Develop abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

Beat the Heat: Start Early, End Late

Submitted by RoseJM on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 09:51

By:

Rose Judd-Murray, NGA Staff

It can be difficult to get motivated about maintaining the yard and garden during one of the hottest and driest summer months. There are definite dangers for young children during the most intense temperatures of the day.

Compost Happens

By:

Jean Persely for NGA with Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff

Right Side Box:

Jean shares some of her ideas to get kids interested in composting:

Ask students what happens to blue jeans and t-shirts in the landfills? Can they be composted?
Ask for an old cotton t-shirt and/or an old pair of jeans to be donated. Place them at the bottom of the compost pile, or use a smaller piece for a worm bin. Do the students realize they are wearing plants? How long will it take to break down? Have students make guesses as to what will happen to these old clothes.
Do you have multiple working compost bins at school? Have a t-shirt composting race with another class. Which class will have a faster compost pile? What causes one compost bin to decompose materials faster than the other? Was one pile being turned more than the other? Take the temperature inside the pile. Is one pile hotter than the other?
Consider doing an experiment with a piece of a t-shirt in one pile and a plastic bottle in another. Let the students predict what will happen.

As the wife of an active duty Marine, Jean Persely has made the most of her frequent moves by teaching others to “bloom where they are planted.” Jean has committed to making a positive impact on any community she joins. It was in 2005, that Jean developed a vision to impact a school community by planning the introduction of a garden.

Composting with KidsGardening.org

By:

Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff

Right Side Box:

Get Your Students Hooked on Composting!

Here's a high school activity to help relate the benefits of composting to your students: Inquiring about Compost

If you like that activity, be sure to check out our new Compost Activity Kit which features standards-based lessons for the Kindergarten through eighth grade crowd.

Student gardener at Atwood Elementary contributing to the compost pile.Compost. It’s all around us. Whether we assist in the process or not, composting is taking place. If we choose not to use it, we are missing a valuable opportunity.

Introduction to Plant Breeding

The following activity is from the Harvest of History, an online fourth grade curriculum that introduces students to agriculture of the past and present, emphasizing its importance in our lives.

Chill Out!

Submitted by sarahp on Tue, 07/20/2010 - 02:58

Objectives

Students will participate in a science experiment to learn the cold requirements of spring-flowering bulbs.

Engaging Students through Citizen Science

Submitted by sarahp on Sun, 07/18/2010 - 13:37

In schoolyards, backyards, and classrooms throughout North America – and beyond – students of all ages scan the skies for monarchs, monitor milkweed, document hummingbird arrivals, snap ladybug photos, notice nests, interview gardeners, report on bursting buds, and observe the color of firefly flashes. And that’s just for starters. In most cases, their next step is to go online and send their observations and measurements to a project website.

Learning Takes Flight: A Passionate Pursuit of Monarchs

Submitted by sarahp on Sun, 07/18/2010 - 09:52

“I always look for interesting and relevant themes to hook students,” says fourth grade teacher Ruth Pinson from Armuchee Elementary School. But, she admits, she never imagined she’d cast her lot with insects, much less have their young crawling all over the classroom! Inspired by a workshop on raising monarchs, Ruth became hooked. “The idea of working with monarchs gave me such a shot of enthusiasm that I figured it would surely do the same for my students.”

Right Side Box:

Join the Journey!

Learn more about Journey North and register to participate in one of its exciting migration studies or other seasonal adventures.

Ladybugs Lost and Found

A Tale of Schoolyard Citizen Science

Noelle Kramer hadn’t planned to delve into citizen science, but her students were rather persuasive. As her third and fourth graders in Dixon, California read aloud from Time for Kids, something sparked their interest. “An article on a citizen science program called The Lost Ladybug Project asked kids to become ladybug spotters in order to help scientists find a native species that had nearly disappeared,” says Noelle.

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The Tale of the Lost Ladybugs

Once the state insect of New York, the nine-spotted ladybug population diminished until it all but disappeared from the radar. In fact when some youngsters spotted one of them near their Virginia home in 2006, it was the first of that species seen in the Eastern United States in 14 years! John Losey and other scientists at Cornell University figured that if lots of eyes scoured the country, they might help find more of them along with some other native lady beetles that were also disappearing. And so, the Lost Ladybug Project was born. But it wasn’t just about documenting locals. Scientists – and many homeowners – noticed that populations of other ladybugs were exploding. This included the orangey Asian lady beetle, which was introduced in this country to control pests. Have these imports excluded the native species from their habitats? This is one of the questions that scientists are exploring, thanks to a growing team of citizen scientists.

How to Find a Ladybug

Submitted by sarahp on Sun, 07/18/2010 - 09:32

Right Side Box:

The Tale of the Lost Ladybugs

Once the state insect of New York, the nine-spotted ladybug population diminished until it all but disappeared from the radar. In fact when some youngsters spotted one of them near their Virginia home in 2006, it was the first of that species seen in the Eastern United States in 14 years! John Losey and other scientists at Cornell University figured that if lots of eyes scoured the country, they might help find more of them along with some other native lady beetles that were also disappearing. And so, The Lost Ladybug Project was born. But it wasn’t just about documenting locals. Scientists – and many homeowners – noticed that populations of other ladybugs were exploding. This included the orangey Asian lady beetle, which was introduced in this country to control pests. Have these imports excluded the native species from their habitats? This is one of the questions that scientists are exploring, thanks to a growing team of citizen scientists.

When Lila Higgins, an educator from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, first takes her teenage summer camp students out in search of lost ladybugs, they look a bit lost themselves. “I start by talking about ladybugs and other insects and asking students to notice what they see,” says Lila. She instructs them to put their “nature eyes” on. After all, scientists need to hone their observation skills. In many cases, they don’t see much.

Citizen Science Projects We Like

Submitted by sarahp on Sun, 07/18/2010 - 08:45

Engaging ordinary people in science research isn’t something new. In fact, one of the first formal citizen science projects, the Christmas Bird Count, began in 1900! But in the last 20 years or so, many scientists and educators have embraced this strategy as a winning research and educational tool. Here we describe some of the projects that just might engage your young gardeners, habitat sleuths, and environmental stewards.