Reflection on outdoor experiential learning, inquiry, and the value of multi-literacy projects in the science classroom
I have been exploring West Coast forests and inter-tidal areas since I was a child, and I am familiar with many of the organisms that live here. I was pleasantly surprised to find that within just minutes of walking down the stairs to Towers Beach, I was seeing things I had never seen before. What we were setting out to do wasn’t clearly defined, but we did have an intention: to take videos and pictures of “things we don’t see” and represent it in some sort of documentary form. This was enough to awaken my senses and make me more fully present.
At first, I saw things I’m very familiar with- sword fern, big leaf maple, western red cedar, bleeding hearts, salal, and English ivy. I was keeping my eyes out for something different- something I don’t usually see. I was telling Dorothy about a strange mushroom I had recently observed nearby, when suddenly I saw one. It was the most horrible, repulsive fungus I had ever seen. It was nauseatingly stinky, slimy, and covered in flies…. I discovered this by getting up close and smelling it, because sometimes I’m too curious for my own good. Strangely, as soon as I saw one of these slimy caps, they appeared to be everywhere. They must have been there all along, so why hadn’t noticed them before? It seemed everywhere I looked now, a foul fungus had emerged from its egg.
Many inquiry questions arose while we were exploring. I saw two bald eagles flying together in an unusual way I hadn’t noticed before, and I wondered what to make of this behaviour. I saw plants growing between stones on the beach, and I wondered what they were and how they could grow there. I also looked closely at moss, took pictures, and wondered how to identify them. But the organism that raised the most questions for me was this fascinating, revolting mushroom. Why had this mushroom evolved to attract flies? Clearly, it couldn’t be a coincidence that all of them were slimy and covered in flies. Mushrooms reproduce with spores and don’t rely on pollination, but I wondered if attracting flies might have something to do with their reproductive cycle. Were all the mushrooms we were seeing part of the same organism? Or was each one a separate individual? Why was I not seeing these mushrooms at first, and then after seeing one, they appeared everywhere? Why did the smell of them make me feel sick for hours? Where could I find reliable information for identifying and learning more about them?
Before making this blog, the process of exploring audio-visual, artistic, health, and scientific literacy outdoors with my group members was already a valuable and worthwhile experience. Creating the blog together allowed me to expand my digital and media literacy as I learned how to convert files, edit photos and audio recordings, select and upload the things I thought would be worth sharing. As Jose pointed out, storytelling literacy was a part of this project too, as we shared stories with each other and ultimately with our audience through the blog.
The new BC science curriculum emphasizes curricular competencies like questioning, predicting, planning, conducting, and communicating. This multi-literacy project got us doing all those things, while also using core competencies like critical and creative thinking, awareness of personal identity, and communication. I feel inspired by the experience and excited about facilitating a similar project with my future science students.
