I began my lesson with a slinky, rubber duck, toy car, and miniature parachute man. You may be wondering what these objects have in common. Yes, they are all toys. They are also great models. What better way to explain the definition of a model than to bring models to class? After my definition and toy examples, I asked the kids, what is the purpose of a model? I wanted the kids to think critically, beyond the definition of a model. Then I launched into the main part of my lesson by describing the model we would be working with that day.
The previous day, the kids had set up jars of celery and lettuce in water with food dye. I explained that the celery and lettuce represented wetland and riparian plants, and the food dye represented pollutants. I asked the kids if they knew what wetlands and riparian buffers were. Most of them had a general idea of wetlands but did not know anything about riparian buffers. I described wetlands, as land covered by shallow water for part or all of the year, and riparian buffers, as the plants alongside a river, stream, or body of water. We broke into smaller groups, each led by a member of our teaching team, to discuss the importance of wetland and riparian buffers with the aid of pictures that I had cut out of science magazines. Afterwards, the kids shared their discussions with the whole group. I connected one aspect of the importance of wetlands and riparian buffers, filtration, to the model; the celery and lettuce (wetland plants) absorbed the food dye (pollutants) from the water. Then I gave the kids time to look at their models. Sure enough, the celery and lettuce turned green, red, or blue, depending on the color of the food dye. I had the kids draw and write observations. Some kids dissected the plants or taped them into their lab notebook, which were good ideas that had not occurred to me. Everybody in the teaching team helped the kids take the results a step further by asking them questions, such as: Why did we use two plant species for our model instead of one? How are the conditions that we exposed the celery to in our model similar and different to the conditions that a wetland plant would face? Finally, I brought the whole group together to ask about their observations and connect the model to their lives. I taught them about the consequences of agricultural runoff. I led them through a cause-and-effect chain of events from manure and fertilizer runoff to algae bloom, and then asked them about the problems associated with algae bloom. To solve these problems, I again explained how riparian buffers and wetlands can help keep water clean by absorbing runoff and filtering out pollutants. As a wrap up activity, I talked about analogies. I gave the kids several examples that were relevant to the day’s activities, and then asked them to write their own. I concluded the day by asking the kids to reflect by writing a few things that they learned that day in their science journals.
After spending a lot of time preparing, it was really rewarding to bring our curriculum to life. I was a bit jittery right before my lesson because I had never taught a class before, but once I started the kids’ enthusiasm made it impossible not to enjoy the experience. The most memorable part of my lesson was when I was explaining how fertilizer and manure runoff produce algae bloom and the teacher told me that this situation was a big problem for Curlew Lake during the summer. Then all of the kids wanted to talk about the algae in Curlew Lake. I was thrilled! My main goal had been to teach the kids something that applied to their lives. During our EASB seminar, we had learned about place-based education, which is teaching that relates to the local area and community. Place-based education is important because it is makes learning more meaningful to kids and connects them with their community. I had been worried that I would not be able to make my lesson relevant to the kids because I was unfamiliar with Curlew. I was also well aware of the irony that I was a girl from the city teaching environmental science to kids in an agricultural town. It made my day that the kids were drawing meaningful connections between their world inside and outside the classroom.
Curlew Elementary and High School is the only school in Curlew, a tiny agricultural town in northeastern Washington. The setting was a drastic change from the University of Washington and my hometown. Curlew Elementary and High School has less than 200 students, and the town’s population is just shy of 1,000 people. My high school had over 2,200 students! (I need not mention how many students are at the University of Washington.) Despite these differences, I loved the small town feel of Curlew. Curlew is a friendly community where people look after each other and stop to chat. Once, for example, the classroom where we dropped off our stuff in the morning was locked. A student noticed us standing outside the room and asked if we needed her to get the key. Another time, during our lunch, a high school student who was not in any of the classes that we were teaching stopped by our classroom to introduce herself. When she found out that we were from the University of Washington, she recalled a time when University of Washington students taught for a week in her classroom several years ago. Everyone in the school and community was so welcoming to us. Their kindness was truly what made my experience a positive one.
My service learning was not easy, but it was definitely one of the highlights of my quarter. I am going to miss the kids that I met. Their enthusiasm was contagious. By the end of the week, the kids cheered when we came into the classroom. Those kids taught me a lot, from the value of curiosity and creativity to the irreplaceability of a hands-on activity. I think that I learned more from the kids than they did from me. It was a huge confidence builder doing things for the first time, such as teaching a class, and having a successful result. I felt like EASB helped me grow in many ways, from building my teamworking skills to expanding my viewpoint by visiting a new community.
I have known that I want to pursue a career that relates to the environment for a while, but I am unsure what I want the focus of my career to be. Before EASB, I did not think that I wanted to be a teacher. My positive experience with EASB has encouraged me to rethink this and seek out more opportunities involving environmental education.
In sum, I cannot think of a better way that I could have spent my spring break!
- Kyra
The previous day, the kids had set up jars of celery and lettuce in water with food dye. I explained that the celery and lettuce represented wetland and riparian plants, and the food dye represented pollutants. I asked the kids if they knew what wetlands and riparian buffers were. Most of them had a general idea of wetlands but did not know anything about riparian buffers. I described wetlands, as land covered by shallow water for part or all of the year, and riparian buffers, as the plants alongside a river, stream, or body of water. We broke into smaller groups, each led by a member of our teaching team, to discuss the importance of wetland and riparian buffers with the aid of pictures that I had cut out of science magazines. Afterwards, the kids shared their discussions with the whole group. I connected one aspect of the importance of wetlands and riparian buffers, filtration, to the model; the celery and lettuce (wetland plants) absorbed the food dye (pollutants) from the water. Then I gave the kids time to look at their models. Sure enough, the celery and lettuce turned green, red, or blue, depending on the color of the food dye. I had the kids draw and write observations. Some kids dissected the plants or taped them into their lab notebook, which were good ideas that had not occurred to me. Everybody in the teaching team helped the kids take the results a step further by asking them questions, such as: Why did we use two plant species for our model instead of one? How are the conditions that we exposed the celery to in our model similar and different to the conditions that a wetland plant would face? Finally, I brought the whole group together to ask about their observations and connect the model to their lives. I taught them about the consequences of agricultural runoff. I led them through a cause-and-effect chain of events from manure and fertilizer runoff to algae bloom, and then asked them about the problems associated with algae bloom. To solve these problems, I again explained how riparian buffers and wetlands can help keep water clean by absorbing runoff and filtering out pollutants. As a wrap up activity, I talked about analogies. I gave the kids several examples that were relevant to the day’s activities, and then asked them to write their own. I concluded the day by asking the kids to reflect by writing a few things that they learned that day in their science journals.
After spending a lot of time preparing, it was really rewarding to bring our curriculum to life. I was a bit jittery right before my lesson because I had never taught a class before, but once I started the kids’ enthusiasm made it impossible not to enjoy the experience. The most memorable part of my lesson was when I was explaining how fertilizer and manure runoff produce algae bloom and the teacher told me that this situation was a big problem for Curlew Lake during the summer. Then all of the kids wanted to talk about the algae in Curlew Lake. I was thrilled! My main goal had been to teach the kids something that applied to their lives. During our EASB seminar, we had learned about place-based education, which is teaching that relates to the local area and community. Place-based education is important because it is makes learning more meaningful to kids and connects them with their community. I had been worried that I would not be able to make my lesson relevant to the kids because I was unfamiliar with Curlew. I was also well aware of the irony that I was a girl from the city teaching environmental science to kids in an agricultural town. It made my day that the kids were drawing meaningful connections between their world inside and outside the classroom.
Curlew Elementary and High School is the only school in Curlew, a tiny agricultural town in northeastern Washington. The setting was a drastic change from the University of Washington and my hometown. Curlew Elementary and High School has less than 200 students, and the town’s population is just shy of 1,000 people. My high school had over 2,200 students! (I need not mention how many students are at the University of Washington.) Despite these differences, I loved the small town feel of Curlew. Curlew is a friendly community where people look after each other and stop to chat. Once, for example, the classroom where we dropped off our stuff in the morning was locked. A student noticed us standing outside the room and asked if we needed her to get the key. Another time, during our lunch, a high school student who was not in any of the classes that we were teaching stopped by our classroom to introduce herself. When she found out that we were from the University of Washington, she recalled a time when University of Washington students taught for a week in her classroom several years ago. Everyone in the school and community was so welcoming to us. Their kindness was truly what made my experience a positive one.
My service learning was not easy, but it was definitely one of the highlights of my quarter. I am going to miss the kids that I met. Their enthusiasm was contagious. By the end of the week, the kids cheered when we came into the classroom. Those kids taught me a lot, from the value of curiosity and creativity to the irreplaceability of a hands-on activity. I think that I learned more from the kids than they did from me. It was a huge confidence builder doing things for the first time, such as teaching a class, and having a successful result. I felt like EASB helped me grow in many ways, from building my teamworking skills to expanding my viewpoint by visiting a new community.
I have known that I want to pursue a career that relates to the environment for a while, but I am unsure what I want the focus of my career to be. Before EASB, I did not think that I wanted to be a teacher. My positive experience with EASB has encouraged me to rethink this and seek out more opportunities involving environmental education.
In sum, I cannot think of a better way that I could have spent my spring break!
- Kyra