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Full-Text Articles in Education
Nature Journal Activity Guide - Grades 3-5, Jennifer Ann Hengel
Nature Journal Activity Guide - Grades 3-5, Jennifer Ann Hengel
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
If we want adults that are stewards for the environment, we need to include nature in education when they are younger so they can understand and appreciate the natural world. This need prompted the question, How do we utilize nature journals for school-age children to increase students’ understanding and appreciation of the natural world? Prior research has pointed to the benefits of teaching nature to youth, as well as the benefits of journaling in education. Nature journaling covers both sides of this equation, and helps foster sense of place and experiential learning. This capstone project was an activity guide similar …
Snow Science: Curricular Units For High School Outdoor Winter Inquiry, Elizabeth Wagner
Snow Science: Curricular Units For High School Outdoor Winter Inquiry, Elizabeth Wagner
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Winter is typically viewed as a “dead” season in the midwestern United States, where temperatures are often below freezing and snow blankets the ground for much of the year. Teachers cite weather as a barrier to meeting proposed curriculum standards and point to cold climate as a barrier to outdoor learning. Outdoor education provides many social and emotional benefits to students. When we consider these benefits, we must ask ourselves why we allow the learning opportunities of winter to be wasted. One reason that few high school classrooms venture outside in the snow is due to the lack of lesson …
Supporting The Development Of Ecoliteracy In Middle School Students Through The Use Of Phenology, Amy Hamernick
Supporting The Development Of Ecoliteracy In Middle School Students Through The Use Of Phenology, Amy Hamernick
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question for this project was, how does knowledge of local phenology impact the development of ecoliteracy?It documents a science teacher’s development of a unit of lesson plans, and an accompanying website, to develop observation skills and strategies that will allow students to collect data in their local ecosystem. Phenology, the study and documentation of natural systems over time, is supported by the understanding of observation skills, use of field identification guides, and formats for recording and sharing data which are developed through the lesson plans. The website provides details for two observation sites, models how to collect and …
Preparing Teachers For Their Zoo Trip With An Interactive Website, Jamie L. Hardcastle
Preparing Teachers For Their Zoo Trip With An Interactive Website, Jamie L. Hardcastle
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Zoos and aquariums have an attendance of 50 million children visitors every year with 12 million of those being student learners on field trips (Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 2018, Annual Survey Results, Informal Science Education). According to Willis, Weiser, and Kirkwood, (2014) field trips are not just a ‘day off’ from school, they serve to provide enriching experiences that help students to explore the world outside of their direct environment. To ensure that learning is happening before, during, and after the field trip takes preparation on part of the teacher. Anderson, et al. (2006) state that students should be …
Water Conservation Unit Plan, Richa Dolia
Water Conservation Unit Plan, Richa Dolia
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this capstone project was to provide lesson plans for teachers to integrate within their science curriculum to involve middle-school students in water conservation. The author has provided rationale for pursuing the topic of water conservation and high need to promote awareness. The water conservation curriculum project produced under this research is aligned with MN Science standards and will provide middle school science teachers with ready-to-go lessons to teach their students to bring awareness around the importance of water. (83 words)
How Can A 9th Grade Math And Science Curriculum Become Integrated As Part Of A Project-Based Academy?, Evan Pierson
How Can A 9th Grade Math And Science Curriculum Become Integrated As Part Of A Project-Based Academy?, Evan Pierson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research shows that project-based learning and integrated curriculums in many cases have a positive impact on student engagement, attitudes, and academic achievement. This project takes units from a general science and math curriculum at the ninth grade level and blends them to create an integrated unit relating to motion. The unit contains a wide array of math and science activities and labs that encourage students to think critically but also allows them to easily see the similarities between the two content areas. Teachers are encouraged to adapt the unit to meet their individual needs or attempt a similar endeavor with …
Web-Based Inquiry: A Potential Solution For Resource-Poor High School Biology Classrooms?, Sarah Fagan
Web-Based Inquiry: A Potential Solution For Resource-Poor High School Biology Classrooms?, Sarah Fagan
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this project was, what are design principles that support the development of web-based, guided inquiry lessons for resource-poor secondary biology classrooms? This project examined the need for, the evidence behind, and the supplies to create web-based, inquiry lessons utilizing free and online biology resources. The author explains both the website creation as well as the curriculum development. It highlights that while technology integration is widespread within all classrooms, the financial disparities in funding of schools in low-income areas lead to lack of supplies and disparities in curriculum support. Both of these things can lead to …
Strategies That Enhance Voice-On Activities In Middle School Science, Larry Hunter
Strategies That Enhance Voice-On Activities In Middle School Science, Larry Hunter
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Teachers willing to listen over lecture can implement voice-on activities that create equitable learning environments for all learners. Today’s students arrive to us nourished by multiple streams of knowledge gleaned from family, friends, books, games, television, Internet, and various technologies. Equipped with complex layers of knowledge— students have something to say—but how they say and synthesis this information during voice-on activities is paramount for building new constructs. In 2016, the phrase voice-on activities was first used in a middle school science classroom as a cue to model preferred behavior and categorize the following oral activities: argumentation, collaboration, conversations, discourse, discussions, …
Developing An Effective Proposal For A Natural Habitat Restoration In The School Yard, Byron Griffin
Developing An Effective Proposal For A Natural Habitat Restoration In The School Yard, Byron Griffin
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research questions addressed in this capstone are how does one prepare an effective proposal for restoring a natural ecosystem, and what are the benefits of the close proximity of natural habitats to students and other stakeholders? The author compiles research examining the positive aspects of having restored environments on the school campus. The author found that benefits of habitat restorations extend beyond only affecting the students, and reach out to the teachers, groundskeepers, district, the environment, and local community. In the capstone, the author provides a demonstration of a habitat restoration, and explains the process of a prairie ecosystem …
Elementary Educators Resource Guide To Herpetology In Minnesota Bridging The Gap Between The Classroom And Nature Center Experience, Anna Toenjes
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The author of this project promotes elementary environmental education through hands-on herpetology games, activities, and additional resources. Engaging environmental education activities aim to improve student attitudes and perceptions of native reptiles and amphibians (herpetofauna). The content of the literature review describes how changing and improving student attitudes and perceptions of herpetofauna can foster understanding and development of empathy towards animals. Empathy towards animals can be generalized to human-directed empathy. The values of educating with live animals are described in detail. Inquiry, experiential, and hands-on teaching strategies to environmental education are implemented in the materials. Offering curriculum in which students interact …
How Can Water Quality Awareness Be Increased In A Small But Rapidly Increasing City Of New Braunfels, Texas?, Zackary Eugene Martine
How Can Water Quality Awareness Be Increased In A Small But Rapidly Increasing City Of New Braunfels, Texas?, Zackary Eugene Martine
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The purpose of this curriculum development Capstone was to create a series of lessons to focus on how to further educate children that live in a pristine water quality environment. The curriculum focused exercises and examples provide increased awareness and education focusing on improving water quality examples on how to keep water quality from degrading during the explosive population growth of the surrounding region. The overall goal is to show how increased growth can lead to potential water quality decreases over time. There are several hands-on lessons that show examples of the ecology of the region and how all things …
Can Creating An Activity Guide On Soil Health Improve Environmental Awareness And Foster Agricultural Sustainability, Lee Vannyhuis
Can Creating An Activity Guide On Soil Health Improve Environmental Awareness And Foster Agricultural Sustainability, Lee Vannyhuis
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question in this project was, can creating an activity guide on soil health improve environmental awareness and foster agricultural sustainability? This capstone discusses how healthy soils are important for sustaining agricultural productivity with shrinking farmland and a rising human population. It discusses how soils play a vital role in maintaining a healthy environment. This capstone also shows evidence that experiential learning using activity guides is an effective way of teaching environmental issues. The project developed with the capstone is called Soil Health Activity Guide: Black is the new Green. It was was modeled after the widely used environmental …
Teaching The Language Of A Lab Report: A Guide For Science Teachers, Lori A. Ward
Teaching The Language Of A Lab Report: A Guide For Science Teachers, Lori A. Ward
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Academic language in the register of science is often challenging for students to compose, and their science teachers may struggle to support their language development. This project explores the question, what are the language structures science teachers must teach for secondary students to be able to write successful science lab reports? In this paper I report the strong link between language and knowledge in science. Students must develop strong language skills in science not only to communicate scientific ideas but also to gain understanding of scientific concepts. Supporting the development of language in the register of science is a challenging …
Using Dr. Howard Gardner's Theory Of Multiple Intelligences To Connect 4th-8th Grade Students To Nature, Brent Anderson
Using Dr. Howard Gardner's Theory Of Multiple Intelligences To Connect 4th-8th Grade Students To Nature, Brent Anderson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research has demonstrated that early and frequent exposure to nature and the outdoors has a range of physical, mental, emotional, social, and educational benefits. The curriculum designed for this project focuses on using Dr. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences to connect 4th -8 th grade students to nature, in order to harness the benefits of nature exposure and increase student’s environmental-literacy. Multiple intelligences have been implemented in a number of formal classroom settings for decades, but research on how they have been used in the environmental and outdoor education fields is limited. The project involved creating a diverse curriculum …
Integrating The Nature Of Science Into The International Baccalaureate Chemistry Curriculum: Lesson Plans And Resources For Educators, Greta Wanless Stacy
Integrating The Nature Of Science Into The International Baccalaureate Chemistry Curriculum: Lesson Plans And Resources For Educators, Greta Wanless Stacy
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
This paper outlines the need for, and the creation of, ten lesson plans designed to teach the nature of science in an integrated fashion in the IB chemistry curriculum. The nature of science is necessary not just to prepare students to answer experimental questions on the IB exam, but also to answer new questions about chemistry and science throughout their lives. Simply using an inquiry approach is insufficient to teach the nature of science; it must be explicitly taught with varying degrees of contextualization to maximize student learning. Like all content areas, the nature of science should be taught in …
Developing A Garden-Based Curriculum For Middle School Content Enrichment, Dane Warming
Developing A Garden-Based Curriculum For Middle School Content Enrichment, Dane Warming
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Garden-based education has been around for more than a century. It is one of the many outdoor learning strategies used by modern teachers. Gardens provide an engaging, safe, and interesting place to learn. However, teachers face a number of challenges when teaching in an outdoor setting. In order to decide if those efforts are justified a study of the research relating to outdoor education was conducted. The literature review revealed that outdoor learning offers benefits to student learning, physical and mental health, and overall development. This literature review informed the creation of a cross-content curriculum project. The lessons that make …
Developing A Teacher Guidebook To Increase Outdoor Education In Schools, Patrick Schuette
Developing A Teacher Guidebook To Increase Outdoor Education In Schools, Patrick Schuette
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
An outdoor education guidebook was developed to help teachers start outdoor education courses, increase student engagement, and develop intrapersonal and interpersonal skills in students. Outdoor education is about much more than learning content information in a classroom; it is the class and teaching mindset which rekindles students’ passion for learning and discovery. Outdoor education best practice consists of place-based learning where students learn physical and mental skills with the outcome of success being directly related to those skills. Outdoor education will look different depending on location because it is influenced by local environmental, students, resources, and culture. The outdoor education …
Creating An Inquiry-Based Force Unit For A Ninth-Grade Science Class, Hans P. Harlane
Creating An Inquiry-Based Force Unit For A Ninth-Grade Science Class, Hans P. Harlane
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
As students study science, they need to learn how to investigate a question, as a scientist would, not just memorize facts and figures. Teaching through inquiry lends itself well to students working collaboratively to build their own understanding as opposed to only being told. The literature shows that there are several ways to teach through inquiry, all of which include the students being engaged in, exploring, explaining, and extending their learning. Using the four necessary parts of inquiry, along with the Understanding by Design framework, a unit curriculum on forces was developed to help guide the students to build their …
How Can We Use The Lake Superior Watershed To Connect To Anishinaabe Youth And Inspire Them To Continue As Stewards Of The Land?, Heidi Lynn Ojibway
How Can We Use The Lake Superior Watershed To Connect To Anishinaabe Youth And Inspire Them To Continue As Stewards Of The Land?, Heidi Lynn Ojibway
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Anishinaabe youth have historically experienced difficulty adjusting to mainstream education. Their graduation rates are the lowest in the country (Camera, 2015). By developing curriculum that is culturally relevant and rebuilds connections to the land educators can work towards closing the education gap. The curriculum in this capstone project uses the Lake Superior Watershed, environmental education practices, and American Indian Learner Outcomes to meet state standards. By using culturally relevant materials to connect to Anishinaabe youth it is expected that they will feel invested in the curriculum. They will build stronger community ties which in turn results in stewardship. The curriculum …