Taking Inquiry Outdoors: Reading, Writing, and Science Beyond the Classroom

Chapters of Taking Inquiry Outdoors: Reading, Writing and Science Beyond the Classroom Walls are written by teachers who chose to teach young children specifically to avoid teaching science. These teachers reflect upon their experiences as their students' interests and needs prompted them to incorporate more and more science into their teaching. Experiences with the beauty and fascination of nature are contrasted with their memories of science classes. The chapters are written in a first person, reflective style which makes this book speak to and resonate with other teachers or teachers-to-be who are intimidated by science. The book addresses taking the initial steps toward teaching science as inquiry, linking to the community and incorporating reading in scientific endeavors. In addition, there are chapters written by science teachers of older children who learned important concepts about teaching science while participating in a project with the elementary teachers primarily represented in this book. This book is a must read for every preservice elementary teacher whether you hope to teach science or not. Those who are already teachers should read it for the inspiration and infusion of new, innovative ideas that could strengthen any teacher's work.