Wrapping
it Up: Portfolios Unfold in Ithaca
Pat Gaines,
the Fifth Grade teacher who directed the tulip experiments at Belle
Sherman in
Ithaca, NY has some concrete ideas for teaching
her students. In describing her overall goals to Journey North
this is what she said:
"I
want to see the students involved in a science project that is much
bigger than our classroom. To see science as an investigation - collection
of data, controlling variables, observing, etc."
Her fifth
graders presented
their tulip project using small, home-made portfolios. The beauty of
these student-made
organizers is they become a collection place AND a reflection of their
year-long involvement in a science project much bigger than their own
classroom.
How
did your tulip experiments “unfold” this year? What did
you learn from your tulip investigations? Did you plant bulbs upside
down? Did you vary the depth when you planted your bulbs? What about
the “Microclimate Challenge?”
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