Resource Curation
Grade 2 Science Inquiry unit
Main Idea: water is essential to all living things, and it cycles through the environment
Content:
Water sources
Water conservation
Local First Nations knowledge of water
Inquiry question: Where does water come from? How is water distributed in our community? Why is water precious and limited? Why is it important in my community and how can we help conserve it? What kind of relationship do First Nations communities have with water? Is it the same as yours or different?
The following eleven resources have been intentionally compiled for their ability to support student learning and exploration of the inquiry questions: Why is water precious and limited? Why is it important in my community and how can we help conserve it? What kind of relationship do First Nations communities have with water? Is it the same as yours or different?
These resources will support student inquiry and understanding of the importance of water for all living things through experimental, engaging, and authentic learning opportunities.
Curation Process:
One of the easiest parts of this process was choosing the topic I wanted to use to create my inquiry unit. Having taught Grades 1 and 2 for many years, I have always enjoyed teaching Science. I love seeing our students learn through experiments, field trips, videos, and games. However, I have always felt like I could do more to help our students further develop their inquiry mindset. During LLED 469, I realized that some of the inquiry-based units I was teaching were certainly lacking some key aspects of the learning process; inquiry is not only “a way of learning that requires active engagement…it also involves reading, writing, speaking, and listening to learn. The entire process is permeated with reflection and critical thinking.” (Strippling, 2004). Keeping that in mind, as well as making sure I consider inclusiveness, equity, and ways of learning, I have compiled a list of resources I believe will support student inquiry and understanding of the importance of water for all living things, our surroundings, and what we can do to help conserve it. I believe that curating meaningful resources for our students is both worthwhile and critical given how this digital era makes it so easy for everyone to become victims of “information overload.” Therefore, it is of great importance for educators and students alike to “develop skills that ensure that a rich and balanced array of learning resources -print, non-print, multi-media, digital, and human- are the foundations for inquiry.” (UBC, Module 6, 2022)
Choosing good resources to support an inquiry-based unit is very important. These resources need to provide students with credible, educational, multimodal, and easily accessible information. Moreover, “the resources we choose will also have to take into account the following special considerations:
• Support the learning standards or learning outcomes of the curriculum.
• Assist students in making connections between what they learn in school and in real life applications.
• Are developmentally and age appropriate.
• Have effective instructional and technical design.
• Meet the requirements set by copyright and privacy legislation.
• Are suitable based on social considerations.
(UBC, Module 6, 2022)
Finally, I will also add another consideration to the list:
• Give the opportunity to integrate First Nations ways of learning.
Most of the resources I have chosen for my curation have also been carefully selected keeping my students’ learning styles in mind. According to Tomlinson, we need to make sure that our resources “give students ownership of their learning (and this is only achieved by) making sure that the learning fits the student: that the resources fit what the students are ready to do, that they (resources) connect with what students care about, and they allow students to learn and express learning in ways that facilitate their success.” (Tomlinson, 2008 p28)”
Keeping all this in mind, I created the following set of questions that will help me choose good resources for my inquiry-based Water Conservation unit:
- Curriculum: is the resource correlated to the learning outcomes and unit objectives?
- Connections: does the resource give students the opportunity to make connections to the real world? If fiction, is it easy for students to connect the story to real-life experiences?
- Developmentally and age appropriate: are the resources age- appropriate? Is it equally accessible to all students? Can the resource be adapted to fit everyone’s needs?
- Effectiveness: is the resource easy to use? Does it require extra time to teach how to use it? will students be able to access resources from anywhere?
- Copyright: has the school/district purchase a license for the resource? If so, is the login information available to students?
- Social Considerations: does the resource give students the opportunity to work in a group setting?
- Credibility: does the resource come from a credible source? Has it been reviewed? For First Nations resources: is it authentic? Does it depict issues that are important within First Nations cultures? Does it incorporate First Nations storytelling techniques and features as applicable? (Chrona, 2014)
Resources Retrieval:
It never ceases to amaze me the overwhelming about of information we have at our fingertips! Just doing a quick “google search” and I was inundated with over 538 million search results! I then went ahead and carefully read the learning outcomes from the BC Curriculum website and chose some key words to use on my searches. Some of the words used were:
• Water sources
• Fresh water
• Local reservoirs
• Water conservation
• Grade 2 water resources
• Fresh water
• First Nations connection with water
• Local water conservation groups
• Water conservation experiments
I did have difficulty finding proper First Nations resources, so I contacted our Aboriginal Education Support Worker, and she provided me with a list of approved websites and resources. Some of the story books she provided can also be found in the Strong Nation website, I have already added a few to our cart to add to our LLC collection.
Once I started selecting resources, I decided to use Symbaloo as a pathfinder tool as “(it is) an intentionally curated director(y) of resource that (is) helpful to (both) students and teachers.” (UBC, Module 6, 2022). I will continue to add more resources as I find them and curate them so teachers will have a nice collection to go to in the future.
Finally, the resources chosen are not only digital, but rather multimodal so as to give all our students equal opportunities and tools to learn at their own pace. Technology use will be encouraged throughout the inquiry unit to help customize learning and to foster a learning environment where successes and mistakes are encouraged and celebrated.
Annotated Bibliography:
(to access my Symbaloo platform, please click here)
1) ARMS: Stream Health (n.d.). Alouette River Management Society.
Accessed on October 12, 2022, from https://alouetteriver.org/
The Alouette River Management Society (ARMS) has developed a variety of educational programs for k-12 students following the BC curriculum. Each program focuses on local ecosystems and waterways, making this resource very valuable as students can learn about water in their own “back yard” and community.
The program I am focusing on is called Stream Health, which is a hands-on experience, where experts from ARMS come to the classroom to help students explore various aquatic insects and how important these are for the preservation of our local waterways. The program is 1.5 hours long and is interactive which is great to keep students engaged and learning. There are also a variety of field trips you can take with the class as well as printed resources you can use. The association also has a YouTube channel where you can access a number of educational videos.
2) K-12 Water Education Videos with Open Captions - YouTube. (n.d.).
Accessed October 14, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeod6x87Tu6c58Cg1iTykWwCqCz58xwut
This YouTube channel has a good collection of educational water videos, from the water cycle, water conservation, importance of water, to water safety. What I really liked about this resource is that it is very engaging, colourful and has a lot of kid humour to keep students engaged. It also has the option to turn on captions for the hearing impaired. Having captions will also give students the opportunity to improve their reading skills as they read along with the video. Having the whole channel as a resource as opposed to just one video will also give children the opportunity to explore more about the topic. I can use this resource to help our students tap into their prior knowledge as they make connections and learn new facts.
3) Learn 360 District (2019). “Water Section”
Learn360 District is an online database containing resources for grades K-12. It provides a vast number of multimodal information, from audio files, videos, games, articles, to STEM activities, experiments, and maps/diagrams. This website is easy to navigate, visually appealing, and age appropriate. Everything you need can easily be found by typing “water” in the search box and filtering the search to the age group you are searching for. Students can further develop their searching skills by learning how to use the filter option at the top of the page; it is very simple to use and can be taught at the beginning of the lesson. The experiments on the site provide opportunities for students to work in groups, further developing their social skills.
4) SD42 Library Reference Set: Water
The SD42 Library Reference Water Set is an online collection of resources curated by the Maple Ridge Teacher Librarian’s Association (MRTLA.) This online database provides students and teachers with a set of multimodal resources that support the Grade 2 learning outcomes and goals found in the Science
BC Curriculum. One of the benefits of this multimodal resource is that it is addressing various learning needs. Moreover, it also provides links to First Nations resources and videos which can help teachers include First Nations Ways of Knowing and Learning. Finally, a list of picture books has also been added using our district LS2 database making it easier to find them in our Learning Commons. This online resource will also help us further develop our students reading, writing, researching, and technological skills as they navigate through the resources.
5) National Geographic Kids: Make an underwater scope. (2017, June 26).
National Geographic Kids is an online and printed magazine published by the National Geographic Society. It is geared towards children ages 6 and up and offers a variety of activities for kids to explore. From games, experiments, videos to scientific articles written in age-appropriate language, this website is a great resource for primary students. The website offers a variety of visually appealing and engaging informative articles about the importance of water, water cycle, conservation, and fun facts. One of the articles I will be using is called
“Does Canada need to conserve its water?” I find this resource invaluable as it gives you the option of printing it, reading it for you, or watching the video; students will be able to choose which option to use according to their learning needs. STEM Experiments like
Making an underwater scope,
build your own water filter, and f
unny fill-in online water facts, can be found in their database by simply typing “water” in the search bar. Furthermore, because of the variety of formats this resource has, students will be able to learn about the importance of water, and at the same time, continue to improve their reading, writing, speaking, and technical skills.
6) Hydro, B. C. (n.d.). Grade 2-3 Drops of wisdom. BCHydro Power Smart for Schools.
A Lesson created by BC hydro Power Smart for Schools, which shows the relationship First Nations People have with Water. The lesson contains a slide show which invites students to explore how First Nations People respect and take care of water. It also shares important cultural ceremonies they preform using water. The language use is age appropriate and the pictures are very colourful and informative, which will help keep students engaged. Throughout the slideshow, students are given the opportunity to discuss their ideas with their classmates and to write them down either individually or as a class. Teachers have the choice to print out a worksheet for students to draw or write down three important ideas they learned from First Nations People’s relationship with water. With this resource, students will be able to further develop their critical thinking, note-taking, social, and summarizing skills.
7)Value of Water Canada: Classroom Lessons. (n.d.).
The BC Water and Waste Association has created a website called “The Value of Water” to help raise awareness about contributing factors to our ongoing problem of wasting water. It calls for the renewals of our current water systems in order to protect our health and environment. This website offers a compilation of multimodal teacher resources to help raise awareness of where water comes from, how we get it, and where does it go after we use it. The resources are grouped by grade level to make it easier to navigate. Furthermore, it has a section of virtual and in-person field trip ideas for schools. The in-school field workshop I have chosen is called “Water, Water, everywhere?” where students will have the opportunity to become water rangers and explore where water comes from. The workshop is valuable as it provides students with opportunities for experiential learning through videos, hands-on activities, discussions, and class challenges.
8) Robertson, J. (2017). The Water Walker. Second Story Press.
This books is the 2018-2019 winner of the First Nations Communities Read Award. It depicts the story of an Ojibwe grandmother and her battle to raise awareness of the need to protect Nibi (water) for future generations. Nokomis, along with other members of her community, have walked around all the Great Lakes to raise awareness about the need to protect our water and our planet for all our future generations. Joanne Robertson is AnishinaabeKwe and a member of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek. She has written other books about the topic in both English and Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe). This resource is very valuable as it’s reflective of the Indigenous ways of sharing knowledge and understanding through stories, it also raises awareness of other controversial topics (lack of water in indigenous communities, equity, and the way First nations People are still being treated) in an age-appropriate manner, by using age-appropriate language, colourful pictures, and kid humour. The book also shares a link to Joanne Robertson’s website called
Mother Earth Water Walk, where you can find videos, news, pictures, and a song to “Nibi” in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) we can share with students.
9) Breakout EDU - Educational Games: Water, Water Everywhere. (n.d.)
Retrieved October 17, 2022, from
Breakout Edu is an online database of interactive games that students can play individually, in groups or against each other. Teachers are able to sign up for free or you can pay a fee for the premium version. Some of the features this site has are: assign games by subject and grade, keep a scoreboard of the class, save favourite games to be played later, and many more. Students can search games on their own as it is very easy to navigate. The game I chose is called “
Water, water everywhere…until it’s all gone.” It can be played in groups or with big buddies, the final objective is to break into the evil scientist lab before he melts the ice caps and distribute the water to countries in need of fresh water supply…this cannot happen as it will have devastating impacts on our planet. This game is sure to keep students entertained, the fast-paced atmosphere will keep them engaged; their critical thinking, fact-checking, and social skills will be further developed as they try to break the code and win the game. Finally, there is also an easier version of the game called
“water, water everywhere” geared towards younger students.
10) Water. (2022). In World Book Kids.
An online database that offers students and teachers a variety of age-appropriate multimodal resources such as videos, articles, diagrams, audio files, games and more. It can be used to further develop student’s research, critical thinking, navigating and note-taking skills as they navigate through the easy-to-follow site. One of the features I like is that every article has a tab at the top where teachers can find the curriculum standards and learning outcomes making it easier for them to make sure students learning goals are being met. Furthermore, the articles have the text-to-speech feature which allows students with reading difficulties to equally access the information as the rest of their peers.
11) Project WET Discover Water. (2018).
This website has been designed for educators, parents, and most importantly, for children ages 7-12. It is a self-directed educational resources which explores various water topics, including where it comes from, conservation, water cycle, etc. The website is very kid-friendly and easy to navigate. Each topic has its own icon, once you click it, it gives you various multimodal resources, from videos, games, read alouds, to sections where educators and parents can access printing material, books and other resources. A very neat feature is the “science interactive notebook,” which you can find in every section. This notebook can be printed so students can take notes, draw diagrams, and write questions as they explore the topic they are learning about. Another feature is the talk-to-text which can help meet many of our students’ learning needs. This is a great resource to help students continue to develop their navigation skills as well as their social, critical thinking, fact-checking, and inferring skills.
Works Cited:
Hussief, L. (2022). Module 6, LLED 469. University of British Columbia, BC
Strong Nations - Indigenous & Native American Books, Aboriginal Kids Books, First Nations Kids Books, Inuit, Métis - Building Strong Nations Together! (n.d.). Www.strongnations.com.
https://www.strongnations.com/
Valenza, J. (2012) Curation. School Library Monthly. 29 (1): 20-23 retrieved from:
. 
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