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The
Chesapeake Bay is an abundant context for learning. Investigating
the watershed often begins in a classroom but soon moves beyond the traditional
classroom walls. Teachers may choose to focus activities on one or more
of a wide range of settings:
- classrooms or other in-house facilities, such as laboratories
- developed
areas of school campus, including playgrounds or athletic fields
- undeveloped
school property, such as fields and woodlands
- on-site
study areas, such as the parking lot
- off-site
study areas, including both natural habitats and community settings.
With the teacher’s
guidance, a class might select as their center of interest for learning
about the Chesapeake Bay watershed a context,
such as one of the following:
- a creek
running behind the playground
- a schoolyard
as a habitat for plants· a schoolyard as a habitat for animals
- a
small plot of grass in the schoolyard
- a parking
lot near the schoolyard
- the
landscaping on or near the schoolyard (including native and
introduced species).
Teachers and students will find additional contexts for learning that
are specific to their local surroundings.
Teacher
Planning Activity
Brainstorming
Contexts:
What are the contexts in your area for studying the Chesapeake
Bay watershed?Sometimes it is helpful
to brainstorm the various settings available to you and your students.
You could start by thinking small, then moving to a broader context.
See Brainstorming Contexts handout (PDF;
also available in a Word file).
Next: Developing
Organizing Questions and Supporting Questions
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