Our Nature Investigation

I've read a lot recently about the role of driving questions in project based learning (both at the beginning and/or end of investigations) and wanted to give it a try with my kindergarteners.  I was curious to find out whether or not starting an investigation with a driving question would elevate the quality and depth of what we would accomplish along the way.  Rather than just learning about a particular (and undoubtedly fascinating!) part of nature, I wanted to focus our learning around the deeper question of "Why is nature important?"  One thing I've learned for sure is that kindergarteners can and DO think deeply, as long as you give them the time and space to do so.

I began our investigation by adding some spring themed provocations to our environment.  The kids made nature bracelets outside, started talking about and creating artwork with flowers, and began telling fairy stories in our newly created imagination (small world play) center.

Next it was time to start figuring out what they already know about nature.  Putting our ideas together and coming up with an accurate and understandable definition of exactly what nature is and isn't turned out to be a little more complicated than we thought it would be.  I loved listening to the kids explain their thinking and reasoning out loud!

After a few more conversations we finally agreed on a definition. Then we created a bubble map together to help guide us through our investigation.

One of the best things about studying nature in the spring is getting to go outside to see, smell, and touch it.  Anything that young children can experience with as many senses as possible is sure to make a bigger and more long-lasting impression on their little brains.  So, off we went with our new nature notebooks to sketch all the interesting things we could find in nature.  Each kiddo brought back a favorite item to share, observe, wonder about, and sketch.  As you can see, the huge sticks were a big hit!!

So, we tried out some stick art, 

and then I capitalized on their interest in sticks by jumping right into learning about trees.  As we read books about trees, we kept track of our learning on a bubble map.  The kids were surprised (and amazed!) to discover that trees are important for SO many reasons.

I can always tell when investigations are a big hit because kids start bringing in related items from home to share with us.  On this day we got to learn all about rhizoids from a fellow kindergarten "expert."

I wanted to keep our investigation as local as possible, so we focused our tree exploration on the dogwood trees that were blooming all around us.  We even tried making some fingerprint dogwood trees.  The best part of learning about dogwoods was that the kiddos began noticing (and appreciating!) them all around...even in some of their backyards.

We headed out again to see if we could look closely and better understand the process of how trees grow new leaves each spring. With each new discovery came a new wonder.  

One of the kids brought in a dandelion book to share, and it didn't take long at all for the kindergarteners to begin noticing dandelions all around them.  Kindergarteners absolutely LOVE dandelions, so they were the perfect springboard for leading us into conversations about flowers.  

You wouldn't believe how much they learned about dandelions just from observing, touching, and looking closely.  As usual, the more we noticed, the more we wondered.  

We dissected dandelions, sketched them, blew away their seeds, recorded our wonders, painted pictures of dandelions using an interesting fork technique, and continued to read and experiment with them in order to figure out some answers.

All of which led us in to our next focus topic...Why are flowers important?

We read, we experimented, we looked closely and hypothesized, and once again we were amazed to discover the MANY reasons flowers are so important.  One of the kids even brought us all flowers to smush between two pieces of paper so we could better understand how flowers can be used to make dyes.

A sweet story about a lady who made the world a more beautiful place by spreading wildflower seeds inspired us to brighten our classroom with some wildflowers of our own...

We even got to pick some gorgeous wildflowers, and we turned them into artwork for our classroom windows.

Throughout the investigation I continued to set out provocations for the kiddos to engage with independently.

Of course we also incorporated some nature related songs and and games into the mix.  Herman the Worm was definitely a class favorite!

Many kids continued to LOVE creating and playing with fairy houses in our imagination center, and they delighted to discover they could write stories about the magical happenings in their fairy houses during writing workshop.

Next we looked closely at pictures of things created from plants and then added our discoveries to yet another bubble map.

Then we learned about grass in a hands-on way by planting grass seeds and watching them grow.  We especially liked watching the roots spread and feeling the smooth texture of the blades.  We were pretty sure Ms. Lindsay's guinea pig Strudel was going to love tasting our grass once it had grown.  We even covered a portion of the grass and predicted what would happen to the part with no sunlight.

Throughout the investigation we gradually added more and more nature words to our ABC's chart. 

It seemed as if the rainy days might never end, so next we took advantage of the wet ground to investigate soil in its wettest form...mud, glorious mud!  We collected it, painted with it, 

squashed our hands in it, and then watched it gradually dry out over the next few days.

A clever You Tube video taught us why soil is important and helped us learn about the many layers of soil.  Drawing the layers helped us make better sense of all the information we had just learned.  

The kiddos kept wanting to talk about animals in nature, so next we jumped into an investigation of the food chain.  I was so impressed that each kindergartener walked away from this portion of our investigation understanding that every part of nature (from the decomposers all the way to the carnivores) is SO important because each part depends on another for survival...a pretty complex idea for kindergarteners, if you ask me!

One of the kiddos accidentally left a blueberry in a container with a dead wasp, so we got to see the decomposing process with our very own eyes.  

Another student excitedly brought in some bee equipment and honey, so next we headed into the land of insects.

Some gorgeous pictures of insects were the perfect catalyst for helping us learn to see nature through a poet's eyes.  Thus, our poetry unit in writing workshop had officially begun.  We wrote poems about insects, mud, flowers, and so much more.  Nature and poetry make such a perfect combination!

It turns out insects are VERY important too!

There were still so many interesting areas of nature to explore, but with the end of the school year looming we were a little pushed for time.  So, the kids signed up for mini investigation groups.  In no time at all they were busy using books, the Internet, and videos to research rocks, birds, or worms.  They are pros at learning on their own (and with each other) by now!

We shared our favorite discoveries,

recorded some of them too, 

and then built items to help teach each other the most interesting thing they had learned about their topic.  We learned how long a worm is, what birds eat, how worms move through the soil, where rocks come from, all about birthstones, and so much more.  They were all such wonderful teachers!!

One of the kids kept telling us that his grandpa was a mushroom expert, so we were thrilled he was able to come in and teach us all about them...

We chose pictures of mushrooms to sketch,

and then we turned them into beautiful works of art. 

And of course, we figured out all the reasons why mushrooms are important too.

I kept noticing kids looking at our fairy books, so next we began exploring the more magical aspects of nature.

After reading several fairy stories together we were able to compile a detailed list all about fairies, 

and then we designed and created our own.

Of course our fairies were going to need houses, so we collected items from outside, 

and then used them to build some gloriously detailed and amazing fairy houses!

After learning about the artist Andy Goldsworthy, the kids couldn't wait to head outside to create some of their own nature art.  If you look very closely you can see that two of the boys created themselves out of nature holding hands.  Doesn't get much sweeter than that!

The next morning during choice time I spotted a kiddo making a poster which she titled, "Please don't kill nature."  That's when I began to realize the kindergarteners had not only learned all about why nature is important, but they had begun to internalize it's importance as well.  The kiddos were well prepared to switch gears and begin thinking about a new and deeper driving question - "How can we take care of nature?"

 

I invited my daughter to come teach us about deforestation, and she showed us a video her fab lab group made all about saving the rain forests.  The kindergarteners were outraged to find out how many animals have been losing their homes!  They were also especially concerned about how this would affect the food chain.

  

The book Compost Stew helped us start thinking more locally about taking care of nature.  Before I knew it the kids had made a small compost bin to use during snack time in our classroom, and each day during lunch a kid would dump our food into the larger compost bin in the cafeteria.

One of the kiddos even began collecting food from his home to add to our classroom compost bin :)

The more books we read, the more great ideas we came up with for taking care of nature.  So, we started compiling our ideas onto chart paper.  The kids were thrilled that we kept needing more and more paper to make room for all our ideas.  One of the kiddos even found a related story in another K classroom and brought it over to read to us.

  

The next day I read aloud an old classic, The Giving Tree.  I challenged the kids to think critically as I read the story about whether this is a happy or sad book...and more importantly, why. The level of conversation that followed was mind blowing!!  We shared opinions and evidence, listened attentively to each other's ideas, and even made some attempts to persuade one another.  In the end we agreed to disagree...but I'm pretty sure none of the kids will ever think about this story in the same way again.

We read that recycling is an important part of taking care of nature, yet many of the kids were confused about exactly what recycling is.  After all, many of us no longer need to separate our items because the trash company does it for us.  Luckily there were informative videos online to help us better understand the how's and why's of the recycling process.

Creating with recycled materials is nothing new to these kiddos.  In fact, they've been doing it all year.  On this particular fab lab day they created new items by reusing materials, but they did it with a much deeper level of intention about why and what they were doing. They made racetracks, musical instruments, calm down bottles, wings for outdoor play, and more...

We worked on a few additional group projects to help us think more about the many possibilities for reusing materials.  We made games (tic tac toe boards) out of plastic bottle caps, and we turned old water bottles into a beautiful work of art for our classroom.  We even made some bird feeders to help take care of our little flying friends.

We added our signatures to our "Please help us take care of nature sign" and found a good spot to hang it in the hallway.  

However, the kiddos REALLY wanted to make their own posters too...

They were SO proud to hang them up around the lower school to help teach others about taking care of nature!

We also decided to compile all our ideas into a class book about the why's and how's of taking care of nature.  

The kids dictated ideas for me to type as an introduction, and in the process they completely WOWED me with everything they had learned and remembered!

We used our very best handwriting so others would be able to read and learn from our book, and then the kids helped distribute the copies.  We delivered one book to each grade level, gave a copy to Ms. Gray to add to our school library, and gave Mr. Brennan a copy to share with the middle schoolers.  The kids were beyond proud to realize they had taught almost the entire school about taking care of nature!!

As a final activity, I challenged the kids to assume some responsibility themselves for taking care of nature.  Together we reviewed all our nature saving ideas, and then each kiddo recorded and shared the 3 ways they plan to help take care of nature over the summer.  We even realized that if we added all of our 3 things together we would have helped nature in 45 ways!    

The power of a community all working together for an important cause seemed like the perfect ending to our investigation...and to our whole school year as well!

Happy summer :)