Role of the Classroom Teacher

Classroom teachers contribute to the success of the Science Docent Program in many ways. These suggestions will maximize the effectiveness of the Docent Program in your classroom.

Before the Science Docent Program Starts: Help recruit 2 docents for your classroom (parents make excellent docents!). The Science Docent Program Director will recruit docents for any spots that you are unable to fill.

Meet with your team of docents to get to know them and to explain any rules or codes of behavior you expect your students to follow.

The Docent Program Director will distribute a summary of docent lesson topics. Please look this over and, with your volunteer team, schedule the 3 lessons in your classroom this spring.

Consider ways to extend the monthly topics into other areas of your curriculum, such as reading, writing, math or art. Suggestions are included with each unit.

For Each Science Docent Lesson: Please actively participate in the lesson. The fact that you participate sends a message to the children that the Science Docent Program is important.

Discuss with the volunteers ahead of time how you will participate, such as leading small groups, helping to divide children into teams, and helping with classroom management. Your volunteers will appreciate your suggestions & support in working with children of all abilities.

Read the lesson plan or handouts that your classroom volunteers give you so that you will know what's coming, and can prepare the children if you wish.

Help with logistics. If you can, outfit the children with nametags to help volunteers connect with the children and maintain control more easily. Also, you know the chemistry of your children and can help by dividing them into workable groups for small-group activities.

After Each Lesson: Give verbal feedback to your volunteers. We all need encouragement and constructive suggestions. If there's a problem you'd rather not bring up directly with your volunteers, call the Science Docent Program Director, Carlyle Holmes, at (530) 265-5961 ext.204.

If you have time, follow up on the lesson with some activities or projects. There are suggestions for additional activities and related children’s books included with each unit.

After the Last Unit ~ getting your feedback: Complete a 1-page written evaluation of the Science Docent Program (form will be provided), and participate in a 15-30 minute phone debriefing session with the Docent Program Director.

Be an advocate for improving and expanding the Science Docent Program.

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Pilot Test Curriculum

Overview March 2004—May 2004

What follows is an overview of the curriculum used during the pilot test of this program (run March – May of 2004). Future curriculum may expand to include lessons on groundwater, local water supply, watersheds, and more.

LESSON I (March)

Why is water important? Who uses water? What ways do organisms use water?

Main Concepts: All living things need clean water to survive, and they use water in a variety of different ways. This lesson will help students understand the many important roles that water plays in the lives of plants and animals.

Vocabulary: Direct water use, Indirect water use.

Summary: Through brainstorming, playing a game, and an outdoor exploration, students see that all organisms use water, and that they use it in a variety of ways.

Objectives: Students Will –

• Recognize and classify the many ways that organisms use water
• Reflect on the effects of water shortage or scarcity on different organisms.

LESSON II (April)

Where is Earth’s water found? Where is water available for use by humans and other organisms? How much fresh water is available on Earth for organisms to use?

Main Concepts: Water’s availability to living things depends on its location and the needs of the organisms. Many organisms, including people, need fresh water, and the amount of fresh water is limited.

Vocabulary: Fresh water

Summary: In an outdoor scavenger hunt, students will search for and categorize the places that water can be found on Earth. Students will see a demonstration showing the relative amounts of water available in different locations, and will make posters showing its usefulness for humans and other organisms in each location.

Objectives: Students Will –

• Categorize the places that water can be found locally
• Extrapolate from their findings to identify the different places that water can be found on earth (in the oceans, lakes, rivers, soil, atmosphere, groundwater, glaciers, and in the bodies of plants and animals).
• Become familiar with the relative abundance of water in each of these locations and its usefulness to animals and plants
• Recognize the importance of water conservation

LESSON III (May)

How does water move between its different locations on Earth? On average, how much time does water spend in each of these locations?

Main Concept: Earth’s water is a finite resource, never increasing or decreasing in amount, but constantly changing form and cleansing itself as it circulates from land or oceans to the air and back again in the water cycle.

Vocabulary: Water Cycle, Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Transpiration.

Summary: With a roll of the die, students simulate the movement of water within the water cycle and create a water cycle bracelet to create a record of their travels. Role-playing a water molecule will help students conceptualize the water cycle as more than a predictable two-dimensional path. Students will also predict and then simulate the path of pollution in the water cycle.

Objectives: Students Will –

• Describe the movement of water within the water cycle.
• Identify the states of water as it moves through the water cycle.
• Predict and simulate the movement of pollution through the water cycle.

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School Application

To download an application for your classroom or school, please click here

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Tips on Volunteer Recruitment

To see some tips on Volunteer Recruitment, please click here

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