Welcome to the WSST 2017 Conference, Going for Gold! This year’s theme is a play off the name of the resort as well as our goal to help you become the best science educator possible. We want you to go for gold!
One of the most common questions students ask is, "can we go outside?" The idea of outdoor learning is exciting but often met with hesitation: "Can my students be focused enough to learn?", "Is my school's outdoor space appropriate?", "Can outdoor activities meet science standards?" Our answer is: "Yes!" In this presentation, we will highlight the benefits of incorporating your school's outdoor spaces (big or small) into your classroom and how to do it. Our focus will be building student observation skills, turning observations into questions for investigation, and the practice of keeping a scientific journal. Be prepared to go outside for a majority of this presentation. We'll practice observation skills by doing "mini-hike" activities and share ideas for how you can use them with your class. In addition, we'll share ideas for keeping science journals. Finally, we'll practice how to to turn what we see, hear, smell, and touch into questions that can be further investigated to meet standards. As a wrap-up, we'll share tips on how to organize and manage your class outdoors, as well as ways of incorporating other disciplines (math, ELA, art), into the science journaling process.
