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Outdoor Science: A Practical Guide


By: Steve Rich

$20.76 - Member Price  
$25.95 - Nonmember Price



$26.99 - Member Price  
$33.74 - Nonmember Price

$16.87 - Member Price  
$19.46 - Nonmember Price

Details

Type of Product:NSTA Press Book (also see downloadable PDF version of this book)
Publication Date:3/1/2010
Pages:140
Stock Number:PB272X
ISBN:978-1-935155-12-6
Grade Level:Elementary School, Middle School, Informal Education
Read Inside:Read a sample chapter: Birds, Bugs, and Butterflies: Science Lessons for Your Outdoor Classroom
Author Blog:Read Steve Rich's blog
Using Outdoor Science in your classroom is easier than ever! NSTA’s ClassPacks, each sufficient for a class of 28 students, are lesson-specific collections of materials—an unmatched time-saver and a great deal.
[Click here to view all ClassPacks]

NSTA Recommends
Our reviewers—top-flight teachers and other outstanding science educators—have determined that this resource is among the best available supplements for science teaching.
[Read the full review]


Description

Research shows that environment-centered education improves student achievement. Whatever your school’s setting—urban, suburban, or rural—you can create stimulating outdoor classrooms for your students, with a little help from Outdoor Science. Author and state science specialist Steve Rich shows teachers how to create outdoor learning spaces that can be used from year to year—with little extra effort or resources.

These practical suggestions for creating, maintaining, and using outdoor classrooms work for both elementary and middle school students. The simple and inexpensive lessons satisfy national standards and curriculum objectives in the areas of life, Earth, and environmental sciences—without a field trip permission slip in sight! Math, social studies, and language arts activities that can be easily integrated into the curriculum are also included. Additionally, Rich offers ideas for increasing community involvement and funding to help teachers develop their outdoor classrooms.

Get your students thinking outside the traditional classroom walls. Outdoor Science: A Practical Guide can help you make it happen.


Ideas For Use

Additional Info

Science Discipline: (mouse over for full classification)
Rocks
Erosion
Seasons
Arthropods
Birds
Food web
Population dynamics
Populations
Adaptations
Simple machines
Analyzing data
Collecting data
Communicating
Experimenting
Interpreting data
Measuring
Observing
Predicting
Scientific habits of mind
Using mathematics
Biodiversity
Plants
Behavior
Life cycles
Homeostasis
Intended User Role:Curriculum Supervisor, Elementary-Level Educator, Informal Educator, Middle-Level Educator, Teacher
Educational Issues:Achievement, Assessment of students, Classroom management, Cultural awareness, Curriculum, Inquiry learning, Interdisciplinary, Professional development, Teacher preparation, Teaching strategies

Contents

Foreword: by Page Keeley

Chapter 1: Creating a Space for Learning

Chapter 2: Does Money Grow on School Yard Trees?: Resources for Your Outdoor Classroom

Chapter 3: Birds, Bugs, and Butterflies: Science Lessons for Your Outdoor Classroom

Animal Habitat Survey
How Birds React to Environmental Changes
The Great American Backyard Bird Count
Do You Hear What I Hear?
The Migration Sensation
Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle
What Do Swallowtail Caterpillars Swallow?
What Do Adult Swallowtail Butterflies Swallow?
Milk a Weed for All It’s Worth!
Raising My Caterpillar
Animals Living on the School Grounds
School Yard Food Chain
Tag, You’re It!

Chapter 4: It All Adds Up! Math + Science + Outdoors = Fun

Hunting for Numbers
Graphing Animal Behavior
What’s Your Net Worth?
What Can You Learn From a Seed?
Germination Determination!
Too Many Seedlings
Weather or Not
Math in a Tree
Building and Using a Compost Bin
Measuring and Analyzing Erosion
Simple Machines Are for the Birds

Chapter 5: Reading and Writing About Nature

My Friend, My Bud
Writing About the Seasons
The Diary of a Seed
The Story of Life in a Tree
Animal “Arti-Fact” or Fiction?
The Novelization of Migration
Poetry in the Great Outdoors
Listening to a Story About Wetland Ecosystems
Learning About Caterpillars and Butterflies
Solving an Ecological Mystery
A Migration Story
Reading From Nature Journals

Chapter 6: Social Studies: Humans and the Outdoors

Planting a Native American Garden
It’s About Time and Human Sundial
Planting Historical Herbs
Be an Archaeologist!
Rocks and Man
This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land
Create a Map!
Migration Mapping
Paper “Migration” of Monarch Butterflies

References
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Index


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National Standards Correlation

This resource has 35 correlations with the National Standards.  
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This resource has 35 correlations with the National Standards.  
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  • Physical Science
    • Motion and Forces
      • Catapults are an ancient military device made for hurling projectiles. They are made from a variety of simple machines.
  • Life Science
    • The characteristics of organisms
      • Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light. (K-4)
      • Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking. (K-4)
    • Life cycles of organisms
      • Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms. (K-4)
      • Plants and animals closely resemble their parents. (K-4)
      • Many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents of the organism, but other characteristics result from an individual's interactions with the environment. Inherited characteristics include the color of flowers and the number of limbs of an animal. (K-4)
    • Regulation and behavior
      • All organisms must be able to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment. (5-8)
      • Regulation of an organism's internal environment involves sensing the internal environment and changing physiological activities to keep conditions within the range required to survive (homeostasis). (5-8)
      • Behavior is one kind of response an organism can make to an internal or environmental stimulus. (5-8)
      • A behavioral response requires coordination and communication at many levels, including cells, organ systems, and whole organisms.
      • An organism's behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment. (5-8)
      • How a species moves, obtains food, reproduces, and responds to danger are based in the species' evolutionary history (5-8)
    • Populations and ecosystems
      • Populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem. (5-8)
      • Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem. (5-8)
    • Diversity and adaptations of organisms
      • Millions of species of animals, plants, and microorganisms are alive today. (5-8)
      • Species acquire many of their unique characteristics through biological adaptation, which involves the selection of naturally occurring variations in populations. (5-8)
      • Biological adaptations include changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance survival and reproductive success in a particular environment (5-8)
  • Earth Science
    • Properties of earth materials
      • Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere.
    • Changes in earth and sky
      • Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons.
    • Structure of the earth system
      • Destructive forces include weathering and erosion. (5-8)
    • Earth in the solar system
      • The motions of most objects in the solar system explain such phenomena as the day, the year, phases of the moon, and eclipses.
  • Science as Inquiry
    • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
      • Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses. (K-4)
      • Communicate investigations and explanations.
      • Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
      • Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
      • Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.
      • Use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry.
    • Understandings about scientific inquiry
      • Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting).
      • Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations. (K-4)
  • Process Standards for Professional Development
    • Design
      • Introduce teachers to scientific literature, media, and technological resources that expand their science knowledge and their ability to access further knowledge. (NSES)
      • Uses learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal. (NSDC)
  • Teaching Standards
    • Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
      • Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of students.
      • Select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development of student understanding and nurture a community of science learners.
    • Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning. In doing this, teachers
      • Encourage and model the skills of scientific inquiry, as well as the curiosity, openness to new ideas and data, and skepticism that characterize science.
    • Teachers provide students with the time, space, and resources needed to learn science.
      • Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry.


Published Reviews

“Useful for homeschoolers. … Fun sounding projects! … Examples of projects from Outdoor Science include building simple machines, planting an historical herb garden, and investigating how humans use fences.”
Homeschooling Resources


“Many of [the] suggested activities could be accomplished by kindergarteners. It could also be a useful resource for a parent trying to keep kids engaged with learning during the summer. … Of particular interest [to teachers] was the social studies chapter that recommended activities that could provide a lens for discussing the ways that humans interact with the environment, providing the instructor a valuable opportunity to create both an intellectual and emotional connection between science and the daily lives of the students.”
TechRevu


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