What is in Our Own Backyard?
Carrie Sanders
L551, Spring 2006
CourseQuest 3
What is in Our Own Backyard?
Inquiry Project
Introduction
Second Grade: “Who Lives in the Zion Nature Sanctuary?”
Student Audience
Information Inquiry Role
Information Inquiry Model
Student Performance
Teaching Materials
Learning Materials
Feedback & Evaluation
Field Test
Indiana Academic Standards – Second Grade
Information Literacy Standards
Resources and References
Sixth Grade: “How Can We Improve Our Outdoor Learning Lab?”
Student Audience
Information Inquiry Role
Information Inquiry Model
Student Performance
Teaching Materials
Learning Materials
Feedback & Evaluation
Field Test
Indiana Academic Standards – Sixth Grade
Information Literacy Standards
Resources and References
Unit Comparison
What is in Our Own Backyard? Inquiry Project
Introduction
Inquiry-based learning focuses heavily on authentic learning experiences in real-world situations. Both of these units take advantage of local resources that create learning opportunities containing these desired elements of inquiry-based learning. Second graders at Eagle Elementary in Zionsville, Indiana, will utilize the Zion Nature Sanctuary for an inquiry project implementing language arts, social studies and science Indiana Academic Standards as they learn about their community and the living world around them. The same Indiana Academic Standards will come to life for Zionsville sixth graders at Zionsville Middle School as they study natural habitats of Indiana through the Outdoor Learning Lab on the Zionsville Middle School property, in the hopes of embellishing it as a richer attraction to Indiana wildlife. Both inquiry projects place the student at the center of learning with questions driving their inquiries and cooperative learning activities leading them toward synthesis and constructed meaning. Sometimes the best learning can occur….in our own backyard.
“Who Lives in the Zion Nature Sanctuary?” Second Grade Project
Student Audience
The student audience for this inquiry-based project is a classroom of twenty-four second graders at Eagle Elementary School in Zionsville, Indiana. Zionsville is a small community of approximately 12,000 people, located seventeen miles northwest of Indianapolis, Indiana. Zionsville was originally a rural community, but urban sprawl has transformed it into more of a suburb of Indianapolis. Hence, Zionsville has a blend of socio-economic backgrounds. Most of the children living “in the Village” or in nearby, newly-developed neighborhoods are from more affluent families, while those children who come to school from the country or from more modest homes in town, are not as advantaged economically.
Eagle Elementary includes Kindergarten-Grade 4, and there are approximately four classes of each grade, resulting in a building population of around three hundred students. It is considered the smaller, “in town” elementary and is situated in the Village of Zionsville adjacent to the Hussey-Mayfield Public Library, the Zion Nature Center, and established homes. Behind the school is the Zion Nature Sanctuary, a ten-acre property with nature trails, wooded areas, flood plain areas, and an outdoor classroom.
Most of the students who attend Eagle Elementary have a wide range of experiences from which to draw for this inquiry experience. There is a bit of a “digital divide”, however, between the students who come from more affluent backgrounds and have benefited from more advantages technologically and those who come from rural or more modest backgrounds. The community of Zionsville is also growing rapidly and thus is receiving students from many other school systems, cities, and states resulting in a great diversity of skill sets. The classroom teacher and the library media specialist will accommodate for these differences by providing background experiences for all in this interdisciplinary inquiry. The exploration, discovery and research activities of this inquiry will allow all students to be successful regardless of background knowledge or experience.
The second-grade class is becoming experienced with inquiry-based learning. They are taught through a variety of methods including field trips, hand-on demonstrations, cooperative and individual work, and videos.Students are encouraged to ponder what they hear, see, and read. The school has two computer labs, and the students are becoming familiar with viewing and using technology programs such as Kidspiration, Word, and Power Point. They are encouraged to ask new questions, and express new thoughts or opinions. They love technology and are very eager to incorporate it into their learning experiences. Second graders also have lots of curiosity, energy, and enthusiasm for learning--all qualities into which the classroom teacher and LMS will tap to create a rich inquiry experience. Second grade students are just beginning to develop a sense of their community, and they love field trips. Both of these qualities will be utilized for this inquiry project as students will have a hands-on exploration of a nature sanctuary in their own community, even, in their own backyard.
Information Inquiry Role
Authentic Inquiry
The purpose of this two-to-three week inquiry-based unit, developed by the classroom teacher and the LMS, is for students to explore the animal habitats adjacent to their school learning community in the Zion Nature Sanctuary. This inquiry will address Indiana’s Academic Standard for Science 2.4, The Living Environment, particularly, 2.4.4, “Observe that and describe how animals may use plants, or even other animals, for shelter and nesting.” Second graders will explore the pond and woodlands of this sanctuary. They will make predictions, observe and record their observations during their outings, choose an animal to research, and produce creative presentations about the animals and their habitats. The students will present their projects to their parents in a special evening event, “Our Nature Neighbors”, and then their projects will be put on display for several weeks at the Zion Nature Center, next door to Eagle Elementary and the Zion Nature Sanctuary. Students will learn about the different types of habitats in the community and why certain animals survive in these habitats. This is an interdisciplinary unit, incorporating Indiana Academic Standards in Science, Social Studies (as the students explore their community), and Language Arts (as the students produce their final products), as well as the Information Literacy Standards, as the students perform information inquiry. An inclusive list of all related Indiana Academic Standards is included later in this unit description.
This project will utilize the “easier” version of The Big6 Research model, developed by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, which is called The Super3. The Super3, designed for younger students, “uses the same basic elements as the Big6, but makes the language and the concepts a little simpler and easier for younger students to understand” (Eisenberg online). These second graders will apply the concepts of the Super3: Plan, Do, Review, as they discover “Who Lives in the Zion Nature Sanctuary?”
Information inquiry “asks students to become authentic, investigative researchers and student information scientists” (Virtual Information Inquiry 2005). This inquiry project does just that, as it sends second graders out into the field in an authentic learning environment to learn about the animals in a local habitat. The teacher and the LMS begin this unit by asking the students, “Who lives in Zion Nature Sanctuary?”, setting the stage for sincere “questioning and exploring, assimilation and reference, and reflection” about what animals live in the habitat right outside their classroom (Callison 5). Authentic inquiry also involves linking learning experiences to students’ personal lives (Harada 3). Students know they will be inviting their parents to a special evening event to see and hear what they have learned about the Zion Nature Sanctuary, and they also know that their final creative projects will be exhibited at the Zion Nature Center. This “real-world” link further authenticates their learning experience and incorporates both the critical and creative thinking that accompanies information inquiry. (Lamb online).
Student-Centered, Student Collaboration & Student Choice
Another characteristic of information inquiry is placing students at the center of learning; they take “ownership of the inquiry process” (Lamb online). This inquiry does that: students form beginning questions, explore the habitat, pinpoint which animal they want to study, and determine how they want to demonstrate the knowledge they have gained about this animal and its habitat. While students drive the inquiry, they do so in cooperative work formations, another characteristic of inquiry-based learning, and one that exemplifies Information Literacy Standard 9, “The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.” Energy is spawned by students sharing information and ideas. Working together often helps students “discover creative solutions to difficult situations” (Harada 2), such as a multi-faceted inquiry assignment. This sharing also occurs between teacher and student as the teacher facilitates the questions and explorations made by the student (Harada 2). Student collaboration helps the participants develop respect for alternative points of view, nurtures important interpersonal skills, and builds self-confidence as they learn to express themselves. Primary age students such as these second graders are at an ideal age to practice these life skills in a group setting. As Callison states, “the process, the product and social skills all benefit from cooperative interactions” (Callison 153).
Professional Collaboration
The classroom teacher and the LMS share similar energy as they collaborate in this habitat inquiry project. According to Daniel Callison, “there will be different levels of expertise in some subject content areas, but in terms of instructional strategies and implementations of information literacy, all collaborative educators carry a similar focus and skill base to the tasks of teaching students to be effective users of information” (Callison 133). The classroom teacher and the LMS will collaborate more formally as theydevelop outcomes, activities, and assessments for this unit and determine the sharing of instructional responsibilities. While one is leading the instruction, the other will be available to answer questions and provide supplementary instruction. They will both be involved in student evaluation which will include conferencing, student journals, and rubrics.
Information Inquiry Skills
According to the Correlation of the Information Literacy Standards and Indiana’s Academic Standards for Science, this inquiry project, which targets Indiana Academic Science Standard 2.4.2, “Observe that and describe how animals may use plants, or even other animal, for shelter and nesting”, integrates Information Literacy Standards 1,2,3,5,6, and 9. The classroom teacher and LMS will work together to ensure the integration of these ILS skills as they develop outcomes, activities and assessments for the students in their “Who Lives in the Zion Nature Sanctuary?” inquiry project. The “Plan” element of the Super3 will be the focus of the mini-lesson for this unit, a very important step that “younger students do not always take naturally”, according to Eisenberg. The classroom teacher and LMS must stress the importance of this step to their students, as its understanding will lay the groundwork for continued success in their school years. (Eisenberg online)
Information Fluency
These second graders have already been developing information literacy skills so that they can “recognize when information is needed and take steps that lead to location and selection of information that can be used effectively to address the need” (Callison 9). This unit will provide reinforcement of these skills. Information fluency—“where students are able to move beyond information literacy skills at a given age level to levels of independent skill acquisition”—is the goal for these students; through the interactive process the students follow in this inquiry, they will be moving toward information fluency where they can express themselves creatively, reformulate knowledge, and [can] synthesize new information” (Callison 9). Jamie McKenzie describes the information fluent student as one who is a “toolmaker and toolshaper as well as tool-user” (Callison 9). With each inquiry project, these second graders are developing information fluency as they think for themselves, take what they know and springboard from there in implementing technology, gaining new knowledge and generating new questions. Collaboration further develops information fluency “habits of the mind” as the media specialist and teacher work to coordinate content with information literacy skills so that students have authentic learning experiences in which to apply fluency skills. (Lamb online) Projects with the goal of information fluency in mind must include information literacy skills, technology skills, content literacy, and critical and creative thinking (Virtual Information Inquiry online). The classroom teacher and the LMS will remember these components as they plan this interdisciplinary habitat inquiry project in order to move these second graders further along the road to being “information fluent”, life-long learners.
Inquiry Overview
Time of Unit: 2-3 Weeks
1. The classroom teacher will introduce this inquiry unit in the form of a question to the students: “Who lives in the Zion Nature Sanctuary?” In doing so, she will be assessing their prior knowledge about the animals that live around them in Zionsville. She will pose such questions to the students as: What animals do you see in your yard at home? What animals do you see around town? What birds do you see? What insects? What water life do you see? What do you think lives in the Zion Nature Sanctuary? The teacher and the LMS both are involved in this introductory discussion, with the LMS recording the students’ brainstorming ideas on a Kidspiration graphic organizer for all to see. The class will begin to group their observations and predictions about the Zion Nature Sanctuary into three or four main areas, likely to be: insects, animals, water life, and birds. Both collaborating teachers explain to the students that they are going to be learning about their local community and surrounding animal habitats.
2. After the introductory brainstorming/predicting session, the students will explore the Zion Nature Sanctuary as a class, broken into small groups. Each student will be equipped with a journal to record their discoveries and observations, in words or pictures. The students will receive instructions about the use of their journals prior to the field trip into the Sanctuary; they will learn that this journal is where they will record these initial observations as well as their feelings, questions, and information learned throughout the research process. The classroom teacher, the LMS, and parent volunteers will accompany the students on this exploration of the sanctuary: one adult to every small group. Visiting the Sanctuary in this way will help those students who learn in a more visual and/or tactile way. The opportunity to record their observations in the journals by words or pictures also accommodates for those second graders who better express themselves visually than with text. This exploration will answer some questions for students from their initial predicting session, but will lead to other questions about what they see. These questions reinforce Information Literacy Standard 1.1, “Recognizes the need for information.”
3. After their exploration of the Zion Nature Sanctuary, the students will meet again as a class to create a list of Essential Questions about this Inquiry unit, jointly led by the classroom teacher and the LMS. These Essential Questions might include:
- What plants and animals live in the habitat?
- What do all plants and animals need to survive?
- How does the habitat help plants and animals to meet their needs?
- What problems do animals have surviving in the habitat?
- What body parts and behaviors help animals to survive?
4. The collaborating teachers present three habitat groups to the students that can be identified from their sanctuary exploration: Insects, Animals and Pond Life. The students will choose one of these habitat groups in which to work, based on their interest. The student groups will be small—three to five students--which means that the three habitat groups may be represented by more than one group of students. Students will meet in their habitat groups to discuss the unique characteristics about their habitat group and to identify from their sanctuary observations the animals/insects that are a part of their group. Each student then selects one animal/insect of their habitat group to research individually.
5. The students will work together in their small groups and individually in order to develop Guiding Questions for their animal/insect research. The LMS leads this lesson on question formation, part of Super3 Step One: Plan. (see Mini Lesson, below).These lessons, which offer instruction on generating Essential and Guiding Questions, incorporate Information Literary Standard 1.3: “Formulates questions based on information needs.” Students use their journals to write down the Guiding Questions their habitat group created, and then they reflect on which ones will work for their own individual research. All of the questions may work, or the student may need to revise or create additional ones for their specific animal. They also write down their feelings at this time as they Plan their research. The classroom teacher and the LMS will work closely with the students through several assessments to ensure that they have several Guiding Questions as they begin the next Plan step of the Super3 research model. (Mini-lesson, part 2) After working very hard on question generation, the students will visit the Sanctuary one more time before they begin searching actively for sources of information. This second visit will allow them to check their questions to see if they need to add any further questions or revise any they have written thus far.