reading rainbow, how trash is recycled
  • – YouTube recycling for kids withwaste management’s Mr. Cool Can
  • ducation/students/07-recycling sorting interactive game
  • recycling sortinginteractive game
  • Read aloud Ojibway story, The Lily Story

Pizza Box Solar Oven

Designer of Alternative Energy

Materials:

  • one pizza box from a local pizza delivery store
  • newspapers
  • tape
  • scissors
  • black construction paper
  • clear plastic wrap
  • aluminum foil
  • one piece of notebook paper
  • one pencil or pen
  • one ruler
  • wooden dowel or stick

Technology:

  • Martha Speaks – solar power PBS YouTube :
  • Solar Walk app –

Instructional Plan:

  1. PDF -
  2. Scientific America –
  3. U.S. department of Energy, Energy efficiency & Renewable Energy :

Carbon Footprint

Materials:

  • paper
  • pencil
  • drawing tools
  • scissors
  • blocks of recycled wood

Technology:

  • Carbon footprint calculator for kids:

Instructional Plan:

Have children watch video on carbon footprint. Have the children test their own carbon footprint using inquiry circle.

  • What is a carbon footprint?
  • Why are my actions on the environment important?
  • Why do I need to change? Why does my family need to change?

Children can now create their own footprint through creativity and add a message to their footprint on changes that they are going to make in their life to lessen their carbon footprint.

Sun Dance

Materials:

  • Sundance music video -

Instructional Plan:

Read aloud an Ojibway story,The Lily Root

  • Children can listen to and dance to the sun dance. The sun dance was created to show equality between all things that are on the earth.

Cluster # 2 – Animals

Big Idea – How do animals create a balance in our environment?

#1 Invitation to question: How do animals live in the environment?
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation.
  • What is a cycle?
  • What is a life cycle?
  • How can you show me, through actions, what a life cycle is?
  • What would life be like if you were a butterfly?
Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Have children find pictures of animals in their environment and discuss
  2. Butterfly kit for classroom
  3. Using a material like papierMache, children can create the different stages of the life cycle of a frog or butterfly.
  4. Build a butterfly garden in an outdoor space.
  5. Create a blog to show progress of learning.
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.
#3 Invitation to question: With an Indigenous connection
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation.
  • Use rock with painted FNIM animals on the top as a talking stick.
Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Story of turtle island
  2. Build a turtle island out of a variety of materials as an individual project or collaborative class activity.
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.

Description of Activities

Monarch Butterfly Garden

  • Kits available online

Technology:

  • App – Butterfly life cycle-
  • YouTube – Life cycle of a butterfly told from the perspective of the butterfly
  • Website based game – life cycle of a butterfly
  • Magic school bus – YouTube – butterfly

Vermicomposting

Materials:

  • dark plastic bin with lid
  • shredded paper
  • soil
  • earthworms- red wigglers
  • water in spray bottle
  • compostable matter
  • rubber gloves

Low Tech:Read aloud,Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for Earthby Mary McKenna Siddals.

Instructional Plan:

For a comprehensive review of how to build a vermicomposter for your classroom, you can watch this YouTube clip:

Story of Turtle Island

  • YouTube link
  • YouTube Link
  • PDF -

Cluster # 3

Nature

Big Idea – How can we live in balance with nature?

#1 Invitation to question: How can we protect our wetlands?
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation.
  • Why does the water look like that?
  • Who might live in the wetlands?
  • What are wetlands?
  • What materials could be used to create a wetland here in our classroom?
  • How would animals that live in a wetland survive in different seasons?
  • How would our wetland change over different seasons?
  • How is what you saw different from what you thought would happen?
  • Why or why not is this water good for animals?
  • Why is water important to us and the creatures that live in or near it?
  • How can we save water here at school or at home?
  • Why should we not put chemicals in the water?
Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Visit a wetland.
  2. Create a wetland in our classroom.
  3. Plant seeds in different environments.
  4. Experiment showing different soils and how they absorb water – wetland experiment.
  5. Use vermicomposting soil to grow plants.
  6. Provide different samples of soil and purchased potting soil for exploration.
  7. Provide children with exploratory tools to investigate and observe.
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.
#2 Invitation to question: Earth’s small square
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation.
  • Do we adapt for animals or do animals adapt their habitat for us? Why?
  • Why are green spaces important?
  • Imagine if you were an insect living in that space; what might it be like?
  • How do we know if something is living or non-living?
  • How can we classify or sort these things?
  • Why might the temperatures be different or the same in the air or in the ground?
Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Go outside and investigate a small area of land / space.
  2. Go on a nature walk and record different observations and aspects of nature.
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.
#3 Invitation to question: Can we grow our own food?
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation.
  • Why is it important to be able to grow our own food?
  • Why would food we grow be better than food we buy in the store?
  • How could we grow food in our classroom?
  • Why are our plants not growing as fast as we would like?
  • How could we help our plants grow faster?
  • What will our plants need?
  • Why do you think this plant grew taller than that plant?
  • Why is it important to use the compost from our bin?
Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Plant a vegetable garden.
  2. Build a green house.
  3. Build an indoor garden or outdoor garden.
  4. Have a farmer visit or visit a local farm.
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.
#4 Invitation to question: Indigenous connection
Suggested inquiry questions- your questions will vary depending on your students’ interests and the direction in which they take their inquiry investigation. Use a talking stick during discussion.Conduct this learning through inquiry circles, individual or small group discussions.
Suggested hands-on inquiry-based experiments or activities
  1. Three Sisters story
-Facilitate and support extended learning
-Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic
  1. Story of sharing – Coast Salish Story – Crow and Little Bear
Facilitate and support extended learning
Introduce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books related to topic.

Description of Activities