Teaching can be scripted, but learning can’t.

The science work I’ve been doing the past 2 weeks with my students shows how a lesson can gradually unfold in nonlinear fashion. In this case, we reached our objective after I saw how students responded to what I asked them to do, and made some adjustments. Even though it didn’t go smoothly in the beginning, the initial effort wasn’t wasted because it paved the way by providing the kids with background experience that helped them in the end.

There is no science textbook, so my only guidelines for lesson content and planning are the curriculum guide and the state science standards. And since I’m new (again) to the grade level, I don’t have a set of boxes in the closet labeled, ‘plants,’ ‘chemistry,’ and so forth. That’s probably good, because having to create things as I go along means we aren’t burdened with generic curriculum materials and we’re free to conduct real science investigations.

plants whiteboard

Plant classification is the first subject I decided to tackle, since the growing season in Alaska will soon be over. Learning the difference between a tree, a shrub, and a herb was the objective. I wanted the kids go out and gather plant samples from the wooded area across the street as a first step. After a quick introduction to the subject and an attempt to organize the kids in small groups so we didn’t bring the whole woods back to the classroom, we went to the local “woods” at the edge of the nearby baseball fields. The groups were supposed to gather samples from 10 different plants and write a brief description of each. I wanted the kids to come back to the classroom and spend time looking for information about the plants they found in botanical field guides.

As soon as we got out there, the kids scattered. They ignored the grouping structure and ran around looking at everything. I expected this. I didn’t like it very much, but it wasn’t a surprise. They’re town kids, and being in even this phony woods in the middle of town brought out the wild child in many of them. I’d have done the same thing if I was their age. Eventually, after some redirection, they got the collecting done.

Due to an intervening holiday weekend, it was almost a week before we had a chance to look at the samples back in our classroom “lab.” We had plant field guides handy for the kids to use so they could identify their plant samples. The field guide had plants from all over the state of Alaska. The amount of information in the guide was a bit overwhelming for the kids, and many of them spent the hour flipping through books without recognizing the plants they’d gathered. Their “brief descriptions” were too brief, and their samples had dried out, leaving the more delicate ones in tiny little pieces scattered on the floor.

I could see that the job we’d given the kids was too big and complicated for them to accomplish. So I decided we should send them out again to look for specific types of plants. I made up a generic form to serve as a page for a student-made field guide. It has a space for a plant sample (to be taped down with book tape), a sketch of the plant, a written description, and a drawing of the leaf shape, edge, and vein pattern. All of the work besides the taping of the plant was to be done before going out into the field.

The kids were disappointed that they had to do school work - I think I’m going to start calling it “lab” work - before going back out. But our science expert assured them that scientists regularly do research and study. On the board we listed the likely trees, shrubs, and herbs they’d find. Their job was to copy down information from the field guides about 6 specific plants, two from each category, that they’d look for. They had a few choices because we listed several of each. But in our town there aren’t many native species that can survive the winter, so the lists weren’t too long. They had to use the index and different features of the plant guides, and two adults were on hand to show them where to find information.

The next day when we went out to gather samples, it was completely different. They recognized the plants, mostly, right away. Birch bark and birch leaves, spruce branches, rose hips and their thorny stems, willow leaves, horsetails, and all the rest got put into the bags in short order. The kids were able to simply look around and recognize what they saw and needed to collect. They were distracted momentarily by an abandoned bike they found in a clump of trees, several of them “claiming” it like treasure hunters. But when we headed back in, it seemed like everyone had what they needed. And if they didn’t we found it for them.

plant guide

After a bit of cajoling from me to supply better drawings and descriptions, and quizing some of them about why they didn’t gather more of the plant, I collected their work. It’s a mixed bag as for quality, as always, but they got the plants pretty much right. In discussion at the end of the session we thought about whether this lesson would have been successful without the initial open-ended excursion where they gathered whatever they wanted.

The kids said that the first trip out was helpful because it showed them how much stuff there was out there, and gave them experience looking at plants. We also discussed how it would have been if I’d have simply told them to find six specific plants in the first place. They felt that the assignment would not have made as much sense. Sometimes what seems like a false start can serve as a stepping stone to learning something because it helps us to put a problem in context. That’s how it generally is for me, anyway. And it’s one reason why simply reading a textbook doesn’t teach anyone very much.