ONLINE SCHOOLYARD & CLASSROOM INVESTIGATIONS

Investigation Descriptions Science Investigations "COIILS Schoolyard and Classroom Online Investigations" PowerPoint Tutorial IBSP Challenging Science Problems Page Standards and Applications for Learning

(This Project Invites Participation from Any School Around the Country and World)

Developed with the Support of:
Connecting Outdoor Instruction to Innovative Learning Standards (COIILS)
developed in part through an Illinois Scientific Literacy Staff Development Grant
AND
The Inquiry-Based Science Project (IBSP)
developed in part through an Illinois Scientific Literacy Pilot Grant
http://web.stclair.k12.il.us/splashd/Experimt.htm

NOTE: This site is being updated. Many seldom used investigations will disappear at some point to allow me to spend more time editing and improving the investigations that remain to make them more user friendly. The learning standards will also be updated to address a broader innovative scope for learning.

What's Here: Online projects that allow students to, collaboratively or independently, conduct scientific investigations in their schoolyards and classrooms, and then submit their collected data using an online form. All submitted data is automatically entered into an online spreadsheet that can be instantly viewed and/or edited at any time. It can then be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet and manipulated to allow students to examine the data in a variety of ways. NOTE: Instructions are provided to explain how data can be manipulated in Excel. Student comments and communication about their experiences are encouraged.

PARTICIPATION: I am recently retired so please send an email to mschneid@skywerx.com any time,along with the name of the investigation(s) you plan to conduct, the name of your school,class,or other, and whether you plan to do a COIILS investigation or a Challenging Problem, to receive a password necessary for data entry. Several of the online investigations are usually conducted in the fall and spring of each year to allow for seasonal comparisons. Some of the online investigations can only be conducted with a reasonable degree of success at certain times of the year. The active server pages make it possible for online participants to also conduct the investigations at a time that is most suited to them.

Science as Inquiry: This web site is dedicated to the research that supports inquiry as an evolving process for teachers and students. The activities are set up in a cookbook fashion to help students grasp the basic components necessary to perform a scientific investigation. As students advance their understanding of inquiry, teachers are encouraged to move away from the step-by-step approach and provide students with only the challenging science problems from which to begin their investigations. As students move in this direction their inquiry and problem solving skills are developed to a much greater extent and they are much better prepared for what lies ahead.

Schoolyard Locations: One thing we try to do is to have you list your school's latitude and longitude so that others are challenged to find it's location through that means. To easily find your latitude and longitude, you can go to zipinfo.com. To find other US participant's school locations by latitude and longitude you can go to Tiger Map Service. Just remember to enter longitude as a negative number when using this site.

Want to know more about the development of schoolyard habitats? Visit the "Students in a Project-Based Learning Approach to Schoolyard Habitat Development" (SPLASHD) web page.

Teacher Information:

Schoolyard Investigation Descriptions with Grade Levels Collected Data Pages/Downloads Downloading and Analyzing Data Instructions Collected Data Archives PowerPoint Tutorials for Carrying out Science Investigations

Schoolyard Investigation List

Animal Sign Experiment Capture/Recapture Experiment Pitfall Trap Experiment Pond Experiment Schoolyard Flower Experiment Schoolyard Inventory Activity

Acid Rain-the Effect of Air Pollution Air Quality Experiment Biodegradable-Can You Dig It? Bird Feeder Experiment Chromatography of Schoolyard Vegetation Sweep Net Experiment

Collecting Solar Energy Coming Up Worms Hot Rocks Lung Capacity Experiment Physical & Chemical Weathering Soil Dwellers Experiment

Rocks - What's in a Name? Schoolyard Soil Experiment Schoolyard Sounds Spiders Among Us

The Strength of Paper Surface Temperatures Swing Set Physics Veering Path Study Investigation of Schoolyard Trash

Under the Plywood Square Natrual Ground Litter Let It Snow

IBSP Challenging Science Problems Page

Updated: October 8,2009

Copyright, 2005

by Prism Press

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The text of this publication or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the authors.