SUN, SAND AND SCIENCE: AN INQUIRY-BASED OCEAN STUDY IN A FOURTH GRADE CLASS

On May 16, 2003 the 4th grade class from Richard Allen Academy in Dayton, Ohio left on a four-day field trip to the New Jersey Marine Science Consortium at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Their journey began long before that day however, as this trip was the culmination of a yearlong interdisciplinary study of the world ocean. As a Master of Science in Teaching (Earth Science) student at Wright State University and as a volunteer teacher’s aide, I knew the value of inquiry based science learning and in collaboration with the teacher, we planned a science curriculum centered on the theme of ocean study.

From the beginning of the school year, the fourth grade students knew they would be going to do science at the ocean. Excited, they immediately generated questions for their own research. The questions were both broad and simple at first, but as the students learned about ocean ecosystems, the chemistry of ocean water, and the physical processes that distribute sand along the beach, their research questions became more detailed, reflecting greater content understandings of the Earth system. These guided inquiry science investigations led them to build their research skills, use mathematics and graphs in learning and presenting the results of their investigations, supported and broadened their Language Arts skills, and led some students to create drawings and paintings of what they perceived their ocean field trip experience would be like.

During the field trip, the laboratory and research vessel of the New Jersey Marine Science Consortium were used to allow students to answer their individual research questions. The activities included profiling the beach topography, collecting sand samples, seashells, and the physical and biological differences between a beach and a salt marsh. Funds necessary for trip expenses were raised from bake sales at the school, parental contributions, and funding from the Wright State University Department of Geological Sciences.

Formative and summative assessment of student cognitive and affective domains indicate that this inquiry-based science experience led to increased student understandings of science content and process and positively impacted their perception of their ability to do science.