Field investigations create an essential link between classroom activities and what students see and experience outside the school settings. They can provide students with examples of how the science concepts they learn in class are used in everyday life.
Field investigations encourage students to ask questions, explore, observe, and investigate their local environment. Direct observation can provide a stimulating and rewarding experience for you and your students.
Outdoor
experiences in nature increase students’ problem solving abilities
and motivation to learn in social studies, science, language arts, and math.
Conducting classroom field investigations help students become systems
thinkers, learn the skills of scientific inquiry, and understand that science
doesn’t only happen in a laboratory or classroom.
Learn more about field investigations and scientific inquiry with these great resources:
Aquatic
WILDEngaging students in scientific inquiry
Field Investigations: Using Outdoor Environments to Foster Student Learning of Scientific Processes
FILLING THE TOOL BOX: Classroom Strategies to Engender Student Questioning
Inquiry-based Learning
Inquiry Based Science: What Does It Look Like?
Teaching with Great Lakes Data
University of Montana
