A REPORT FROM THE FIELD...

A FIELD GUIDE TO SCIENCE AND LITERACY, an NSTA 2007  Professional Development Institute (PDI), was presented by First Hand Learning, Inc. at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis on March 28, 2007.

Participants attending FHL’s third PDI for NSTA came from around the country, as well as Singapore. Teachers, specialists, administrators – all were seeking information on how to integrate science and literacy meaningfully and how to use  the outdoors as a context for learning.

Mark Baldwin, Director of Education of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, NY improved the group’s recording and journaling skills with sketching exercises, tips for using hand lenses, and discussions about keeping observational records of nature. Wendy Saul, Professor of Education and International Studies at the University of Missouri, St. Louis led informative discussions about the variations among literary genres such as journals, science notebooks, and field guides. Diane Miller, Vice President for Community Science for the St. Louis Science Center presented strategies for encouraging student writing in science. And First Hand Learning staff, led by Kristen Gasser, guided the participants through a series of hands-on experiences to begin the process of creating field guides to the Botanical Garden’s  English Woodland. The aim was to present ideas for helping students to design, develop, and publish unique field guides to their own  local environments. Participants offered suggestions based on their own work, thoughtful comments, and questions. The consensus seemed to be that developing field guides could be a rich, on-going way to support science inquiry and literacy development through extended investigations that combine authentic, firsthand experiences with the use of science-focused resources.

The Take Home Messages:
-- Inquiry-based science and literacy are naturally interconnected.
-- Science literacy encompasses specific “registers” that are unique to science, often incorporating  science-specific vocabulary and concepts.
-- A field guide to your local environment is a tool to encourage science inquiry and literacy development. If developed with thought and care, it can support future scientific investigation by students, as well as enhance their literacy skills.  

The NSTA featured our PDI in a post-conference eNewsletter. To read the story, go to: http://www.nsta.org/main/news/stories/nsta
_story.php?news_story_ID=53681

To review the original PDI description, click here: http://www.firsthandlearning.org/PDI2007.html

Are you interested in receiving professional development in connecting science and literacy? Contact First Hand Learning by emailing us at inquiries@firsthandlearning.org.