Big Idea - Biodiversity: How to Introduce the Idea

      So to start off this blog entry I'd like to let you know my inspiration for this big idea comes from my own love for animals and the uniqueness that comes with every species, just like it does with every child. No to mention the marvelous connection we have with the animals that make up our ecosystems. There are also many different facets of biodiversity for children to be intrigued by. 
      The best way children could learn more about biodiversity is for them to see it for themselves; and what better way to do that than to take a field trip to a local zoo. For a teacher in proximity to the Greater Toronto Area the best place I could recommend is the Toronto Zoo. They have a large variety of animals, that are well cared for and on their website they even have information on how to set up a class field trip,  The zoo is also a great way to get all the children on a level playing field so to speak in having an experience with different animals and observing their behavior. For a trip like this you're going to want make sure you invite parents to come along to help in guiding the children around the park, especially if you have a large class. This could be really helpful if you want to record any questions the children bring up while on the trip, and you can also get the parents to helping report back on things they heard the children talk about.

      It is also strongly recommended that the teachers & ECE's plan out possible routes to take the children. They should also be prepared to be in a bit of a time crunch, because the children are likely to get really fascinated by active animals (especially the gorillas) and may want to observe them for a long period of time. But remember that's a good thing! You want them to be fascinated by certain animals, and remember the ones certain children focus on. This will make for great discussion, and thought provoking questions later. You may even be able to find an animal or classification group.
  

On a side note as an animal advocate I strongly discourage taking your class to a circus that uses animals for entertainment, or any that's considered a roadside zoo. The animals are more often than not poorly taken care of, and live in depressing habitats. You and the class might be on your way to experiencing an unfortunate truth.

     What's great about this field trip experience is that the lead up to this event can be exciting and may get the children thinking about what animals they do know of as well as finding out what their peers know. In the case that your your school isn't close to a large zoo institution, and closer to more rural areas. You may be more interested in taking your class to conservation area or a farm/petting zoo (which is an especially great place to go in the fall).
My next blog entries will show the learning areas you can construct around the big idea of biodiversity before and after your students' zoo experience. I will be referring to the process of inquiry in the FDEL-K as well as the big ideas within each learning area.

Many different skills make up inquiry-based learning for children, and children need
numerous opportunities to develop and use these skills as they progress through the
Full-Day Early Learning–Kindergarten program. Inquiry skills should not be taught
in isolation; they should be integrated into interesting topics and ideas and in
children’s ongoing play. (Ministry of Education, 2011, pg. 15)

The Inquiry Process in Early Learning–Kindergarten Classrooms

Elements of the child’s inquiry process	When children are engaged in the inquiry process, they:	When team members are modelling or supporting the inquiry process, they:
Initial Engagement noticing, wondering, playing	• raise questions about objects and events around them	• observe and listen
Exploration exploring, observing, questioning	- explore objects and events around them and observe the results of their explorations - make observations, using all of their senses, and generate questions	• act as facilitators to guide children with thoughtful, open-ended questions • encourage children to observe and talk among themselves and to the team
Investigation planning, using observations, reflecting	gather, compare, sort, classify, order, interpret, describe observable characteristics and properties, notice patterns, and draw conclusions, using a variety of simple tools and materials	• provide a rich variety of materials and resources, and strategically question and observe children to clarify, expand, or discover the children’s thinking • model how to plan, observe, and reflect
Communication sharing findings, discussing ideas	work individually and with others, share and discuss ideas, and listen to ideas	listen to the children to help them make connections between prior knowledge and new discoveries

References
The full-day early learning kindergarten program: 2010-11. (Draft ver. ed.). (2010). Toronto, ON: Ministry of Education.

Exploring animals through language

Elements of the child’s inquiry process	When children are engaged in the inquiry process, they:	When team members are modelling or supporting the inquiry process, they:
Initial Engagement noticing, wondering, playing	- Read a book that describes different species of animals - Provide the children with maps of the zoo	• Provide different resources for learning about animals like National Geographic Magazines or an animal encyclopedia in your classroom so that children can see real pictures, and great quality pictures of animals.
Exploration exploring, observing, questioning	- Try to introduce the children to words related to biodiversity. (family, habitat, etc.)	• act as facilitators to guide children with thoughtful, open-ended questions • Extend children's projects and big ideas into other learning areas (Chaillé, 2008)
Investigation planning, using observations, reflecting	- Create a word puzzle corresponding to different kinds of animals. Here's an example: - Cut the letters into individual pieces, and I would recommend either printing this resource on photo paper or putting thin pieces or stick to a thin piece of cardboard (from a cereal box). Ask the children to match up letters - Find a memory match board games with pictures of animals or make your own!	- Provide animal resources for them to refer to. • model how they can use the resource - some of the animals I provided in my example have long names so they may be harder for children to figure out you may want to give them hints about how many letters make up the name of the animal.
Communication sharing findings, discussing ideas	- Make sensory journals (What I saw, what I smelt, what I heard, what I tasted, what I felt) for the trip to the zoo. So that children can write down their feelings and memories of the zoo trip.	listen to the children to help them make connections between prior knowledge and new discoveries

Curriculum Expectations

Language - Big Idea: Children are effective communicators

1. communicate by talking and by listening and speaking to others for a variety of purposes and in a variety of contexts

2. demonstrate understanding and critical awareness of a variety of written materials that are read by and with the EL–K (Early Learning-Kindergarten) team

3. use reading strategies that are appropriate for beginning readers in order to make sense of a variety of written materials;

4. communicate in writing, using strategies that are appropriate for beginners

5. demonstrate a beginning understanding and critical awareness of media texts.

Where you can extend this Big Idea:

Dramatic Play

You could start by setting up the dramatic play area like a zoo, or a pet store. If the children get engaged with the area by pretending to be different animals then provide them with the materials to make animal masks, or costumes. You might end up creating a play or a video.

The link below is to an ECE's classroom who brought animals into dramatic play through various contexts http://www.urbanmamas.com/childcare/2010/03/music-art-based-joyful-learning-is-unique.html

Or you can provide finger puppets!

References:

The full-day early learning kindergarten program: 2010-11. (Draft ver. ed.). (2010). Toronto], ON: [Ministry of Education.

Chaillé, C. (2008). Constructivism across the curriculum in early childhood classrooms: big ideas as inspiration. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Biodiversity starts with Science & Technology

Elements of the child’s inquiry process	When children are engaged in the inquiry process, they:	When team members are modelling or supporting the inquiry process, they:
Initial Engagement (Before going to the zoo)  - Ask the children what animals they want to see at the zoo.	- Start stating an animal that they know the name of - The song above is what you can sing before telling the children the good and surprising news that they will be going to the zoo in the near future. - Sing more songs about different kinds of animals Some Examples: Five Little Monkeys Here is a list full of songs, poems and nursery rhymes! Find ones you think your children would be most interested in.	• The educators jot down a list of names that the children are familiar with and model collecting  data (See my Math Blog) - Reading a book about different species of animals (See my Language blog)
Exploration Exploring biodiversity through play.	- Introduce plastic figurines of a large variety of animals during free play. If you notice the children  - Allow the children on the computer to explore the Toronto Zoo website, and their educational online games -You can find a lot of zoo and animal sanctuary websites with live webcams.	•Ask the children questions about the figurines related to biodiversity, such as: What figurines do you like to play with? What kind of sounds do you think the animal makes? How would you sort these animals? Listen in on the dramatic play that is happening among the children, that's where you will find more information on other ideas the children may want to to explore before their trip to the zoo - Invite the children to take interest in a particular animal
Investigation planning, using observations, reflecting	- Leading up to the time when you go to the zoo you can provide the children with maps of the zoo, and they can plan out which animals they'd like to see. - Allow the children to make invitations to invite their parents to come to the zoo, since certain class sizes often require a certain amount of supervisors	- The teachers should invite the children to be apart of the planning of the field trip because time management can be just as difficult on a field trip as it is in a classroom. Also if the children are aware of the itinerary of their trip then you may be able to see more than planned.
Communication sharing findings, discussing ideaspor	- Make sure to engage with each child in your group at some point on the trip, children are likely to be ecstatic at the sight of lively animals, which makes them eager to share with you what they saw. - Ask the children to compare and contrast the different animals they saw - Don't be concerned with teaching children the correct animal classification families in Kindergarten, but they should be able to identify physical differences between certain species and similarities.	Try to get all teachers and parents in on documenting the children at the zoo and recording their words and questions. So that you can continue the learning back in the classroom. - Be aware of the animals that were the most entertaining to observe, they may be an animal you can focus on in the classroom

Curriculum Expectations
Science & Technology - Big Idea: Children are curious and connect prior knowledge to new contexts in order to understand the world around them.
1. demonstrate an awareness of the natural and built environment through hands-on investigations, observations, questions, and representations of their findings;
2. conduct simple investigations through free exploration, focused exploration, and guided activity, using inquiry skills (questioning, planning, predicting, observing, communicating);
3. demonstrate an understanding of the natural world and the need to care for and respect the environment
4. use technological problem-solving skills (questioning, planning, predicting, constructing, observing, communicating) in free exploration, focused exploration, and guided activity.

Reference: The full-day early learning kindergarten program: 2010-11. (Draft ver. ed.). (2010). Toronto, ON: Ministry of Education.

Where you can extend this Big Idea:
Art
- Provide different coloured paints at each easel, and put a range of colours that corresponds with the colours of certain animals
- For example if you set up an easel with peacock colours you would provide orange/red, green, blue and/or sky blue. Provide a colour-print picture next to each easel.

- don't imply whatsoever that you wish for them to recreate the picture whatsoever

- Just use this a way of experimenting with the colors of a particular animal.

You might also find that your children are fascinated by the animals that are most relatable to them; Monkeys. The monkeys are usually the most lively and expressive animals at the zoo, so be prepared to spend a lot of time with the monkeys and make sure to help the children see the similarities between humans and monkeys (obviously don't make any implication into evolution, let the children come up with their own ideas around that subject), since we are both in the primate family. You can even introduce them to Jane Goodall and she runs organization that encourage youth and young children to get involved in learning about the environment.

Reference: 
The full-day early learning kindergarten program: 2010-11. (Draft ver. ed.). (2010). Toronto, ON: Ministry of Education.

Chaillé, C. (2008). Constructivism across the curriculum in early childhood classrooms: big ideas as inspiration. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Using Math in Animal Exploration

Elements of the child’s inquiry process	When children are engaged in the inquiry process, they:	When team members are modelling or supporting the inquiry process, they:
Initial Engagement noticing, wondering, playing	• Stating their favorite animals, what they are looking forward to see at the zoo, as well as previous experiences at the zoo (who has had them who hasn't) - Sing songs that involve numbers and different species of animals	• Recording them in a graph or some or multiple visual diagrams to show the children where everyone is at. the teachers can discover what the children already know about animal - While singing the song hand out items that the children can hold onto while they sing the songs for one-to-one correspondance
Exploration exploring, observing, questioning	- Children attempt to sort animal figurines, may be add some new animals they have seen before. - The children use numeracy skills (i.e. counting) at the zoo. - the children use comparison words when describing the different animals they see (bigger, smaller, longer, shorter)	• act as facilitators to guide children with thoughtful, open-ended questions • encourage children to observe and talk among themselves and to the team
Investigation planning, using observations, reflecting	- Set up a field trip schedule with the children by providing time slots.  - Ask the children what they want to see how much time they want to spend there.	• Provide each children with a small adjustable clock so they can follow the team members as they go through what is going to happen on the day of the field trip You could probably make your own out of paper plates. • model how to plan observe, and reflect
Communication sharing findings, discussing ideas	- Revisit your graphs and start collecting new data about what the children's favorite animals are. - Set up the dramatic play area as a Zoo. - The children to bring the blocks and plastic animal figurines into other areas of the classroom and design their own zoo.	listen to the children to help them make connections between prior knowledge and new discoveries - Invite the children to use mathematical concepts to create their own zoo.

Curriculum Expectations

Mathematics - Big Idea: Young children have a conceptual understanding of mathematics thinking and reasoning.

NS1. demonstrate an understanding of numbers, using concrete materials to explore and investigate counting, quantity, and number relationships;

M2. measure and compare length, mass, capacity, area, and temperature of objects/materials, and the passage of time, using non-standard and standard units, through free exploration, focused exploration, and guided activity;

G3. describe, sort, classify, build, and compare two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional figures, and describe the location and movement of objects through investigation;

P4. explore, recognize, describe, and create patterns, using a variety of materials in different contexts;

DM5. sort, classify, and display a variety of concrete objects, collect data, begin to read and describe displays of data, and begin to explore the concept of probability in everyday contexts.

Where you can extend this Big Idea:

Phys. Ed.

- Through a game called Wolf & Deer you can demonstrate the growth and balance within populations that rely on each other for food. To set the game up you need to pick two children to be wolves and the rest of the children become deer. The deer should stand on the far side of a large open area (the children will be running, make sure there is space) and wolves will stand in the middle. The wolves are hungry and when the deer run through the "meadow" they have to make sure not to get eaten (tagged) by one of the wolves because if a deer gets eaten then they become a wolf. However as the population in wolf increases and then deer population decreases. Suddenly a lot of the wolves are finding it hard to find food, so if a wolf cannot find a deer to eat when the small population runs past the meadow then they must die and become a deer again. Let this game play out a few rounds so the children can see the fluctuation in the group sizes. This could help children make connections with the balance within our ecosystems.

 

References:

The full-day early learning kindergarten program: 2010-11. (Draft ver. ed.). (2010). Toronto, ON: Ministry of Education.

Chaillé, C. (2008). Constructivism across the curriculum in early childhood classrooms: big ideas as inspiration. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Allow me to Introduce Myself

      Hello my name is Caitlyn, and I'm a third year student from Seneca College and I will be attaining a Bachelor's degree in Child Development in my next year. I have started this blog as part of an assignment for a course I am taking called, A Constructivist Approach to Math & Science. I have been asked to create a digital resource that can be accessed and used by other teachers anywhere to provide constructivist curriculum ideas that originate with a "Big Idea" in science. In this blog I will be referring to Ontario's very own Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program so my curriculum ideas will be intended for kindergarten children, but that doesn't mean that teachers wouldn't be able to alter or tweak my ideas for older or even younger children.

You can find this online for free: www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/.../kindergarten_english_june3.pdf

      That being said, I could have created this assignment in a number of ways but I decided to to do a blog because I really don't want this blog just to exist for the sake of getting a good mark in my assignment, I hope that I can actually share my ideas with educators. Even though I understand there can be a lot of constraints in a classroom in terms of time and the structure; I still aim to inspire teachers to open their minds to the idea that constructivist and Reggio Emilia inspired ideas can come into their classroom, and they can still meet the expectations of their own policies and curriculum.

This blog is going to be set up like a Choose-your-own-adventure book, and that's how learning with children should be looked at right? In which the children choose the learning adventure they wish to embark on and the teacher follows and helps to keep the adventure exciting. This is so that teachers can take this big idea that will obviously start in the Science & Technology area, but can also be carried into other learning areas such as language, math and visual arts.

I hope that this blog becomes my foot in the door, into getting my name out there and to helping in the progressive education movement.