Tales from the Field
Tale from the Field: Inquiry Fever With Students
August 21, 2018: Tales from the Field
What can BEETLES activities and approaches look like with a group of students? Outdoor science education consultant and past BEETLES Leadership Institute attendee Sarah Johnson writes about introducing several foundational BEETLES student activities and Exploration Routines on the first day of a summer camp, and an experience of “Inquiry Fever” and exciting student-led investigations that followed. […]
Read More »Tale from the Field: BEETLES in a Day Program
July 17, 2018: Tales from the Field
When BEETLES began hosting Leadership Institutes, we focused on Residential Outdoor Science Schools. Over later Leadership Institutes, we have expanded our audience to other outdoor educational programs including nature preserves, day programs, nature centers, garden programs, and other types of programs. Luana Rivera Palacio of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy attended our December 2017 Leadership […]
Read More »BEETLES Strategies in History Programming
June 25, 2018: Tales from the Field
The Ocean Institute Outdoor Education Department attended the BEETLES August 2015 Leadership Institute in Santa Cruz, California. The Ocean Institute has a well-respected outdoor science program, and they also run a large history program for 4th graders in California. The Ocean Institute has used what they learned at the BEETLES Leadership Institute to strengthen their […]
Read More »Tale from the Field: Engaging and Managing Students Applied to Teen Outdoor Experiences
May 23, 2018: Tales from the Field
Xander Tartter, a former field instructor with San Joaquin Outdoor Education and Walden West Outdoor School, now runs BOLD & GOLD, an outdoor leadership program for the San Francisco YMCA. Here, he shares how some of the key concepts and strategies in the BEETLES Guide to Engaging and Managing Students in Outdoor Science apply to […]
Read More »Tale from the Field: Inter-Institute Collaboration on Professional Learning for Elementary School Teachers
April 6, 2018: Tales from the Field
Sarah Johnson of Wild Rose Education and Sara Monson of Walking Mountains Science Center are both based in western Colorado. They attended two different BEETLES Leadership Institutes– in August and December 2017, and had heard of each other prior to the Institute. Sara Monson had grant funding from the EPA to facilitate a daylong workshop […]
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Tale from the Field: After a Leadership Institute
January 15, 2018: Tales from the Field
When Jamee Puccio and Paige Marley returned to their organization after participating in the BEETLES August 2017 Leadership Institute, they got right to work using some of the resources they’d been introduced to. Jamee wrote to us to share her experience and we thought she so perfectly articulated the combination of excitement for improvement and […]
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Tale from the Field: Birding on the Trail
December 2, 2017: Tales from the Field
By Ian Gledhill At Shady Creek Outdoor School, it is not uncommon to have a kid screaming with delight when they identify a bird. Birding is fun because birds are pretty, it’s science, a competition, and just like Pokemon, you gotta catch ‘em all. We teach that birds are nature’s storytellers, and we give kids […]
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Repost: One Teacher’s Journey Towards Implementation
September 12, 2017: Tales from the Field
We couldn’t help but share this inspiring story from Kirsten Franklin on the Ten Strands website. Kirsten has worked with several projects at the Lawrence Hall of Science, including BEETLES, BaySci, and our most recent partnership with ChangeScale to create Environmental Literacy Plans with school districts that offer every student cohesive opportunities to learn in […]
Read More »Tales from the Field: Letting the Messy In
April 21, 2017: Tales from the Field
By Claire Maguire (Note from BEETLES: We’re incredibly grateful for the feedback provided to us by SCCOSS Naturalists and others as we were developing this activity. The story below illustrates some of the potential pitfalls of engaging students in investigations, but also the magic when one can “let the messy in”. It also illustrates the […]
Read More »Tales from the Field: Using Games
August 25, 2016: Tales from the Field
The following is an exchange between two program leaders currently using BEETLES Professional Learning Sessions and the BEETLES team. The most effective use of games is a topic that regularly comes up at BEETLES institutes and workshops, and that we hear in many other science education settings. Read on to hear some of our thoughts […]
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