KLEIN's
GUIDE TO
SCIENCE EDUCATION
PHOTO CREDIT: Nadene Klein at Tuolumne Meadows Yosemite National Park
I normally like to post monthly to this blog. Life has been busy both in and out of the classroom. In a most delightful way, actually two ways, my Earth and Environmental Science class has been enthusiastically working through two different Project Based Learning (PBL) experiences. That's correct, we are simultaneously working through two very different projects in one class. Far be it from me to stifle the curiosity of my students. The first project spawn off of me asking a simple non-science related question. My Earth and Environmental Science class is composed of the most diverse set of students I've taught at this school. They seemed the right authorities to go to for advice about how to start a diversity club at our school. I thought we'd chat for 5 minutes and move on, but they had different ideas. They, as a unified group of 10, agreed that we need a diversity club, that it should have a major launching event, and that they want to plan and execute the whole thing. WOW! That was ambitious. Within a class period of discussion, they decided to host a world food festival that eventually they called Splash of Culture. I challenged them..."How can we spend science class time on a food festival? It doesn't fit the curriculum." They met the challenge. They decided to study the climates of the different regions of the world from which the food recipes come and what types of plants (herbs, spices, etc.) grow in those regions. This could further highlight why these foods are special. At the actual event, Splash of Culture, they educated other students in the school not only about culture but about the source of the foods. They put together a play list of songs from around the world. They had an advertising campaign as well. Dozens of people in our school, including staff, participated. Diversity Club was born and the interest of students who might not have paid attention was aroused. Diversity Club is off to a great start and Splash of Culture is set to be an annual event! Some days students worked on planning Splash of Culture in class and other days we worked on our water quality PBL. While diversity club was a project based learning experience, this is a problem based learning experience. I always have students sample water from Plum Creek (less than a mile from campus) and test it for salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, flow rate, and turbidity. This group was ready to become activists if they detected anything wrong with this open water source in our community. Before we actually tested the water, I reconnected with Ocean First Institute (OFI) out of Boulder, Colorado. Last year they gave us a free class presentation via Zoom. I wanted to set that up again for later in the spring during our Oceanography unit. However, they had a surprise for me. OFI was starting a new project to study micro-plastics in the water ways of Colorado and wanted high school students to help with data collection. This simply added a layer to the new project we were already starting. A scientist from OFI joined us at Plum Creek and helped students get both water and sediment samples. Meanwhile we took all of our other standard measurements. Soon, the scientist will return to us to help us identify and measure any micro-plastics that exist in the samples we no have in our lab. A second organization, this one local, enters the picture here. The Douglas County Conservation District has a restoration project on Plum Creek that my students may volunteer for to earn community service hours for their graduation requirement. Additional DCCD, is interested in our findings about water quality in Plum Creek. Once we have our final data, including micro-plastics, we will write a proper scientific report to submit to DCCD. Could this project grow? Yes! A student in class lives in the next town south of our town. This town is more rural and less congested. The same creek flows through his town before entering ours. He collected a sample of water from near his house (10+ miles from our original collection site). We are testing that water and comparing it to the first sample to determine if entering our town causes any differences in the water. This data will also be in the report to DCCD. We hope to have our final report written before we go on spring break in 3 weeks. When students are motivated, when they are curious, when they are determined, when they are allowed to explore, when experts lend their time, when the community participates and shows interest, then science education becomes a hugely meaningful and unforgettable experience. P.S. Did you notice the connect between the two projects. Splash of Culture connect to the water project was the pure genius of these students, I had no influence at all.
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AuthorNadene Klein, M.Ed. has been an educator for over 25 years. She brings a passion and love for science to the classroom and through this blog to you. Archives
March 2024
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