{"data":{"ID":745,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1509467608,"CreatorID":4735,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"Outdoor Inquiry - How do we provide meaningful outdoor experiences for student learning?","Handle":"outdoor_inquiry_-_how_do_we_provide_meaningful_outdoor_experiences_for_student_learning","ShortDescription":"Research supports that outdoor experiences benefit our minds and bodies.  We will discuss limitations and brainstorm solutions to moving our student-driven inquiry lessons outside.  Appropriate for all disciplines and age levels, together we will model hands-on strategies and will develop a tool kit to put into practice.","Description":"Outdoor education helps students connect with lessons differently in several important ways.  First, being outside gives students a richer sensory experience than a classroom can.  Physical and emotional feelings associated with movement, sounds, weather and smells can imprint a story with class content.  This first-person storytelling can be a powerful tool for learning.  For example, I took college students to a river in winter.  While in waders, they plunged their arms into frigid waters to collect snails.  The safe discomfort etched the experience into student memories and helped them better understand environmental factors that affect aquatic organisms. \r\n\r\nAnother way outdoor education serves student learning is by getting students out of their classroom routine.  A change in physical location, especially going outside, can help students problem-solve from different perspectives.  Serendipity, too, plays a key role in generating opportunities to discuss content.  Recently, two of my biology students found a stingless wasp.  Their excitement and interest in looking at the small insect led to their learning about microscopes and ecological interactions that were not a part of the original lesson plan (but that are science standards they need to know).  Sharing how instructional flexibility can build content knowledge is an important focus to this conversation as well. \r\n\r\nIn summary, I will center on the myriad of benefits of getting students outside and on using student-led inquiry to drive outdoor learning.  I will facilitate group dynamics by providing a quick overview and a hands-on experience that will be the launchpad for generating ideas.","Link":["https:\/\/sites.google.com\/collegiate-va.org\/educon2018-outdoor-inquiry"],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"I have been using outdoor education to enrich my practices as a science teacher for over 10 years.  Gained through extensive experience, I will share how I integrate outdoor opportunities into preK-12 curricula; and I will offer tips to address safety and tips to manage students outside.  \r\n\r\nDuring a brief introductory presentation, I will describe outdoor inquiry and share research about the benefits of getting students outside both for their personal well-being and for their learning about content.  \r\n\r\nParticipants will then explore a 10-15 minutes hands-on lesson using living Bess Beetles to engage their senses and curiosity.  Using the experience as a launch pad, we will break-up into small groups to discuss:\r\nhow we felt watching or holding a beetle,\r\nwhat we wonder about beetles, and\r\nwhat questions we might ask about beetles (from science, mathematical, literary, historical contexts).\r\n\r\nIn new groups, participants will be asked to brainstorm:\r\nlogistical limitations to taking students outside (class size, safety, experience),\r\nspecific ways they see themselves working outside with students (inquiry lessons, projects), and\r\nbest practices for outdoor education.\r\n\r\nGroups will document their initial experience with post-it notes and their brainstorm conversations in a shared online resource (wiki or Google slide) that participants will be able to access during and after the session.","Presenter":["Sandra Marr"],"PresenterAffiliation":["The Collegiate School","Richmond","VA"],"PresenterEmail":["sandra_marr@collegiate-va.org"],"ScheduleSlotID":93,"ScheduleLocationID":16,"SubmitterID":4735,"AdditionalComments":"I attended EduCon 2 years ago, and so I have experienced how the conference conversations work.  In addition I have presented outdoor education strategies at Collegiate and at the Virginia Association of Science Teachers conference.","LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":7}}