Description
Investigations with Wisconsin Fast Plants can make the subject matter come alive…or dead, depending on the experimental treatment. This became apparent when a university-based teacher educator and a fifth-grade teacher collaborated on a professional development experience aimed at increasing understanding of how science inquiry could be used effectively in diverse classrooms. This professional development experience centered on creating a unit for fifth-grade students as a part of a study of plant and animal cycles. While the unit included numerous activities, this article focuses on the inquiry portion of the study, as students investigated how pollutants might affect plants.
Ideas For Use
Developing science inquiry units can be a difficult and time-consuming process. However, the payoff is increased student engagement and learning. In this unit, the students learned inquiry, organizational, presentation, and teamwork skills. They also learned about plants and got a sense of the role humans play in the fate of our planet.