{"id":743,"date":"2016-06-05T09:14:11","date_gmt":"2016-06-05T13:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/blog\/waterinquiry\/?p=743"},"modified":"2016-06-05T09:14:11","modified_gmt":"2016-06-05T13:14:11","slug":"reflections-on-water-inquiry-july-2015-june-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/waterinquiry\/uncategorized\/reflections-on-water-inquiry-july-2015-june-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on Water Inquiry, July 2015-June 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Water<\/a>
Water Inquiry group observing pond at Botanic Garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What can you do with 100 hours? \u00a0Ask any of the eleven K-3 teachers who collaborated with Smith students and faculty on the 2015-16 Water Inquiry project, or read on to see what we discovered about inquiry-based learning, water as a topic and outdoor exploration. At our final meeting in May, we asked teachers to reflect on what they learned not only in the hundred hours they invested in group discussion, but also in countless water investigations at Jackson Street, Leeds Elementary and the Campus School.\u00a0<\/span>Jan Szymaszek, third grade teacher, summed up what the collaboration offered: \u201cTime and space to come together\u2026 to pursue vexing issues of teaching, learning and instructing in a way that supports and sustains rich and rigorous learning in science and overall.\u201d \u00a0We want to thank Smith’s\u00a0<\/span>Center for the Environment, Ecological Design and Sustainability<\/span><\/a> for providing us with the time, space and tea to sustain our year-long inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>
Maria Garcia, K teacher, Jackson Street<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What did we learn?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One way to think about what we learned is to check in on three goals we set at the beginning of the year:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Learn in and from outdoor surroundings, especially school yards.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Explore \u201cwater\u201d as a topic that offers promising questions and problems of understanding.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Improve our understanding of how to spark and sustain scientific inquiry.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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     <\/p>\n

    \"First<\/a>
    First graders map storm drains at Jackson Street<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Outdoor investigations<\/b> were highlights of the water inquiry project, both for teachers and kids. \u00a0Going out in a downpour, looking up at clouds, peering down storm drains and watching the river after a storm, were moments that stood out for teachers because their students were deeply engaged in trying to explain phenomena in their world. \u00a0Like their students, teachers\u2019 curiosity and sense of wonder were inspired by exploring the Botanic Garden and following water downstream from the MacLeish Field Station. \u00a0As third grade teacher Amanda Newton reflected, \u201cExploring the garden and bouncing half-formed ideas was helpful and inspiring.\u201d Most recently, first graders in Katy Butler\u2019s class have been mapping drains on their school grounds and discovering that there are actually three different kinds of water moving through underground pipes: \u00a0clean, dirty and in-between.<\/p>\n

    \"Questions<\/a>
    Questions and diagrams by first graders, Jackson Street<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u201cThere is something compelling about water.\u201d<\/b>
    \nEveryone echoed this teacher\u2019s comment. Building on initial ideas about \u201cwhy water?\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s everywhere, it keeps changing forms, it sustains life, we have to improve how we manage it as a resource \u2013 teachers were struck by the vigor and persistence with which their students developed water questions, theories and explanations. \u00a0A third grader wrote in her <\/span>Nature Notes<\/span><\/i> journal, \u201cI love studying water.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Teachers intend to continue working with overarching questions about water that emerge from children’s discussions, experiments, diagrams and outdoor investigations. \u00a0We identified key ideas that raise promising problems of understanding, including: movement, cleanliness, human interactions, changing states and ownership.
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n