Inquiry-based Math in School Gardens


by Jason Pittman


“Why do we have to learn this? This is what calculators are for.” Despite my assurance that this would be useful and necessary “someday,” this student


D


“Why do we have to learn this? This


is what calculators are for.”


was expressing a very reasonable desire for her learning to have relevance. We ask our students to spend an enormous amount of time sitting quietly so the teacher can have the floor, executing calculations, showing their work, spitting out their gum, and preparing for the quiz on Friday. In return, our students want to value what we are asking them to do. Few adults would be willing to toil at a task that they did not value and find relevant to their lives, only to receive an abstract compensation in the form of a superior’s reassur- ance that their work will be beneficial to them someday. (Actually, that sounds an awful lot like a college internship!)


Inquiry-based Math


It is fundamentally important that we provide children with experiences in which they can practice relevant mathematical skills over and over until they achieve mastery. Mak- ing math relevant not only keeps the learners engaged, it makes them stakeholders in their educational progress. It is very important that students see mathematics, and the calculations they perform, as a relevant part of their daily life. Providing opportunities to apply concepts and operations in meaningful and natural activities will reinforce students’ skills, provide more opportunities to experience success in math, and motivate students to continue to achieve. “Inquiry based” does not mean minimally guided, but rather the instruction is deliv-


Students coordinate and measure their garden plot.


ered in such a way that the student has the opportunity to construct meaning through an experience that is powerful, memorable, and effective. Inquiry-based lessons require the teacher to be highly involved in constructing the framework and putting students onto the path of becoming rational problem solvers and effective questioners. Often, student- constructed questions are not investigable or do not have enough relevance to the mathematical concept to be useful, and require a well-guided suggestion from the teacher. As well, student procedures need to be closely developed with the teacher for safety and quality, keeping stu- dents accountable to use their prior knowledge and strategies to move forward into new con- cepts. In our gardens and outdoor learning envi-


ronments at Hollin Meadow School in Alexan- dria, Virginia, we have constructed a number of inquiry-based projects that have been adapted from basic math units of study and transformed into powerful lessons that allow students to reason their way to understanding and practice what they’ve learned.


Page 4 • Connect ©synergy learning • 800-769-6199 • May/June 2011


uring my first year of teaching, a student in my fifth-grade math class wearily raised her head from a worksheet plastered with a mosaic of practice problems and asked,


laura marshall


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