Theme: Nurturing Young
Scientists
It's All in the Eyes
Inquiry, Up Close
What does it really look like in the classroom when a teacher
is supporting student inquiry with plants? In developing a visual
library of effective teaching strategies, we videotaped progressive
segments of a four-week-long potato inquiry in classrooms at
the Indianapolis, IN, Center for Inquiry at Public School 92.
In the process, we asked teachers to reflect on their teaching
styles as they helped students uncover answers to their questions
about potatoes. Here we recount a slice of this multiweek experience
in Becky Lane's kindergarten/first grade classroom to provide
a glimpse into one teacher's experience of nurturing classroom
inquiry.
Laying the Groundwork
"I eventually wanted the students to discover for themselves
that some plants can be grown from things besides seeds, so
I initiated a potato exploration," explains Becky. She laid
the groundwork by asking the class as a group to start a KWL
chart (What I Know, What I Want to Know, What I've Learned),
first sharing what they already knew about potatoes. "This gives
them the opportunity to start thinking about the area that we're
working on and pull in some of their expertise," says Becky.
"I like to see myself as pulling things out from the kids based
on what they already know and helping them make connections
to discover whatever they're going to discover."
Once students had a chance to share what they thought they
knew about potatoes, Becky had them closely observe and compare
two potatoes, one of which was beginning to sprout. "When you
look at a common object, you have a tendency to just pull from
your own memory," remarks Becky. "Sometimes when students use
comparisons, it can draw a bit on their creativity." She invited
students to look at these potatoes as though they had never
seen one before, focusing their attention on what they saw rather
than on what they knew.
"When we start a new unit with observations, I try to give
everyone a chance to give some input," notes Becky. "Even though
it may look very free where the kids are making all the decisions,
it's not. I knew where we were going in the end. They were going
to plant a potato or part of a potato, so we needed to make
some kind of connection to be able to get to that point."
To provide that bridge, Becky asked students how they thought
they could grow a potato other than from seeds, asking them
to stretch to think of other ways. As students struggled out
loud with the concept of growing potatoes from parts, Becky
asked questions to help them clarify their thoughts, without
evaluating their ideas. "I was really surprised at how many
students just thought the potato piece planted would grow bigger
and bigger (like a pumpkin) and that not one of them ever mentioned
a plant," reports Becky. Rather than try to "correct" these
misconceptions, she viewed them as an opportunity for students
to actively investigate and discover for themselves how potatoes
grow.
Exploration
As a follow-up to students' brainstorming about how to grow
potatoes, Becky asked them to work in pairs to come up with
a plan to see if they could grow a potato in some other way
than from a seed. "Sometimes their ideas conflicted, so they
had to talk, listen, and in some cases compromise to decide
how to proceed," says Becky. "I encouraged them to work things
out with one another rather than coming to me for the answer."
She eventually circulated to each pair, questioning to help
students articulate their plans before beginning to plant.
"To allow kids the freedom to explore in the way they need
to and want to is sometimes hard to manage," admits Becky. She
tries to think through and have materials ready, but she also
depends on students to take on certain responsibilities. In
this case, she parceled out a box of soil and two potatoes per
table of four, reminding students to lay out newspapers.
Partners tried different techniques, such as cutting potatoes
in half, leaving them whole, or burying them at different depths.
Students started potato journals that included a place to write
or draw their plans and enter ongoing observations. As the kids
planted potatoes according to their plans, Becky circulated
and prompted them to consider whether what they had set up accurately
reflected their stated plan.
Throughout the process, Becky asked students to consider other
questions they had and things they might like to learn about
potatoes. "Student questions give me some guidelines about other
activities and resource books and materials I could bring in.
My whole purpose with inquiry is to encourage kids to have their
own questions and then see what sources exist — whether
they're books or people or trying experiments — for finding
answers to those questions. For instance, I might set up stations
with invitations for independent learning such as comparing
white with sweet potatoes, planting potato seeds, trying to
grow different-sized pieces, making potato prints, and looking
at maps to locate where potatoes originated. I also make fiction
and non-fiction books available, but not until the students
experience some potato growth themselves," she explains.
Making Connections
"I think one thing about inquiry is learning to ask
open-ended questions that balance accepting their observations
with pushing them to look at some things a little differently,"
Becky reflects. For several weeks, her students examined their
potato plantings and recorded observations. While some students
were pleased to see their potatoes reveal sprouts within a few
days, others were disappointed when theirs didn't sprout. "So
we decided to dig up the potatoes and see what happened," reports
Becky. "I personally put my finger down in one and just came
up with mush and smell, which of course they thought was really
neat." Upon further inspection, reflection, and discussion,
students realized that the potatoes that were growing were those
that had already had sprouts when they were planted. "Their
earlier misconception about the potato getting bigger and bigger
was dismissed once they saw the sprouts," she recalls. "Then,
when they pulled one out of the pot to examine it, they could
still see the original potato smaller and shriveled, rather
than larger as some had predicted. They were very excited to
see something so different from what they'd expected, and they've
talked about it a lot since then." When students revisited their
original KWL chart, the ideas that potatoes needed sprouts to
grow into plants and that the original potato got smaller were
reflected as things they'd learned during the exploration.
Branching Out
"Near the end of our potato explorations, I wanted students
to have an opportunity to express something they had learned
about potatoes," says Becky. "So I asked them to take something
they'd learned about potatoes and imagine they were helping
someone else understand it who didn't know anything about potatoes."
The students chose to express their knowledge through different
means, including producing a play, creating potato posters,
and using modeling clay to illustrate potato growth and life
cycles.
Although this seemed to be a culminating activity, Becky shared
that one of the exciting aspects of inquiry for her is that
you never really reach the end of something, because students
keep coming up with other questions. A couple of her students,
for instance, continued to be skeptical about a potato book
describing potatoes actually growing flowers and fruits, so
one student agreed to take one home to plant outdoors and observe
during the summer. "It's important for them to question what
they read and to learn how to experiment to test something,"
says Becky. "One of the most important learning outcomes is
knowing that they can have a question, do something about it,
make observations, and draw their own conclusions."
What about Becky's experience? "I had never seen a potato seed,
dug potatoes, or observed the whole life cycle process, but
it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable," she says. "As long as
I can read and I can experiment with them, I'll be able to learn
what they're learning. They know that I don't know everything.
I think you need to be honest with kids. No one's going to know
all the answers. We find out together."
Author: Eve Pranis
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© 2010
National Gardening Association