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The North Carolina Standard Course of Study in Science (1994) has these words (page 7) about "process skills":
Science process skills are the foundation for inquiry in science. These skills are acquired through active experiential learning.
This emphasis on the process of science has thrown a big problem into the laps of schools and teachers: how can we create, at our school or in our classroom, a manageable context for "active experiential learning?" What sort of experiences in inquiry can we provide our students, hopefully using familiar and inexpensive materials? And are we sure ourselves just what science inquiry really means?
Many teachers hope to address these questions in an environmental context. Students are interested in the environment, and environmental science offers the possibility of integrating science with social studies and other subjects. Can we find a way for students to have active experiential learning in environmental science?
The National Gardening Association (NGA), located in Burlington, Vermont, has an answer for these questions: gardening. The Association believes:
In an age when fewer and fewer people have direct experience with agriculture or gardening because they live in cities with more steel than soil, giving people the opportunity to experience the miracle of life first-hand is becoming increasingly important. We can't expect citizens to protect the environment if they have no experience with it. If we are serious about becoming better stewards of the planet, we must teach more people-- especially children-- about the interdependence and fragility of life on earth. Gardening is the perfect medium for this. It's relatively inexpensive and can take place on a small scale, indoors or out. It's easy to do (plants have a way of growing, even without our help), and it offers immediate and tangible rewards. In short, gardening is a great way to teach and inspire.
Putting its beliefs into action, NGA has developed an inquiry science curriculum built on its popular GrowLab classroom gardening materials.
"My third graders didn't have a lot to say about grasses when we first started discussing them," reports Durham, NC, teacher Judy Rucker. "They frankly thought grasses were rather boring, and were uninspired when I asked what they knew or wanted to know about them," she adds.
When Judy challenged the students to explore the schoolyard to discover what they could learn about grasses, the kids perked up. For starters, they noticed the range of places grass grew: sidewalk cracks, lawns, and gardens. "When the kids tried to pull some grass up, they were amazed at how difficult it was, which prompted questions about their root systems," notes Judy. Students dug up a shovelful of grass to bring into the classroom, then worked in groups recording observations and questions: Can grasses grow in water as well as soil? Why are roots so strong? Will grass grow back when it's cut? How does this compare with a plant like lima beans? How tall will grass grow? Next, armed with store-bought ryegrass and fescue, each group set up a GrowLab investigation. [from Growing Ideas, NGA's education magazine, September 1997; © NGA]
Judy Rucker, of Durham's Forest View Elementary School, is a lead teacher in the Growing Science Inquiry project, an effort to bring inquiry science through gardening to North Carolina. For two years, NGA, CMSE, the North Carolina Botanical Garden, the Durham Cooperative Extension Service, and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens have cooperated in creating a context in which students can use their own questions and ideas to inspire hands-on investigations of the natural world, explore key plant science and environmental concepts, and gain confidence in their ability to "do science".
The project began with three Durham elementary schools: Forest View, Holt, and R. N. Harris. In the summer of 1997 it was expanded to eight more schools, three more in Durham and others in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Chatham County, and Greensboro.
The GrowLab initiative involves both indoor and outdoor gardening. Appropriate for all grades and well-integrated with the Standard Course of Study, it helps teachers learn how to plan, start, monitor, complete, and assess student-conducted experiments on questions the students themselves propose. Most students have never thought much about plants, so they are amazed and fascinated when teachers guide them into observing and comparing plants. Fancy plants are not needed: it's nice to grow pretty flowers, but equally good questions can be framed about the toughest grasses and weeds.
Many of the teachers in the project began with the rueful admission, "I've never had a green thumb." The fact is, there are lots of plants anyone can grow in a classroom setting, and there is good support for gardening projects. Every class has parents that love gardening, every county has Extension agents and trained master gardeners, and the Triangle has three magnificent botanical gardens (at Duke, NC State, and UNC). And rural schools are certainly at no disadvantage, since they have plenty of local expertise in growing things on area farms. It's hard to think of a scientific area more easily accessible to teachers and schools.
Beginning in the fall of 1997, CMSE is offering GrowLab workshops as a professional development activity for schools. If you'd like to learn more about the GrowLab curriculum and its use in North Carolina, contact Lin Frye, CMSE's project coordinator for environmental science. And help your kids learn by growing!
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Posted September 2, 1997. Features remain online as long as they remain current; they may be updated if new information becomes available.
Copyright © 1997, Center for Mathematics and Science Education. Teachers have permission to duplicate this page for use in teaching their own classes. All other rights reserved. You are welcome to link to this page, but do not copy its contents.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/cmse/curriculum/growing.html
Center for Mathematics and Science Education
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