Spring Inquiry Underway - January 17, 2008

Kawailele - Spring Inquiry Underway ("Spring" as in the body of water, not the season)
As our class was walking back from lunch recess on Monday, one of the children exclaimed, "Ms. Field, look at the mountains; they're beautiful!"  Another student chimed in, "Yeah, you should take a picture so we can remember what the mountains look like on the days when we can't see them because of the clouds."  It was one of those magnificent Manoa moments when the bright blue sky illuminates the lush green mountains.  What a perfect day for a learning adventure!

At our morning meeting on Monday I told the class that we would be visiting a special place on campus.  After lunch (and our magnificent Manoa mountain moment), we trekked down to the area by the football field to visit the spring on our campus.  With their learning log in one hand and a pencil in another, the students were ready to explore.  Our class went to the spring with Ms. Revard's class and during our visit, the students wrote down observations about the spring and used descriptive words to capture their impressions about what they could see, hear, feel, and smell.  During our group discussion, the students came up with the following web for "What we think we know about Wailele and Manoa Valley."

• There are rocks, a wall, and a wall with a crack.
• Being there makes us feel like a nature person, a hiker, and peaceful.
• There are plants in and around the pond: vines in the water, tall grasses, trees, paper bark trees with peeling bark and ant nests, and mosses.
• There are animals in and around the pond: tadploes, crayfish, a turtle, Kolea, koi, guppies, a catfish, bugs, birds (cardinal), and frogs.
• The water looks polluted.  There are mosses and dark color.
• There is a broken pipe in the ground.
• The water changes levels.
• The sun is warm there in the daytime.
• The wind is cool from the mountains.  Sometimes it blows softly.  Sometimes it blows stronger and makes ripples on the water.

During our visit on Monday and subsequent visit on Tuesday, the students came up with lots of questions about the spring.  In particular, our discussion centered on three major questions: Why is there a fence?  Where does the pond water come from?  Is the water polluted?  Amazingly, these three questions have been the focus of our "teacher" discussions in meetings as we plan the Inquiry unit on Kawailele.  Guess what?  The children are wondering the same things as the first and second grade teachers!  With the three essential questions, the students brainstormed "What we want to know about Wailele" and came up with various hypotheses.
1. Why is there a fence?
    Hypotheses:

• Someone might fall in or jump in.
• Someone might steal fish.
• Blind people might fall in.
• Rubbish might blow in.
• To protect the animals.
• People might think it's a swimming pond.
• Teenagers might dare their friends to try jumping across.

2. Where does the pond water come from?
    Hypotheses:

• The water comes from Manoa Falls, and it goes underground and makes an underground river to Wailele.
• The rain water flows into low areas.
• The water comes from rain water that makes streams that put water in the pond when it rains.
• When MPI began 100 years ago, they dug the pond and filled it with water.
• It comes from a crack in the wall.
• Pipes underground bring water to the pond.
• There is a drain that brings water.

3. Is the water polluted?  If it is polluted, how does it get polluted?
    Hypotheses:

• Dirt gets in water as it travels.
• Rain comes from the sea and makes it brackish and dirty.
• The 40 days of rain made it dirty.

Since the children's questions guide the inquiry research, the path of our inquiry unit is beginning to unfold.  Each student drew a picture of Wailele and Manoa Valley and wrote about where they think the water comes from and how it gets to the pond.  The students also drew a representation of the water cycle and what they know about the water cycle.  Using these initial ideas as a baseline of student understanding, we will research how the water really does get to Wailele and learn about the water cycle in Hawaii. 

Next week, every student will write their own "legend" of how Wailele was created.  We can't wait to hear the eighteen different versions of Wailele from the students in our class!  After our creative writing project, the students will be introduced to the Hawaiian legend of Kawailele.  Check back next week for an update on what the super students are exploring and learning!

Posted on January 17, 2008 10:32 AM | Permalink