What Now? Teaching During a Pandemic
As winter begins to melt away, students observe and record what is happening in the two acres of native prairie that is growing on their school grounds. The area is filled with native plants and provides unending possibilities for investigations and learning about science. Students made their observations the day before school closed for the year due to COVID-19.
By Amy Boros, M.Ed, 6th Grade Science Teacher, Hull Prairie Intermediate School
Perrysburg, Ohio
The day schools closed in Ohio was a beautiful, sunny day in Northwest Ohio. So unlike any other day schools might close for inclement weather or even fog. It was surreal, I actually took a picture so that I will forever remember the day schools closed in Ohio, not for weather, but for a virus.
As I went through the shift from teaching 106 students in my science classroom in Perrysburg, Ohio, to online teaching (with one day’s notice), I realized how much I missed interacting with my students and colleagues in person. I missed watching their faces come to light when an experiment worked or when they discovered a new concept for the first time. The first week of online instruction was not “best practice” or even good online teaching - it was merely survival teaching; crisis teaching. After the first week, my school district went on spring break; I had a week to catch my breath, formulate how best to teach science online, and prepare for students who were facing their own uncertainties at home.
What does teaching science look like in this new online setting? How am I covering standards and moving forward with content?
I am very fortunate to teach in Perrysburg Schools where we were prepared for the new online format (1:1 technology and an effective learning management system already in place). I’ve worked tirelessly with my team for hours to create online lessons that continue with our 6th grade science standards.
On average, 90% of my students are completing the online lessons and assignments, but I needed a way to make the science lessons more meaningful and tied into what we were doing in our classroom and outdoor school prairie before the schools closed.
I decided to bring the school prairie to the students, virtually. We have a trail camera set up in the middle of the prairie to capture what roams in our 2 acre area of native plants. I’ve posted pictures for the students to see and try to decipher which animals have visited, and even which animals left a bevy of footprints in the snow.
Students burying cotton underwear in the prairie in fall 2019 for a long term soil experiment. They were hoping to dig them up in the spring to see if bacteria and microbes “ate” all but the waistbands. Unfortunately, they were unable to do so because of school closing due to COVID-19.
Watching the prairie come to life in the spring has always been a favorite activity for my students. They have a vested interest, in the fall they planted 100’s of native seedlings hoping to watch them grow. Literally the day before the governor of Ohio closed schools for COVID-19, I had students in our school’s urban prairie hand seeding milkweed with the hope of attracting monarchs in the fall. Little did we know, we would’t be back to check on the progress of the seedlings or the spring growth. I have gone over to check and provide the students with photos of the progress, but it is not the same as them discovering the seedlings and new growth for themselves. We had also set up a long term soil experiment with underwear - yes, underwear! We buried cotton undies in the soil, let it sit over the winter, with the intent to dig them up this spring to see what happened (in healthy soil, bacteria and microbes “eat” all but the waistband!); I will now be the one to dig it up, all by myself, filming the action to share with my students virtually. I really wish my students could be the ones to dig them up, while I capture the awe on their faces.
Editor’s note: Perrysburg was one of three school districts in northwest Ohio that partnered with the Toledo Zoo three years ago to establish a prairie habitat on school grounds. Through project PRAIRIE, teachers use the habitats to engage students in inquiry-based projects - all designed to help them conserve the natural world. Over time, students gather data on native plants and wildlife connected to the prairie and contribute to a larger body of real scientific research online. Funding from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation provided professional development for teachers in 2017 when the prairies were first established at the schools.