Get Outdoors! Integrating Technology with Outdoor Learning with Science Experts
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Benefits have been documented for learning science outdoors as well as use of partnerships with science experts. We will share our experiences of developing and teaching an ecology course through interactive community partnerships with state parks, aquariums, museums, and local scientists. We engage our students through field-based learning of ecological concepts such as identification of flora/fauna, characteristics of distinct ecosystems and applicable environmental issues. Environmental issues that our students have explored include water quality, causes of erosion, impact of invasive species, pollution associated with CAFOs, and many more. Partnering with science experts, our students investigate various science concepts and develop student-created educational websites, films, and K-12 inquiry-based lesson plans to teach those concepts. Many of these lessons integrate the use of technology such as probe ware, GPS units, websites, and applications on mobile devices. Come explore innovative ways to incorporate student-created documentaries and webpages as well as mobile app activities into your K-12 science lessons. We will share examples of our ecology lesson plans that include scavenger hunts, QR coding, and web design, and much more!
