Scientific inquiry
What I Should Have Done The First Time If I Would Have Listened
Suggestions and observations from someone who learns the hard way. What I should have done with my first VS investigation.
Plant Discovery
Students take on the role of naturalist discovering a plant for the first time. They look closely, name the plant, collect detailed information about it, and sketch it. As a fun extension, have the students exchange their work with another class, and see if they can identify the mystery plants.
Fall Webinar 2011 - Create, Share & Connect
Learn about -
Creative ways for your students to share their findings with an authentic audience
All the ways to participate in conversations and collaborate with the VS community!
Fall Webinar 2011 - Mission: Analysis
http://vitalsignsme.org/mission-analysis-webinar
Learn about -
Analysis Missions
How students make meaning of their own species and habitat observations
Making meaning using the larger Vital Signs database
Fall Webinar 2011 - Vital Signs Refresher
http://vitalsignsme.org/vs-refresher
What : Learn about -
Field Missions
Tools and resources
Data quality
Publishing observations
Data Quality Hunt
Vital Signs data is used by students, the public, and professional scientists to better understand invasive and native species in Maine. For that reason, observations need to be of a certain quality to ensure their usefulness. Before students do their own data collection, they take time to explore and decide what good quality data looks like.
Prediction Jigsaw
Students break into expert groups to help them make a prediction about what they expect to find in the field.
Talk Moves Card Game
Use talk moves cards to scaffold productive talk and argument.
Vital Signs Fieldwork Skills Stations
Doctors and nurses routinely check “vital signs” (temperature, pulse, blood pressure, breathing, etc.) to get a sense of a person’s health. Similarly, scientists use tools to check an ecosystem’s “vital signs” and assess health. Students practice the Vital Signs Fieldwork Skills that will ultimately help them collect high quality data to determine the health of their own local ecosystem.
Self-organize around your interests
Self-organization and choice are two powerful motivational tools that get students excited and personally invested in the learning or investigating they are about to do. Use this process whenever you want students to team up to learn or investigate something in which they are personally interested, invested, and excited.
