We ventured out on the CTA 151 bus to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum as part of our inquiry into biodiversity. This field study supports our inquiring into:
- how scientific observation fuels our understanding of the natural world.
- the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems.
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how living things have adaptations.
Equipped with a journal and a pencil (see above), the students used both words and sketches to record their observations within the woodland, wetland, and prairie ecosystems on the museum's grounds. The first graders then considered how different adaptations would help animals survive in their habitats. We broke into small groups in order to observe the living and once-living animals throughout the museum, photographing adaptations as we went (see below). They returned to school and again used My Story to reflect upon and synthesize what they learned on the field study. Each child curated the photos they took at the museum and then used My Story to label and describe adaptations of certain animals they documented.