Some ideas for science and camping

"'Tis the season to go camping falalalalaaa lalalala"

On the Coromandel

 And yes, I now have this tune stuck in my head. And yes, I had to work out how many 'la's to write!
As many schools head out on overnight stays for the juniors and a bit longer for the seniors, there are plenty of opportunities for our students to do a bit of science. With the use of a device, you may be able to take photos and videos (or get the children to instead, which is even better!) of creatures and plants to then investigate further back at school.
I like using the first term as a chance for lots of "Gather and Interpret Data" capability building -the observations and inferences skills that will also develop language, specialist vocabulary, some te reo and perhaps even maths.
I thought I'd list some activity ideas, all shamelessly lifted from the old Building Science Concept Resource "Life Between the Tides" which I think would work in other contexts too, like the bush.

Waiotahe Beach, Opotiki

• Invite children to find as many different types of living creatures as possible... this could mean actively exploring, for example, turning over rocks or digging under the sand or leaf litter or soil. An important part to remember is to discuss about whether or not we should take the creatures or plants away from their environment. I like the marine metre squared project way of observing and this could be transferred to the bush just as well as the beach.
• Children can take photos and videos as well as sketches. I particularly like the last -if you think about the past explorers, sketches had to be very accurate... can the students identify the species from their sketches?
• What areas of the beach or bush are particular species found -could we draw a map of the environment and then label where species are found? Why could certain species be found in particular areas?
• Can children describe the behaviours of some of the species -I'm thinking about the birds in particular (mainly because I like birds!). Often children think the best show at the beach is running along and chasing all the birds. What if we sat and simply watched... what are we observing? What do you think they are doing (inferences)? Can you see any differences and similarities between the birds eg oyster catchers and pied stilts or seagulls? Of course, they may just be known as black birds until we know the name! 

Waihou River

Once back at base, students could unpack further, researching information, heading to websites to identify birds and insects as well as the plants, and looking in books as well. We could look up whether any of our inferences and ideas were right about what the birds were doing. And that may be enough! To  go further, you might explore the data itself: where did we find most turret shells? What about pipi? Where did the oyster catchers mainly stay (and did that change when we all turned up)? What about evidence of people? As you discuss, students may start to generate questions -write them up on the whiteboard to review later...

So a quick idea for you all -enjoy camp!

Paul

A New Year!

Well the term is underway for everyone! I hope you all had a refreshing break and are rearing to go! Term One is always a fantastic term for science trips out to the beach, lake, river, streams, forests, the bush, and just outside the classroom! Get the children out observing, wondering and learning about our fantastic environment.
For me, I am again working in the science PLD world (along with Anne Barker), and looking forward to what the year brings. I have some PLD continuing on and some new schools too. I do love the new approach to PLD -rather than the old system of "you will do science", it's really up to the school! Whether it's just a small group of teachers within one school, or groups of teachers across schools within a kahui ako (or Community of Learning) or even an eclectic bunch of individual teachers wanting to focus on science, the PLD world's your oyster! I've been excited with schools and kahui ako that have looked at engaging in science and literacy together or science and maths, enabling science to be an authentic context for students. If you are interested in some support, do get in touch with Anne and I.
For the blog, I have a question for you all. What would you like to see in the blog this year? Has it been helpful in the past and worth continuing with? Oh, that's two questions... Well, regardless, I'm keen to hear what you would like me to share through the blog this year!

And a quick sciency thing to finish with. I've just gone for a walk along the beach here in Napier, before heading off to Wairoa tomorrow. Anyway, I thought I saw something in the sea but wrote it off as a rock. I stopped to watch the shags sitting on a tree and thought I wonder if there are fish in the sea -why else would the shags be here? On my return, I saw the dark shape again and realised it was a seal swimming around. I did try to take a photo (for a change, I thought of it early on, rather than too late!) and you can sort of see its head...

Taken at Ahuriri Beach by me!

It got me thinking again about the inference of there are fish here! The seal was swimming and also diving a bit too. I started thinking about the direct observations I can make -the pied shags and little black shags, the seal, the surf, the rocky shore, the temperature, wind speed, weather, other animals and humans taking advantage of the beach too. From all this, I could make a pile of inferences -I wonder how many children could make... and then how could we investigate those? Are the shags there because it's just their favourite perch? Is it because it's a good harvest ground? Do they fish at certain times? Science is of course about the observations but perhaps more importantly, it's about what we do with those observations too!
Well that's all for now! Do get in touch and share any ideas about the blog for this year, and of course, any PLD!
Paul