EXTENDING K-12 STUDENT CONTENT UNDERSTANDINGS THROUGH AUTHENTIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCES

Authentic research collaborations between K-12 classrooms and universities empower students and teachers to take inquiry-based investigations seriously, to consider themselves worthy of doing high quality work, and results in more interest in science. Two of the co-authors of this abstract teach K-12 science in elementary and middle school settings, and participated in Cornell University’s Mastodon Matrix Project during the 2003 academic year. This project enabled K-12 students to search through the matrix that surrounded a mastodon skeleton, and return fossil material and stones to university researchers. We chose to engage our K-12 students in the project because in order to remain competitive in the changing global marketplace, and to become scientifically literate citizens, students need to learn to use many of the same skills scientists use, such as close observation, careful reasoning, and creative thinking based on what is known about the natural world.

To enhance the learning experience for elementary and middle school students, we collaborated with university faculty to develop a suite of pre-post activities designed to put the mastodon matrix search in context and to allow students to understand the connections between the Pleistocene environment and the materials they were going to search the matrix to find.

Existing teaching aids available through the Ohio Historical Society’s Case History lending program allowed students to handle life-size replica mastodon and mammoth teeth and view a video describing the Ice Age environment in Ohio. In addition, they sketched life-size Sabre-tooth tigers and learned to use field guides to identify plant material. After the K-12 students finished the Mastodon matrix unit, post unit assessments indicated that their content understandings increased an average of 34 percent.