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The
chosen context for learning will form the basis for students
to investigate an issue, problem, or unusual situation. Focus for
the investigation
should evolve through careful questioning on the part of the teacher.
Organizing
Questions
Organizing questions are the “big picture” questions. They
can engage students in meaningful exploration of the community and
local environment. Posed by the teacher, organizing questions provide
students with a framework for learning in many areas: general and disciplinary
knowledge; thinking and problem-solving skills; basic life skills;
and understanding of their local environment as it relates to the Chesapeake
Bay watershed.
Effective
organizing questions are those that
- arouse
and sustain student interest
- encompass
both natural and social systems and topics
- encompass
the essential Science Standards of Learning content to be covered
- stimulate
inquiry and focus student work
- allow
for creation of interdisciplinary activities and investigations
- require
students to propose and evaluate a variety of solutions
rather than lead to one “obvious” response
or one “right” answer
- are
stated in language easily understood by students
- are
related to everyday life
- require
students to revisit the problem frequently as knowledge and understanding
evolves
- recur
naturally throughout the completion of an interdisciplinary program
Prior to
class time, teachers should determine (1) what question they want the
students to answer or (2) what question to use as an example
so that students can determine a question they as a class would like
to answer.
Examples
of organizing questions
- What
impact does our school have on the Chesapeake Bay?
- In what
ways does development in our community affect the Chesapeake Bay?
- How
does the Chesapeake Bay affect the economy of our community?
- In
what ways does our school parking lot affect the natural systems
of a nearby stream?
- Does
our schoolyard provide a healthy habitat for a wide variety of organisms?
- What
vegetation can we plant in our schoolyard to attract native animals?
Supporting
Questions
Students will not have enough knowledge at the start of the project
to answer the organizing question. Therefore, teachers must generate
supporting questions that will help students find the missing information
needed to answer the organizing question. These smaller, supporting
questions can help provide direction and keep the class moving if students
are stumped.
Before presenting
an organizing question to the class, teachers should determine what
major concepts will be involved and
should prepare supporting questions that introduce the concepts.
A good initial brainstorming technique here is to create a large web
of supporting questions that branch out from the organizing questions.
As
they generate supporting questions, teachers will want to include
questions that bring in a variety of subject disciplines: English,
science, mathematics, and history and social science, as well as
other
areas that may apply.
To illustrate,
if the classroom focus is to be biodiversity, the teacher may first
need to introduce the concept
of
habitat and the idea that different animals need different environmental
conditions to survive. The teacher may ask supporting questions
such as
- What
is an animal that you can see near the school?
- What
do you see this animal doing during the day?
- What
does it eat?
- What
does it drink?
- Where
does it sleep?
- What
dangers does it face?
- How
does it stay safe?
- What
things does it need in order to live?
- Have
there always been animals of this type around here?
- How
many of these animals do you think live in this area?
- Why
are there so few (or so many) of these animals around here?
The organization
question that could then be asked of the students is “How
could we increase the number of animals living on or near our school
grounds?”
Teacher
Planning Activities
Using
KWL Charts:
At the beginning of the questioning process, Know-Wonder-Learned (KWL)
charts are an effective way to identify what students already know
about a topic, determine what they would like to learn or discover,
and assess their progress as the unit proceeds.
The chart
will also provide a way to assess what the students have learned. Teachers
can
make KWL charts on large sheets of paper (they can use an electronic
table or spreadsheet) and have students revisit the charts periodically
to fill in the “Wonder” and “Learned” columns.
The “Learned” column can get very long, so it is important
to leave a great deal of space. See the KWL
Chart handout (PDF; also available in a Word
file).
Developing
Questions:
Create a Web diagram with an organizing question in the center and
the supporting questions radiating from the center. See the Web
of Questions handout (PDF; also available in a Word
file). The
supporting questions must focus on the organizing question.
Student
Activity
Developing
Questions:
Once a few organizing questions and several supporting questions are
developed, the students should work through the same activity. The
students could create a graphic organizer, such as that in the Brainstorming
Questions handout (PDF; also available in a Word file).
Teacher
Planning Activities
Generating
Supporting Questions by Discipline:
One of the purposes of the Lessons from the Bay planning process model
is to construct connections between disciplines. “Bridge” questions
can help you analyze a situation from the perspective of multiple disciplines.
Let the
Bridge Questions handout (PDF;
also available in a Word file) assist
you in constructing your supporting questions for each subject area.
Collaborate with other
teachers at your school to think of more interdisciplinary connections.
Making Interdisciplinary
Connections:
To go a step further and fully integrate several subject areas into
the Lessons from the Bay model, you may wish to map your plan.
Setting up a chart can ensure that all selected disciplines are covered
and
that
each is sustained throughout the learning process. (See the Making
Interdisciplinary Connections handout (PDF;
also available in a Word
file).
Next: Using
Research to Gain Deeper Understanding
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