Theme: Nurturing Young
Scientists
Inquiring Into Inquiry
Grasping Life Cycles
What do kids really understand about plants? What are their
misconceptions? How can teachers do a better job of helping
kids wrestle with ideas and build an understanding of how plants
grow, thrive, and interact with their environments?
With an eye toward grappling with questions like these, five
first to fifth grade teachers and a university educator from
East Lansing, MI, have been meeting weekly in a science study
group. Together, they designed ways to find out what kids know
and want to know, then discussed how each might help students
pursue productive investigations. Participating teachers tried
out strategies in their classrooms, then had an opportunity
to reflect on and share experiences with colleagues.
"We agreed to try to incorporate several components into our
work with students," reports participating teacher, Sharon Henrickson:
"to listen intently to students' ideas and questions and, when
possible, use their ideas as springboards for continuing investigations;
to notice students' science "talk" as they struggle with and
form their ideas; and to try to act more as facilitators or
guides than directors of learning," she continues. The group
decided to require all students to keep science journals, documenting
their observations, investigations, questions, and reflections.
Laying the Groundwork: What
Do Students Know?
To find out what their students already understood about plants,
the teachers used a variety of age-appropriate strategies. For
instance, first and second grade teacher Sharon Henricksen first
asked her students to draw everything they know about plants.
"I learned a lot about their ideas from this exercise," says
Sharon. "Most students drew plants with flowers attached, but
didn't reveal any understanding of fruits or even seeds," she
adds.
Meanwhile, Carol Shank's second graders brainstormed what they
knew about plants as the first step in creating a "KWL" chart
(what I know, what I want to know, what I've learned). Again,
she found that students had a general sense that plants need
water and light, but very little understanding beyond that.
"In fact, some of my kids seemed to have the misconception that
the life cycle ends with the mature plant," says Carol. "And
in discussing what they knew, there was a big debate about whether
flowers have any relationship to fruits," she adds.
In another variation, fifth grade teacher Ann Wesley presented
her students with a section of a log, then asked them to draw
and label pictures that explain how a seed becomes a log. "Although
I would have thought this was a concept the kids had learned
in earlier grades, they really couldn't explain the process,"
notes Ann.
Explorations, From Seed to
Seed
With an eye toward helping students examine the "first
step" in plant life cycles, the teachers initiated a six-week
unit by encouraging students to explore and dissect lima beans
and other seeds, then listened as students pondered their experiences.
"My second graders weren't sure what they were looking at inside
the lima bean," says Carol Shank. "As they looked repeatedly
and explored a range of other seeds, they began to notice similarities
and have richer questions," she adds. Carol's students spent
many weeks exploring the question, What is a seed? First
they discovered different parts, then discussed what their functions
might be. Some tried "planting" different seed parts in plastic
baggies with moist paper towels, then hung them on the board
to observe. "After many trials, my students concluded that a
half bean seed with what appeared to be a baby plant attached
seemed to grow the best," explains Pat. Students kept journals
and the class held regular science talks to discuss their observations,
share questions and ideas, and decide how else they might gather
information to answer questions.
To enable students to see full life cycles, most of the teachers
had students plant Wisconsin FastPlant seeds (available from
Carolina Biological Supply) in classroom GrowLabs. As the yellow
flowers emerged after only 15 days, students speculated about
the role of flowers, explored how bees transfer pollen, then
discovered that the resulting pods contained the same kinds
of seeds they'd started with. This "aha" lead to more investigations
to verify their findings about life cycles: pulling and planting
seeds from old sunflower heads, dissecting and examining pumpkins
and other fruits, and so on. "After three months of fairly intensive
investigations and discussions, they seemed to have a much stronger
grasp of the seed to seed cycle," says Sharon.
Science Talks: Making Connections
The teachers involved in this study group were committed to
helping kids think, act, and discuss their ideas like scientists.
"Before a weekly science talk, students would ponder one teacher-
or student-generated question such as What do you think flowers
are for?" reports Sharon. Students first reflected on the
questions and wrote their own thoughts in journals. Then the
class sat in a circle to share ideas. Students were encouraged
to respectfully listen, then respond to, and agree or disagree
with others by giving their own rationale (e.g., I agree with
what Mary said about trees, because I also noticed x). "When
our discussions yielded discrepancies or lingering questions,
(What were those little pods on the mustard plants?),
we would ask what we could do to test our ideas or otherwise
find the answer," notes Sharon. "We might follow up with more
active investigations, or checking ideas with resources," she
explains.
The teachers concurred that students discovered that science
involves a lot of trial and error, but their curiosity was sustained
because their ideas and suggestions were valued. "'We've always
done activity-based science, but now I've added in an element
that really forces scientific thinking: conversation," says
Carol. "By asking students what they think is happening, what
they've observed, and so on, I've prompted them to think more
like scientists. It's challenging at times to bite my tongue
and let students struggle with ideas or pursue misleading directions.
But it's been powerful for them to have their ideas listened
to, and to suggest the next steps in their own learning," she
adds.
"They've become much keener observers of the world around them,"
says third grade teacher Pat Christensen. She reports that she
herself didn't have a firm idea of how plants progressed from
seed to seed. "As we investigated, I saw my job as following
their lead rather than leading to a correct answer, and we all
learned a lot about doing and learning science in the process,"
she explains.
Assessing Gains
Participating teachers had different methods for assessing students
and helping them identify what they'd learned. Upper grade students,
for instance, are writing a class book about plants for kindergarten
students. "In order to create the book, students have had to
ask themselves what they know about characteristics of living
things, and be sure they can verify it," says university science
educator, Deb Smith. Sharon asked her students to create a fan
fold book, starting with a seed taped to the first page. "I
asked students to tell the story of the seed becoming a plant
and was surprised how well they depicted emerging roots and
leaves, a progression in size, flowering, fruiting and seed
production," she explains.
Collaborating Colleagues
"I hadn't previously been comfortable letting students follow
their own curiosity," says Pat. But I found it easier to shift
my practice after sharing experiences with a supportive group
and seeing how strategies worked for different ages," she adds.
Other participants echoed this sentiment, explaining that exchanging
with a group of colleagues helped them through a difficult,
but rewarding process. "It's a struggle to listen to kids, then
try to orchestrate experiences to enhance their understanding
rather than just move through a syllabus," explains Carol. "We
tend to think we should have all the answers, but don't focus
on how kids really come to know and learn," she adds. "This
group has been a great support."
© 2007
National Gardening Association