Reflecting on my experience at the Agriscience Inquiry Institute

            Last week I attended the two-day NAAE Agriscience Inquiry Institute (AgI²) professional development led by Ms. Krista Pontius and Ms. Sherisa Nailor. I learned how to teach through inquiry, using the scientific method. I was introduced to lessons within a variety of content areas that prod students to ask questions and explore data for their answers.

One tool that we used throughout the professional development was a table that laid out the features of inquiry with learner self-direction. Similar to having a visual of Bloom’s Taxonomy accessible while creating lesson plans to see exactly what level you are teaching at, I think the inquiry chart will be helpful to see exactly where lessons fall on the scale of learner self-direction based on how they engage with the question asked, where evidence is sourced, how explanations are formulated, if connections are made to further scientific knowledge, and how the learner communicated the explanation found. 

I was also fortunate enough to receive the materials necessary to teach the lessons we interacted with during the professional development. This makes these lessons not only accessible to teach, but to build on with students. For instance, one lesson we worked through at AgI² explored pollutant sources that were leading to unhealthy waterways. In this lesson, students are given a map with rivers leading into a reservoir. On the map, there are specific locations where they can decide to test the water for phosphate and nitrate levels. After testing 3 locations, students can add a map to overlay–topographic, tree cover, man made structures, or agricultural land use–and can test again based on new information. From the clues they gather, they can draw a conclusion of where the pollutant source is. To debrief this activity at AgI² with our ‘teach hats’ on, we discussed how you can add local relevance for students in your classroom by testing water in your community. Students can bring in a water sample from a body of water closest to their home. Once you test the samples, they can be recorded and pinned onto a digital map of the area. This can be done over many years to continue collecting data and map water quality changes over time. By doing this, you are taking a process learned through a made up scenario and applying it to the real world.

 

I found this conversation incredibly valuable because, not only did we discuss how to use the lesson in a classroom, we discussed how to expand upon it so that it includes a place-based focus. When I participated in the Global Orientation to Agriculture Learning (GOALs) program a few years back, one of my key takeaways was that you must make sure students have  a grasp on a concept at their community level before expanding to a global perspective. This conversation provoked my thinking of how to use inquiry based instruction coupled with place based education and globally oriented learning. 

As I head into student teaching in less than two months (!!) I am still uncertain of my post-graduation plans. Though I do not know exactly what I want to do, I know that it will involve science education in some capacity. I am excited to use the inquiry approach in all subjects that I teach in the future.