Weaving a Montessori Basket

Note: Last November, I shared this statement with parents, teachers, and administrators at the opening night dinner of the Third Annual Public Montessori Educators of Texas Conference. This week, it was published under a different title by the Public School Montessorian.

Hands-on materials, sensory training, practical life work, child-sized furniture, multi-age grouping, love and respect for the child, individualized education, lessons that move from concrete to abstract, uninterrupted work periods, cooperation and collaboration, peace education, community meetings—like the reeds of a basket, all of these are merely components of a Montessori classroom. One or more of these components can be found today in many, if not most, mainstream classrooms. This is a good thing. There are many dedicated, caring educators in mainstream classrooms, and there are many ways to do right by a child. However, adopting one or two of these components does not make a Montessori classroom. The strength and beauty of a Montessori classroom is that these reeds have been woven into a beautiful and functional basket.

As Montessorians, we must maintain a deep conviction that the basket works. I am disheartened when I hear public Montessorians talk with quiet acceptance about the reeds that have been pulled from the beautiful, strong baskets we are attempting to weave. We hear of entire classes grouped by single grade, instead of three-year age groupings according to the Montessori planes of development. Assistants are pulled from classrooms and teachers struggle to give lessons. Other teachers struggle to create Montessori classrooms without training or certification. Students in tested grade levels are removed from their classrooms for up to seven hours a week (almost half of the time allocated for their uninterrupted work period) for direct instruction in preparation for the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, a high-stakes state test, administered annually beginning in third grade). We listen to teachers talk about how they struggle to apply number grades to individualized work to which children are asked to make corrections. The basket is weakened, reed by reed.

What saddens me most is that each loss of a reed from the basket is explained with tones of acceptance or hopelessness, as if they were not choices, as if because our classrooms are in the public setting it is acceptable (or even inevitable) that we offer our students something less than the carefully woven basket we know works so well.

Certainly it is true that in Texas public Montessori schools, we do not have a choice about the TAKS test. However, we do choose our response. Abandoning components of Montessori in response to fear of outside pressures reveals either lack of knowledge or distrust in the Montessori philosophy and materials. As Montessorians, we must maintain a deep conviction that the basket works. If we believe in the genius of the Montessori materials and in the power of a Montessori classroom to educate all children, we must trust that this is the path to success on “The Test,” as well. Catherine McTamaney, author of The Tao of Montessori, writes, “We are asked to sacrifice parts of Montessori, but who is to say which parts of the method are essential and which can be discarded? In bureaucracy, others decide. In practice, we do. We determine whether or not to have faith in this method.” To maintain this trust in the face of high-stakes test pressure is a difficult task. This is why we come together to support one another in keeping the faith and defending the strength of our Montessori baskets. Which reed is critical to the integrity of the basket and which can be removed without consequence?

If we believe in the beauty and function of the basket, we will be vigilant about maintaining its strength. As trained Montessorians, it is our duty to maintain the integrity of the basket and to recognize when we are standing with only a handful of reeds. Authentic Montessori environments do exist in public settings. It can be done. It requires self-reflection, patient and persistent education of administrators and district officials, and finding the strength necessary to ask for what you need to do it well.

No-one among us has a finished perfect basket. We are all at different stages in the process, and just as every child is different, every Montessori classroom is different. If each of us is preparing the environment to meet the needs of the individual children with whom we work, we must expect that every Montessori classroom around the world, and even the same classroom over time, will look different. Catherine McTamaney writes, “When we realize that Montessori is a verb, an action and not a thing, we grant ourselves the grace to grow as teachers. We grant ourselves the union of community with other educators.” Let’s not pour energy into discussions of who is holding more reeds, focus on weaving—together. Seek out the company and understanding of other basket makers, other Montessorians. Let them help you find the strength to ask for the basket your children deserve. Your children deserve the basket.

Into the Woods

“There is no description, no image in any book that is capable of replacing the sight of real trees, and all the life to be found around them, in a real forest.
Something emanates from those trees which speaks to the soul.”
—Dr. Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence


What happens when you take 22 children and four adults into the woods?

If you know about Fox Walk and Deer Ears, it is surprisingly quiet.
You hear bird songs and a child quietly remarks on the waterfall sound of the wind tickling leaves in the treetops. As two butterflies dance out of the shadows and flutter into the sun, you hear a child's sharp intake of reverent breath.

A child notices a beautiful snail trying to cross the path, noiselessly but urgently signaling to get the group's attention. Another finds spiky brown globes at your feet, excitedly consulting her field guide and whispering that these are the fruits of a Sweetgum tree.




More children spy a tiny caterpillar dangling trapeze-like from a tree and two bug-eyed frogs lying in wait in a pond.




The group rejoices at the discovery of scat on the path--evidence of a mammal?



What happens when a tree falls in the forest?
A child finds it and turns it over to admire the decomposers (careful to pull towards himself so that any frightened critters have an escape route, away from him!).

Occasionally, the quiet is interrupted by another class approaching in the woods--you hear them before you see them. "They're going to scare all the nature away!" whispers a worried child. "I guess they don't know about the fox walk."

Wednesday, we visited Jesse Jones Park & Nature Center, where we took a morning hike and another hike after lunch. To be quiet in the woods with 22 children is something magical! The woods have a calming way of whispering to a child's spirit and, at the same time, revealing mysteries among the leaves--playing to a child's natural sense of wonder. As one child observed in her journal, "It was soooooo quiet and peaceful."

I learned about Fox Walking and Deer Ears, Owl Eyes and Eagle Eyes at a "Beyond the Walls" workshop at the recent American Montessori Society Annual Conference. In the midst of reading Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods, I was excited by the synergy of stumbling into this workshop. These are the tools I needed to help me engage children with nature! I immediately ordered up Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature (for Kids of all Ages and their Mentors) and convinced Mrs. C. to spend a summer weekend in the woods with me at the Wilderness Awareness School where these ideas were developed.

Chapter 1 of Coyote's Guide argues that "meaningful connection with the wild world outdoors" is critical for children's development. "We have become who we are by living outdoors for hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of years. Just as a baby learns to breathe simply by being in a world of oxygen and letting its body respond, so do our bodies and brains have millions of built in neurological connections with the environment, waiting to be activated. Growing into healthy and fully functional human animals requires ample time interacting with wild nature, time to play, be curious, be open-eyed and alive, and discover how we fit in, how we are connected with our biological world."

There is hope, even in this indoor, sedentary age of video games and computer communication. One urban student who lives not far from our inner-city school articulates our innate need for nature: "There is a lot of things I do outside to feel peaceful. I may climb a tree and stay up there for a while or I would run around and enjoy the breeze from the wind. I also would hum a peaceful song just like the music we have in our classroom."--MH, 3rd grade



Thank you to the two brave mothers who ventured into the woods with us!

Children & Nature Network has designated April "Children and Nature Awareness Month." Jesse Jones Park & Nature Center offers a wonderful array of free programs. Take advantage of these opportunities to reconnect with nature and your child!

Resources:
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature (for Kids of all Ages and their Mentors)
Crinkleroot's Guide to Walking in Wild Places by Jim Arnosky
Local Field Guides: Houston Birds, Texas Trees & Wildflowers, Texas Wildlife, Texas Butterflies & Moths
Houston Arboretum & Nature Center
Nature Awareness Skills
Fox Walk video
Sharing Nature Foundation

Critter Crowded

Our Invertebrate Inn is getting crowded.


Admittedly, I invited--and even paid the way--of some of them,
but word must have spread that we are invertebrate innocuous


because the very next day a free-loading fuzzy, black caterpillar somehow smuggled its way into the classroom, only to be discovered with much fanfare by the children. We installed him in a "room" with a view and complimentary room service (to compensate for the lack of privacy). We googled "fuzzy black caterpillar Texas" and identified this guest as a Tiger Moth larva.

Soon, a tiny stow-away with a voracious appetite arrived on the leaves of some cut flowers our "Beautiful Classroom Manager" brought in from the garden. We are familiar with this baby's clan: Monarch Butterfly, and we always welcome them with open arms and lots of leaves.

We provided this creature camper with a tent and its favorite food, but this Monarch multiplied! Three more Monarch babies munching away! How did they get in there? "Maybe the caterpillar laid eggs?" suggested a first grader. Oh, dear. We need to review insect reproduction. Just as none of the children in Room 28 are old enough yet to have babies (thank goodness!), caterpillars cannot lay eggs. Only a butterfly can lay eggs. Is there another explanation for our new visitors? "Maybe there were already eggs on the new leaves when we brought them in?"

The children don't know it yet, but we are also harboring a merry band of fugitives that Mrs. D. found secretly squatting in the oatmeal. How they got there is a mystery for the children to solve!

Ms. A. keeps suggesting we offer temporary shelter to the silkworm set. "They're great guests!" she promises. "Very easy to care for--you'll hardly notice them at all." Sure.

We may need to consider a "No Vacancy" sign.



NOTE (4-9-09): The children have pointed out there is an invertebrate invader I failed to mention. For all you ladybugs out there, we've got aphids in all-you-can-eat abundance, all ages and stages . . . a Golden Corral of the insect world. I spotted one lone ladybug out in our garden, all bug-eyed with gluttonous glee. "Score!!!" you could tell she was thinking.


What We're Reading:
The Life Cycles of Butterflies by Judy Burris
My Monarch Journal by Connie Muther
Monarch Butterflies by Kate Waters
Eyewitness Buttefly & Moth
Incredible Insects (Science Vocabulary Readers) by Zoe Barnes
Beautiful Bugs (Science Vocabulary Readers) by Daisy Connell
Insects and other Invertebrates (Animal Fact Files)
National Geographic Young Explorer! Fly with a Butterfly
Kids Discover: Insects
Kids Discover 2: Butterflies
Kids Discover: Butterflies & Moths
Face to Face with Caterpillars (National Geographic) by Darlyne Murawski
Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Butterflies & Moths by Jim Arnosky
Insects (National Audubon Society First Field Guides)

Baiting the Hook

“Knowledge can be best given where there is eagerness to learn.”
—Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential

I missed a phone call because I was out buying bait. Angler, I am not, but there I stood in line at Academy with a basket full of live worms and beetle larvae. Lucky for these worms, they were destined to live (well, most of them) in our classroom rather than be skewered on a fishing hook. Of course, I also had to buy a bag of dirt at Home Depot to provide our critters with a happy habitat. It sounds like some kind of bad City Girl joke, spending money on worms and beetles and dirt, but it turns out a box of chilled worms is only slightly more expensive than a bag of sand, and as predicted, my investment was rewarded with lots of squealy fun and fabulous invertebrate investigations.

I have been contemplating worms for a while, and serendipity stepped in when a recent issue of Science & Children arrived with a free sample chapter from More Everyday Science Mysteries—on worms! Wahoo! So, we began with a short story featuring two boys who are wondering about worms. After the story, we reviewed the definitions of hypothesis "what you think before you investigate," observations "information you gather with your senses," and drawing conclusions or making inferences “kind of like an answer.” One student pointed out that scientists use tools to help with their observations, including a hand lens, binoculars, a balance to measure mass, a light, a ruler to measure length, and drawing tools or a camera “in case you can’t take the specimen with you.”

We then recorded what we "know" about worms:
“Worms loosen the soil by wiggling a lot.”
“Worms help the soil stay fertilized by pooping.”
“Worms are fish food.”
“Worms like wet surfaces.”
“Worms can grow long.”
“They all [males & females] look the same.” “Some don’t look the same.”
“A female gets a ring when it’s pregnant.”
“Worms make tunnels. That makes space for plant roots.”
“After a rain, worms come out of the ground onto the sidewalk.”
“Worms die and shrivel in hot, dry places.”
“The rear and head are the same.”

"Hmm. How could we find out more?"
"We could get some worms and look at them."
"Well, it just so happens that I brought a few of my friends to school today . . . "
It was only then that the live worms were revealed. Like the crew members on Oprah's "Favorite Things" show who suddenly appear in the aisles with fun freebies for all, Franny and Mrs. D. brought out big trays loaded with individual trays, each bearing its very own live worm for observation. "Yay!" cheered the children.

Our task for the day was to observe the worms and record our observations with drawings and words. I explained that a scientific illustration must portray organisms as they exist in reality (i.e. In this case, we wouldn't be drawing our worms with top hats and bow ties or big, eyelashed eyes). I had prepared an Invertebrate Observation record form with spaces for an illustration, a description of the invertebrate, a description of how the invertebrate moves, and for responses to “What do you wonder about this invertebrate?” “Do we each get our own page to work on, too?” "Yes, everyone gets their own record page." More spontaneous applause (I kid you not).

A squealy clamor of delight erupted as children began to experiment with using their sense of touch to explore the worms.
“I’m not gonna touch a worm, I’m not gonna touch a worm . . . Ewwww, I’m touching a worm!”

After all that frenzied observation, the worms and I were both tired.
We helped the worms into their new habitat and then briefly shared discoveries (because, as usual, we had run out of time!):
“They are very active when you put them on your hand. They tickle your hand and they are very flexible.”—K.E., 3rd grade
Worms have a rough spot under the front of their bodies. “I was surprised that it felt like a reptile.”—M.M., 2nd grade "Maybe to help them grip on slimy surfaces," suggested another student.



Worms are difficult to measure. "It kept on getting longer and longer so it could get back in the tray."--D.Z., 2nd grade

Worms have an interesting way of moving.
"It sort of scrunches its body up and then extends its body to move forward."--M.M, 2nd grade
“The worm first stretches its head forward and then pulls its rear end. Also it curls up like a ‘J.’”—M.H., 3rd grade
“They bunch up to move.”—K.B., 2nd grade

What we wonder about worms:
"My worm was a female. It had a ring on it. Do females always have a ring? Are the babies in the ring? Are the worms with rings really all females?"--N.K., 1st grade
"I wonder how do you tell a male from a female."--M.M., 2nd grade
"I was wondering how worms communicate with each other."--D.Z., 2nd grade
"I wonder how old it is."--A.D., 1st grade
"Which end is its head?"--K.E., 3rd grade
"How long do worms grow?"--S.B., 3rd grade
“What does the mouth look like?”—K.B., 2nd grade
“I wonder where the eye is or if it has one. I also wonder if they have noses.”—M.H., 3rd grade “How does it live in dirt?”—D.O., 1st grade
“Does it get tired?”—J.J., 1st grade
“How do they breathe?”—C.G., 3rd grade
“What does it eat?”—S.G., 1st grade
“I wonder why it gets itself in a knot.”—C.J., 3rd grade

The children’s questions were great, but I was disappointed when I looked through their illustrations and written descriptions. One description read, “It is brown. It is 16 cm.” Many others were similarly superficial. I decided we should take a step back and give detailed observation another try. “Scientific illustrations and descriptions need details that give information about the creature,” I told the children. “Imagine a person who lives in a desert climate and has never seen an earthworm. What would you tell them so that they can imagine an earthworm? ‘It is brown and it is 16 centimeters’ doesn’t give that person very much information. Based on that description, it could look like this.”

Another student had written, “It has a head and I think I see the mouth.” “That could be an elephant!” I said. “Tell me more.” I also reminded the children that they had told me about tools that scientists use to enhance their senses, such as a hand lens, but I hadn’t seen many of them taking advantage of this tool yesterday.




Once again, each child received his/her very own worm for observation.

This time, having dispensed with the boisterous fun of worm-handling yesterday, the children settled into more serious and detailed observation: “I can see a purple vein that runs down the worm.”
“The worm has tiny hooks on its body.” “That’s probably why it felt rough!”
“Mine is leaving a wet trail as it moves.”
“There’s little lines that go this way on each segment.”
“Oh! Mine is pooping!” “Ohh . . . how do you know?”
“Well, I was looking at it in the magnifying glass and this end was eating and then a while later stuff came out of this end.” “So does that give you some evidence about which end is the head and which end is the tail?”

When we came together to share, the children read from their more detailed descriptions to guide me in creating a more accurate illustration of a worm. The discussion that followed was fascinating and full of more great questions:
“Do worms move head-first?” “Do they reverse?”
One child thought back to our fossil dig, and asked whether worm poop creates glauconite in their environment like the clams did as they ate and pooped and ate and pooped millions of years ago at the Stone City site we visited. This launched the poop portion of our discussion. The children observed that while the clams ate and pooped and ate and pooped in one spot, "worms are more active." Hmm. We’ll have to consult a prehistoric poop expert. I know just the guy!

“My worm didn’t have that line,” offered an older child. "Interesting! What could that mean?"
“Maybe it’s not a vein?” "Well, if the line has to do with the circulatory system, they would probably all have one, right?"
Earlier when we discussed the “vein,” another child had suggested, “I think that line is what takes the poop out of the body.” We returned to his hypothesis. "If you can’t see the line on yours, does this other explanation make more sense?" “Yes, maybe it’s part of the digestive system and mine hasn’t eaten anything lately.” “But mine had the line and I didn’t see it eating,” chimed in another student.
"You’re not eating right now, but if we opened you up, would we find evidence of your lunch?" “Yes, my milk came out but not the rest of my lunch yet.”
(Across the room, Mrs. D. sang, “Too much in-for-ma-tion!” while a smile crept across my face. It is in these moments that I am reminded that a nice, comfortable office job would be awfully boring!)
Maybe this particular worm with no line had pooped out its most recent meal and hadn’t eaten again yet. We then recalled that whales have pink poop because they eat krill and caterpillars have green poop because they eat leaves. “But our poop is brown!” Well, we eat a mix of things, and as the children pointed out, when you mix many colors of paint on your paint palette, it turns brown.

When we finally veered away from poop for a while, more great questions emerged:
“What happens when the worm is injured?”
“How you tell the age of the worm?” “How long does it live?”
“Do worms show signs of death or illness?”
“How many types of worms are there?”
“Do worms have a brain?”
“If a worm becomes angry, what does it do?”
“If something’s in the way, what does the worm do?”
“How does the worm respond to touch?”
“How does a worm sleep? Do they rest?”
“Do they sleep in the dark or the daylight?”
“What temperature do the worms prefer?”
“That’s like my Science Fair experiment with the flowers in cold water and warm water!” shared another student. Yes! And you had another, accidental variable (the cold water flowers were kept in the refrigerator). What was it? “Light—We could test whether the worms like light or dark!”
Another student suggested we find out how much water worms like in their environment.
This prompted thoughts about our holes and the follow-up investigation of soil, “Do they like the soil by the building or from the grassy area?”

As I struggled to record this rapid-fire curiosity, one of the children commented, “Boy, that’s a lot of questions—even upside-down and sideways!” Inquiry in action!

Walking out the door to go home, one eager learner told me, "If I have time after school, I'm going to try to get on the internet and look up more about worms." These worms have got us wondering!

Worm websites:
The Adventures of Hermann
Earthworm anatomy
“No Backbone Back Beat”
“Dirt Made My Lunch”

What We’re Reading:
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
The Magic School Bus Meets the Rot Squad

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
How Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry
And the Good Brown Earth by Kathy Henderson
Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole

Spring Break

Doesn't Have to Be a Break from Learning

Get your family out of the house, and have fun learning together!

Enjoy this beautiful weather outside at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, Hermann Park, Jesse Jones Park, Brazos Bend State Park, Mercer Arboretum, or Armand Bayou Nature Center. If you're looking for a longer trip, head to the Hill Country to check out the wildflowers or visit the dinosaur footprints at Dinosaur Valley State Park.

Tuesday, March 17, 10 a.m. Color Exploration Family Tour at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Beck Building Lobby) An interactive tour designed to encourage creativity, spark discussions, and make works of art come alive for the whole family.

Wednesday, March 18, 10 a.m. Searching the Sense Family Tour at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Beck Building Lobby) An interactive tour designed to encourage creativity, spark discussions, and make works of art come alive for the whole family.

Wednesday, March 18, 1-3 p.m. Homestead Hoedown at Jesse Jones Park All ages; Free; Call for details: (281) 446-8588

Thursday, March 19, 10 a.m. "How Was That Made?: Exploring Art Techniques" Family Tour at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Beck Building Lobby) An interactive tour designed to encourage creativity, spark discussions, and make works of art come alive for the whole family.
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Creation Station (Southwestern Bell Studio, Beck Building of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) Create your own works of art.

Friday, March 20, 10 a.m. Incredible Creatures Family Tour at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Beck Building Lobby) An interactive tour designed to encourage creativity, spark discussions, and make works of art come alive for the whole family.
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Creation Station (Southwestern Bell Studio, Beck Building of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) Create your own works of art.

Friday, March 20, noon-2 p.m. Sun Earth Day on the Vernal Equinox at the Houston Museum of Natural Science Make your own sundial, try your hand at telling time, and use solar energy to etch your initials in wood. At 1 p.m., watch as the Museum’s Cockrell Sundial transforms to become a solar telescope showing the sun in action. Demonstration of solar cooking from 1 – 2 p.m. Planetarium astronomers will be on hand to answer all your burning sun science questions.

Friday, March 20, 1 p.m. "Bartholomew's Reading Adventure" presented by A.D. Players at Jesse Jones Park All ages; Free; Reservations required (281) 446-8588

Saturday, March 21, 10 a.m. Carnivorous Plants at Jesse Jones Park
Discover the many varieties of carnivorous plants, and learn how each attracts, captures, and digests its prey. Take home a plant! Limit one per family. All ages. Free.

Saturday, March 21, 7 p.m. Stargazing at Jesse Jones Park
Learn about the planets, stars, and other celestial bodies with the help of the North Houston Astronomy Club. Participants are encouraged to bring a telescope or binoculars. All ages. Free. Reservations required (281) 446-8588

Sunday, March 22, 1-4 p.m. Creation Station (Southwestern Bell Studio, Beck Building of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) Create your own works of art.
1-4 p.m. Sketching in the Galleries (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) Families have a chance to observe, learn and create while surrounded by works of art. An MFAH teaching artist guides your experience in the galleries.



Available all the time: The MFAH Family Packs, which contain fun activities and materials designed for adults and children to learn about and discover art together. Buildings and Beyond is a family-friendly look at art and architecture. Discover surprising building materials, try out architecture tools, and study works of art like a skilled architect! Visit the Membership Desks in the Law and Beck Buildings to borrow the free-of-charge packs.

Set your own pace to look at art in the museum, using our new self-guide, Travel the World at the MFAH: 15 Works of Art Kids and Families Won´t Want to Miss! The guide includes information about the works of art and suggests some simple looking activities.

On Uneven Ground

“Let us take the child out
to show him real things
instead of making objects
which represent ideas
and closing them in cupboards.”
—Dr. Maria Montessori,
From Childhood to Adolescence


We had finally arrived!
After weeks of planning, arranging for our bus, accumulating supplies, recruiting parent chaperones, preparing the children, and worrying about the weather, we had arrived at the Stone City fossil site, ready to act as paleontologists, digging into the past!
“In the classroom we have been talking a lot about fossils and now we finally get to go on a real fossil dig with real fossils.”
—M.H., 3rd grade

Yes! Maria Montessori writes that field trips are the key to “intensification of instruction.” When we take children out of the classroom, “the world itself opens” to them and “instruction becomes a living thing” (From Childhood to Adolescence). This trip was a special one—as the children put it, “a gift” from Target.

Last October, I applied for the Target Field Trip Grant that ultimately funded this field trip because I wanted the children to experience the thrill of discovery that accompanies paleontology fieldwork. After participating in the Paleontology Field School for Educators last summer with scientists from the Museum of Natural Science, I wanted to offer my students the same direct experience with dirt (let's call it "geology"). We have a class set of fossils, and the children enjoy using a guidebook to identify the fossils and classify them by era (Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, or Cenozoic). We also visit the science museum every year. But these somewhat sterile experiences with geology do not give children a clear idea of what it is to work in the field.

Rather than merely bring fossils into the classroom, I wanted the children to live it. As my high school history teacher regularly bellowed at us in our post-lunch stupor, “Crawl out from under your rocks and see the world! Touch it, smell it, taste it!” I wanted the children to dig their fingers into the dirt and taste what it is to be a field geologist.

And taste, some did—literally:
“You can taste dirt because it’s possible that when you are digging, dirt can get in your mouth too!”—C.J., 3rd grade
“When I slid down the hill I got dirt in my mouth!” –D.O., 1st grade
“I tasted a rock to see if it was coprolite but it was a rock.”—C.G., 3rd grade

This trip had the added bonus of getting the children outdoors, on uneven ground. At first there was some drama.
“We had to walk on this unstable walkway. On the way down it was hard as I don’t know what.” –K.E., 3rd grade
The outcrop is sloped and some of my flatlander urban children were wary and frightened, but the fear soon faded. Before long, everyone was happily climbing up the slope (and occasionally sliding down—ya gotta love gravity!)

David Temple, Associate Curator of Paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, met us at the site to serve as an expert resource for the children (and, I suspect, to see if I could really pull this off).
“Once we got down Dave talked about safety and how you can really get a lot of fossils and how to dig.”—K.E., 3rd grade

“At the site Dave helped us out on figuring out what the names of the fossils were but mostly we were able to identify them ourselves.”
—M.H., 3rd grade
“What was great about the field trip was we got to work with a paleontologist, a real one.”
—C.G., 3rd grade
Reading the children’s thank you letters was enlightening: “What I liked best is digging for fossils, but one of my favorite paleontologists tried to find a snake. He is really nice and that was the best part of the field trip.”—W.L., 3rd grade
I don’t think it's a stretch to say that Dave has become something of a super-hero scientist for my students. (Now, what to put on the cape . . . ?)

The children divided into their Cooperative Investigation Teams (multi-age groups of first, second, and third graders) to find, collect, and identify marine invertebrate fossils, as well as shark teeth, ray teeth, and small fish bones. Each group carried a backpack "field kit," including a compass, measuring tape, magnifying lens, first aid kit, colored pencils, a field notebook, a camera, and field guides. We also packed buckets with trowels, screwdrivers, pointy ceramics “needles,” forceps, brushes, ziplock specimen bags, and laminated identification pages specific to the fossils at Stone City.

The day before our field trip, one of my third graders wrote in her journal, “We are going to a fossil dig and I will be soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy and peaceful.”—C. B., 3rd grade
Me, too! Who can feel stressed and grouchy when they’re outside in nature, digging in the dirt? The perfect remedy for the bout of TAKS we endured earlier in the week!
When I scanned the banks to check that the children were on task and behaving safely, every one of them looked relaxed and content.

—breaking their treasure-hunt trances only to share their finds or ask about a possible fossil.

Our stomachs are trained for an 11:15 lunchtime. By 11:30 on a typical field trip, I’ve usually received several somewhat desperate-sounding inquiries about lunch. This time, there were no such complaints. Instead, the children groaned and protested when I insisted (after noon) that we take a quick lunch break. Forced to turn our eyes away from the dirt for a while, we spotted a gorgeous swallowtail butterfly and a vulture riding the thermals overhead. The children were back to fossil finding before I could finish my sandwich.
It was hard to pry them away when it was time to go. “This was the best field trip and I wanted to stay there all day long.” —C.B., 3rd grade

“I L-O-V-E-D the field trip! We got to actually DIG! (at Stone City). I found sundials, augers, and tusks! Now, I feel like a scientist!”
—E.N., 3rd grade
Success!

On the bus ride home, we were playing the game, “I’m thinking of something that begins with ___.” One of my first graders called out, “I’m thinking of something that begins with ‘B.’” We began guessing, “Banana?” “Beach?” “Balloon?”
“It’s a hard one,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. Hmm. “Bivalve?” “Brachiopod?” “Barbed wire?” “Bacteria?”
She began to grow impatient with us, “It’s something that we saw.” “Today?” I asked.
“No, it’s Brachylophosaurus!” Ohhh, but of course!

“You see we’ve been learning about fossils for a while now so this field trip was really important to us. We had lots of fun climbing the hills and digging for fossils, especially cool and interesting fossils. They were very fun to hunt. We got to act like real paleontologists and geologists. I don’t think I would ever forget this fossil field trip because it’s my first one and because it’s so special.”—K.E., 3rd grade

Huge thanks to:
Target for the Field Trip Grant that funded our big, fancy bathroom bus
DonorsChoose donors for our microscopes and field guides
Six parents for bravely joining us on this adventure to ensure the children’s safety and provide a more individualized learning experience
David Temple, HMNS Associate Curator of Paleontology, for generously sharing his time, passion, and expertise two days in a row
Chris Flis and the rest of the fossil-finding “gang” at HMNS for introducing me to the site and inspiring me to give this field trip a try
Mrs. D for aiding and abetting


Stone City Fossil Site (a.k.a. Whiskey Bridge):
You may wish to bring your family there for a day of digging. The site is open to the public and located where Highway 21 crosses the Brazos River. Take Highway 6 North and turn West onto Highway 21. Pass over the Little Brazos and keep going until you spot the railroad bridge on your right. Cross the river and pull off the road onto the gravel pull-off on the right just beyond the bridge. Walk down to the river, and enjoy fossil hunting—but be cautious of hazards!

Advice for fossil hunters:
“This is advice that I will give a fossil hunter: Look for a not steep hill and when you get used to it go to a steep hill and it takes balance.”
—J.J., 1st grade
“The advice I would give to other fossil hunters is look at the top.”
—K.B., 2nd grade
“My advice to other fossil hunters would be Not to go all crazy because you will fall and dig carefully because you will break little fossils. It will be exciting to find a ray tooth and other fish teeth.”
—C.J., 3rd grade
“I would tell other fossil hunters to use their eagle eyes.”—S.B., 3rd grade
“I would tell other fossil hunters that they could find lots and lots of univalves and shark teeth. They can find a lot of fossils by digging deep.”—W.L., 3rd grade
“To the fossil hunters out there, look under or beside you. There are fossils!”—E.N., 3rd grade


What we’re reading:
In My Own Backyard by Judi Kurjian
Fossils (True Books) by Ann Squire
If You Are a Hunter of Fossils by Byrd Baylor
The Paleogene Period by Doug & Claudia Mann

What I’m Reading:
Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature (For Kids of all Ages and their Mentors) by Jon Young, Ellen Haas, & Evan McGown

Cultivating Curiosity

"We do not want complacent pupils, but eager ones;
we seek to sow life in the child rather than theories."
—Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential

One of the things I love about working with children is that they’re naturally inquisitive. They wonder about the world around them, and they ask great questions! I’m not afraid to tell you that they regularly ask questions to which I don’t have an answer. This is a good thing. It means the children begin to understand that learning, acquiring knowledge, is a life-long journey of discovery. They will have the tools (and hopefully desire) to keep learning long after they have left Room 28. Rather than an expert standing in front of the class, attempting to pour my “vast” knowledge into their empty-vessel brains, we are partners in exploration. Frequently, I answer their questions with, “I don’t know, but that’s a great question. Why don’t you do some research and find out for us.”

Until this year, that was too often the end of it because we didn’t have a system for following through. I hated that the children asked such thoughtful questions and yet, they were often forgotten as our busy lives marched on without pursuit of answers. So this year, I decided we should keep a record of all those great questions—hence our Great Questions Book. This was quickly adopted into our Class Meeting routine. Our student Facilitator checks the Great Questions Book for new questions and asks for volunteers to investigate.

A few weeks ago, a wonderful question appeared in the Great Questions Book: Do twins have the same fingerprints? “Wow! I’m not sure, but now I want to know!” I thought to myself. It is easy to model amazement and wonder for the children when they ask such great questions. I suspect this question arose because our class includes one member of a pair of identical twins. (The other twin is in the classroom next door.) “How could we find out?” I challenged the class. Together, we designed an investigation. Both twins allowed me to ink and print each finger five times (periodically using their math skills to calculate how many fingerprints were left to do) so that all five Cooperative Science Groups would have sets of fingerprints for examination. Thanks to a generous group of donors from DonorsChoose, we also acquired our very own class microscopes to aid in this investigation.

The investigation was on, and the children easily shifted into the role of scientific detectives (complete with magnifying glasses!), eager to solve the mystery. Armed with the two sets of fingerprints and a few pages about fingerprint patterns and classification, each Cooperative Science Group worked together to gather evidence that would ultimately support or dispute their hypothesis. There was a busy but productive hum in the room as the groups worked, and then we gathered together again for the groups to present their observations and conclusions. Interestingly, in their observations the groups had not all focused in on the same sets of fingers as evidence for their conclusions.

Early in the week, as I collected the sets of fingerprints, I was amazed and fascinated by what I saw and I knew the children would be too. I had expected the fingerprints to be quite similar, perhaps with very subtle differences that might be difficult for the children to detect. Instead, the differences on several fingers were dramatic and distinct. Mrs. D. and I were both surprised.

I love it when our hypotheses are wrong! Somehow our culture transmits the idea that making mistakes or being “wrong” is not O.K. Until I instituted the practice of recording hypotheses in pen, the children often felt the urge to erase and “correct” a hypothesis that was not supported by the evidence gathered in their experiment, but as I regularly remind the children, that’s when real discovery happens—when you find out you were wrong. If our hypotheses were always correct, there wouldn’t be much point in experimenting.

Unfortunately, I think even professional scientists and researchers sometimes forget this. The preeminent experts in a field often wield too much influence, and ideas (and evidence!) that run counter to popular thought are too easily ignored or dismissed. I worry about what we might be missing because someone (or a group of someones) is too invested in one answer to a question. As humans, we sometimes attend only to the evidence that supports our expectations and fail to leave our senses open to other possibilities. I observe this every year when the children perform the apocryphal Galileo/Leaning Tower of Pisa gravity experiment by dropping two balls of different mass with the same volume and shape. Often, the children see and hear only what they expect to—that the heavier ball will land first. It takes encouragement for the children to really attend to their senses and step away from their preconceived ideas about what they expect to happen.

This tendency to be so certain of an answer (or so afraid of admitting we’re wrong) that we ignore evidence to the contrary starts early and lingers long. In middle and high school science, my friends and I would often figure out what “the right answer” was supposed to be and then work the lab backwards so that our "observations" matched that answer. But this focus on “right” inhibits discovery and slows our learning as a culture. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’s “final answer” has little place in science and learning. When I was my students’ age, I was taught that Brontosaurus was the name of that big plant-eating dinosaur and Pluto was a planet. Science isn’t static. Invite doubt in and welcome a sense of wonder. Ask Great Questions and investigate. As Ms. Frizzle says, “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”

Special thanks to twins N.J. and N.J. for the inspiration to ask and the evidence to answer this great question. I sent them home with very inky fingers. Science is messy!

3-20-09: Listen to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's keynote address about science education at the NSTA 2009 National Conference