Science Learning PacketLearning in Places

3.E Taking a Focused Walk Together: Thinking Across Scales

Suggested science learning activities for SPS students during the COVID-19 school closure.

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Due to the COVID-19 closure, teachers were asked to provide packets of home activities. This is not intended to take the place of regular classroom instruction but will help supplement student learning and provide opportunities for student learning while they are absent from school. Assignments are not required or graded. Because of the unprecedented nature of this health crisis and the District’s swift closure, some home activities may not be accessible.

If you have difficulty accessing the material or have any questions, please contact your student’s teacher.

1GRANT #1720578 LEARNING IN PLACES COLLABORATIVE, BOTHELL, SEATTLE, WA; EVANSTON, IL

LE 3.E Taking a Focused Walk Together: Thinking Across Scales

Activity PurposeThis guided walk will help focus your thinking across scales while observing your place. This helps us to develop a deeper understanding of our socio-ecological systems. We often observe what is in front of us, but there is so much more to notice and wonder about! Consider the history of the place where you live. What does it look like vertically, horizontally? How does it change across seasons?

» Before you head out on your walk, do some research about the place you arein. What did this place look like before animals and humans? What will it looklike in the future?

» What is life like for this tiny bug? Who is this tiny bug in relationship with?Stand under a tall tree and look up towards the sky. What has that giant treelived through?

» Ask questions that draw attention to seasonal time scales. What willthis place look like in the winter? How will it change as we move into thesummer months?

Activity Overview• Use the activity sheet to guide your thinking while you walk. You

can draw the template on a piece of paper or try using a journal tocollect your observations over time.

• Look for something interesting you notice while thinking acrossscales and draw or write what you see.

• If any new questions come up, write them down and come backto them later.

• Extension ideas: Try taking a hand lens and go for a “micro-hike”.Take a length of string and stretch it out on the ground. Pretend youare a tiny bug going for a hike.

What can you do to support

learning?

Family Science Learning Engagement

POWER A N D H I S TO RICITY

STUDENT LEARNING & SENSE-MAKING

Nature-culture

relations

Field-based Science

Learning

Complex Socio-

Ecological Systems

2GRANT #1720578 LEARNING IN PLACES COLLABORATIVE, BOTHELL, SEATTLE, WA; EVANSTON, IL

CONNECT TO OTHER ACTIVITIESLearning Engagement 3: Taking a focused walk together

• 3.A: Species, Kinds, and Behaviors

• 3.B: Relationships

• 3.C: Places, Lands and Waters

• 3.D: Human Decision Making

LEARNING IN PLACES FRAMEWORKS TO CONSIDER• Thinking across Scales• Socio-ecological histories of place

• Observation and Data Collection

• Complex Socio-ecological Systems Reasoning

Science Practices Emphasized

• Asking Questions

• Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems

• ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interaction

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Connecting with other families

» Write to an elder in your family or neighborhood. Ask them what they remember about this place, or what their journey to this place was like. Write an email to your friends with a few photos or drawings of what you saw and ask them what they noticed on their walk.

Key Ideas & PracticesThinking Across ScalesA key way to understand socio-ecological systems is to think across multiple scales. These include time scales (past, present, and future), and spatial scales (horizontal and vertical scales like looking side to side, or up and down; above and below ground; near and far). Thinking across scales can help people more closely observe phenomena, and it can help them think about change.

Complex Socio-ecological Systems Socio-ecological systems refer to the interactions between human systems and ecological systems. Humans are part of the natural world, and all of our systems (e.g. social, political, institutional) are always in relationship with ecological systems. Complex socio-ecological systems involve several space, time, and organizational scales.

Family Wondering

Walk

Family Wondering

Walk

Learning in Places is funded by NSF grant #1720578. Not for distribution without citation

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LE # 3.E

LE. 3.E Taking A Focused Walk Together: Thinking Across Scales

Thinking across scales while observing helps us to develop a deeper understanding of our socio-ecological systems. This includes considering different time and space scales, looking for signs of life cycles, energy cycles, water cycles, etc. Some questions to consider while you are walking with your family:

● What did this place look like before animals and humans? What will it

look like in the future?

● What is life like for this tiny bug? What has that giant tree lived

through?

● Where has this water been before it came here? Where will it go from

here?

Learning in Places is funded by NSF grant #1720578. Not for distribution without citation

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LE # 3.E

Draw or write down any signs you notice while thinking across scales What scales have you used to think with? What do your observations make you wonder?

We noticed: __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

Learning in Places is funded by NSF grant #1720578. Not for distribution without citation

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LE # 3.E

We wonder: __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________