A.+Inquiry+Skill

Information Inquiry can be thought of as the cycle of five unique elements: Questioning, exploring, assimilating, inferencing and reflecting. Humans utilize these five steps throughout their learning experience whether they are 3rd grade students, 6th grade students, or adults. Each student's life experience or level of understanding will determine the intensity in which these steps are explored.

I have chosen to explore the hobby of birding for my project. Because birding can be enjoyed for free and by anyone of any age, the exploration of information could begin at any point. The main focus of this project would most likely be exploration. Young children, such as 3rd graders, may begin exploring their curiosity for the birds in their very own backyard. Callison states that, “This preliminary examination of information often helps the inquirer to begin to focus on specific questions of interest and relevance. Information sources may be very general and provide mostly background on the potential issues yet to be determined (Callison 7).

It seems as if the amount of standards that apply to this topic are endless. It is almost difficult to narrow them down, choosing the most relevant standards. The standards that I have selected rely heavily on inquiry skills exploration and assimilation. They are also very self-driven. Birding is a fairly wide topic, so it can be up to the student to decide what area of birding interests them most, and apply the standards to their personal area of birding interest. The student will be asked to display strong exploratory skills, as they develop a variety of questions and observations that build upon one another.

For 3rd graders, standards encourage personal exploration and ability to relate their observations about the natural world to real life situations or experiences. They are encouraged to develop and follow their own area of interest in order to pursue personal growth and curiosity in general. Students in grade 3 must learn how to pose questions. This is a skill that will be expanded in grade 6 students.

The 6th grade standards are slightly more in-depth and rely on the student’s ability to become self-motivated in their birding exploration while learning how to locate accurate information. They will develop meaningful questions from their observations, and take that one step further by exercising their ability to find the answers to their own questions through research. They will also touch on assimilating their ideas with fellow birders to enhance their knowledge and experience. It may be surprising to find out that nearly every community has an organization for birders. Students will learn how to be active members of their community as they gain inspiration and skills from peers as well as experts in the field. Callison states that, “Assimilation should involve not only the actions of reading and listening, but also the interactive processes of critical analysis, debate, as well as comparing and contrasting facts and ideas (Callison 7).

Many of the skills within the Science subject area can perfectly relate to this birding topic. Science involves things such as observation, classifying things into groups, or creating hypotheses. Each of these steps will certainly be encountered whether you are a novice or expert birder.

Callison, Daniel and Leslie Preddy. __The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy__. Westport: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Print.