E.C.O. Tracking

Our ECO science lesson focused on being "animal detectives" in Harrison Field and Forest today. We launched our lesson with an exploration of tracks in the sand, a nature museum style activity and drawing animal tracks on our work board before morning meeting. Students greeted each other at meeting by making a track with their fingers - some two-legged, some four-legged and some even had a tail! Together with Wrigley's class, we read Big Tracks, Little Tracks. 

Students learned to focus on thinking like scientists by making observations about animal behavior and asking questions. Before heading outdoors, kindergartners practiced by turning and talking with their neighbors at the read-aloud carpet, and sharing their observations and questions with the whole group about animal tracks, patterns of tracks, and discussing possible reasons of where the animals in the story could be going and why. Students learned to share their new format for thinking like scientists, and practiced many times by saying aloud their observations and questions in this way, for example "I notice the snow shoe hare tracks led to the tree, I wonder

if it was going into the hole at the bottom?" Students are learning to gather information to inform their thinking, continue asking questions and finding evidence to support their observations before asserting an idea as a "final" answer. As we discovered animal tracks in Harrison forest, trailed and traced back their tracks, students shared what they were thinking through I notice, and I wonder statements as well. 


We were lucky to have enough time to do some sliding in Harrison Forest! Lucky Kindergarteners!