Glacier Game

Engage

5-10 minutes

Explain to the students that they will be taking a walk around the playground, or in another area adjacent to the school. Brainstorm with the children about what they can expect to see. Make a list of plants and animals that they might see during the school year. Ask students to think about what they might see in a different season of the year, and why some plants and animals are seen during certain times of the year.

Explore

20-30 minutes

Practice observation skills on a walk outside the school: look, listen, and notice the surrounding environment. Assist children to “see” the plants and animals that live near the school. Encourage them to look down at the ground around them, at eye level (trees, bushes) and also up higher (tall trees, mountains, sky). It’s important that children get the big picture of their local environment before being asked to look into a smaller area in the next activity. Encourage them to name what they see, and point out birds, trees, and other things that they notice. Have children gather in small groups to explain their view through simple games such as “I Spy,” a sound game (listening), and a camera game. For the camera game, have children gaze around and then focus on one thing, and then use their ear as the button to take the picture with their eye (camera).

Explain

30 minutes

Back in the classroom, help children discuss what they saw. Gather in the group area and write their ideas on a list. The list will be used to support children’s thinking when they write in their science notebooks, and it will be useful to divide the list in some way. You might divide the list by “level” (ground level, eye level, sky level) or by “area” (near a creek, next to the road, by the building).

Have children write in their science notebooks, using the left side of a clean page. If appropriate, divide the page into three boxes with horizontal lines to match the class list.

Ask students to think about their time outside and record three things that they noticed on the walk. Use any “levels” or “areas” from the class list, and have them choose one thing from each; for example, they might choose one thing from the ground or near their feet, one thing from eye level, and one thing taller than them. They should list details that they noticed about each thing. As students finish writing, have them share with each other, and again with the whole group once they are gathered together.

Elaborate

20-30 minutes, next day or later

Remind students of the walk they took to look for signs of animals and living plants. Show them an O-W-L chart and explain that making lists of what they have observed will help to keep their “scientist’s eyes” open to new plants and animals they learn about.

Ask the students to take a moment to remember what was most interesting. If time has passed, guide children through the walk once again, in their mind’s eyes. Describe the route taken and have children describe what they noticed. Write responses on the chart under “O”: “What we have observed.”

If there are photos of the initial walk, children can review what plants and animals were observed. They can also refer to their science notebooks. Use the initial list to remind students of what they saw and how they described it. Continue adding to the Observation list until everyone’s ideas are recorded.

Move on to the “W,” asking students what they have wondered about as they walked and noticed plants and animals. Record all ideas and questions, and support and guide children to wonder about what they have seen, heard, felt, and noticed. Encourage every student to have at least one question they are wondering about. Many of the questions may be similar, and the children with similar questions could work together to start talking about their ideas. How will we find out that information? Where could we go to ask?

In a new science notebook entry, have children draw a picture and write about their wonderings.

Evaluate

Listen to the students’ ideas and wonderings to begin to get an idea of misconceptions and/or questions that can be used for inquiry lessons during the unit.

This initial activity can be used as a pre-assessment. Use the attitude checklist to note beginning attitudes of science learning and outdoor awareness. Also, note which students are engaged, using senses and vocabulary, and which students will need more support for focused attention and ways to participate. As another optional pre-assessment, you may wish to use an initial science notebook entry to document beginning awareness of local environment, before the unit begins.

Labels, details, and standard data (date, weather, temperature) should be a part of each science notebook entry.