1. Aboard the R/V Katy Bringing Meaning to an Outdoor Field Experience Dana Sjostrom Dana.Sjostrom@utexas.edu University of Texas Marine Science Institute

2. What is this? 0 Katy Program is a field trip aboard our Research Vessel, the Katy 0 Students participate in one of two trips: 0 2 hour – Plankton Tow and Trawl 0 4 hour – Plankton Tow, Mud Grab, and two Trawls

3. What components are part of this experience? 0 We visit with students prior to the trip. 0 This talk changes with grade level or topic. 0 Safety rules are also covered prior to boarding the boat 0 Then, the boat trip! 0 Currently, no follow up activities are included When do we interact with students?

4. Who Needs This? 0 Motto: Get Outside! We provide opportunities for 5 th through high school, including college and adult programs Even some local students have never been on the water or in a boat Providing appreciation for the outdoors is critical

5. Learning Goals: What are we trying to accomplish? 1. Students foster an appreciation of the outdoor environment. 2. Students learn about the bay ecosystem and associated biota through discovery learning techniques. 3. Students describe and identify characteristics of what they encounter using grade-level appropriate terminology. 4. Student attitudes about science improve following program participation.

6. Plankton Exploration Now, an activity. You get to be the discover-er!

7. Plankton Exploration 0 Examine your plankton sample, describe what you see! Use creative language.

8. Plankton Lesson: Let’s Do it Differently This Time

9. Plankton Lesson: The Transmission Method Listen, then reflect. How was it different? How do you think student experiences changed?

10. Plankton: Let’s see the details now Routine: 0 Ask students what they know about plankton 0 Introduce the floater idea 0 Examine net 0 Drag 0 Look! 0 Identify later Conversations center around student observations.

11. Trawl: Let’s see the details Routine: 0 Deploy net 0 Talk about net structure 0 Drag for 20-30 mins 0 Retrieve trawl 0 Explain procedure 0 Deal with tough stuff 0 Then split organisms into buckets for exploration Conversations again center around student observations.

12. Learner – Centered and Inquiry Based Old Format Focus (boooo!) New Format Focus (yay!)

13. Assessments: When and How? How we can assessmeaningful learningduring the program? We could develop scoringrubrics to assess things like:0 Do students appreciate andrespect the outdoor space? 0 How does meaningfuldiscourse and discussionlead to increased studentunderstanding? 0 How do student-studentinteractions and use of self-guided exploration lead toincreased studentunderstanding? (Blanchet-Cohen & Elliot, 2011; Hickey, Taasoobshirazi, & Cross, 2012; Schulz, 2012)Blanchet-Cohen & Elliot, 2011Hickey, Taasoobshirazi, & Cross, 2012Schulz, 2012

14. Summative Assessments How we can assess meaningfullearning as a result of programcompletion? Students could conduct pre- and post- attitude surveysand respond to open ended questions about the baysystem.0 Did student content knowledge increase? 0 Were activities grade level appropriate? 0 Did student attitudes towards science change?

15. How can we reach a diverse audience? Inquiry oriented field experiences Learner-centered approaches Productive, open-ended questioning Learning conversations appropriate to grade level or prior experience Classroom support for teachers (Hickey, et al., 2012; Larson, Castleberry, & Green, 2010;Roehrig, Dubosarsky, Mason, Carlson, & Murphy, 2011)Hickey, et al., 2012Larson, Castleberry, & Green, 2010Roehrig, Dubosarsky, Mason, Carlson, & Murphy, 2011

16. References Blanchet-Cohen, N., & Elliot, E. (2011). Young Children and Educators Engagement and Learning Outdoors: A Basis for Rights-Based Programming. [Article]. Early Education and Development, 22 (5), 757-777. doi: 10.1080/10409289.2011.596460 Hickey, D. T., Taasoobshirazi, G., & Cross, D. (2012). Assessment as learning: Enhancing discourse, understanding, and achievement in innovative science curricula. [Article]. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49 (10), 1240-1270. doi: 10.1002/tea.21056 Larson, L. R., Castleberry, S. B., & Green, G. T. (2010). Effects of an environmental education program on the environmental orientations of children from different gender, age, andethnic groups. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 28 (3), 95-113. Roehrig, G. H., Dubosarsky, M., Mason, A., Carlson, S., & Murphy, B. (2011). We Look More, Listen More, Notice More: Impact of Sustained Professional Development on Head Start Teachers'Inquiry-Based and Culturally-Relevant Science Teaching Practices. [Article]. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 20 (5), 566-578. doi: 10.1007/s10956-011-9295-2 Schulz, L. (2012). The origins of inquiry: inductive inference and exploration in early childhood. Trends in cognitive sciences, 16 (7), 382-389.

17. Thank you! Now go outside and explore!