Although insects and plants are major units in the elementary school curriculum, not all teachers have the tools to investigate this important ecosystem service, particularly at the lower elementary level.
School reform efforts recommend incorporating inquiry to emphasize using knowledge, ideas, and processes. Constructivist theory suggests that free-choice education opportunities also may be important in science concept formation, especially when families provide encouragement.
Therefore, we developed an inquiry and take-home story to engage families in their children's science learning. The inquiry, "What in the world do insects see?", was designed for 1st and 2nd grade students as an exploration of how insects see their world. The goal was to illustrate how our understanding of ecological relationships is affected by our perceptions. By examining the structure of insect eyes, students learned that insects may see the world very differently then they do.
Students were introduced to insects as pollinators using ultraviolet photographs of flowers and observed flowers and pollinators outdoors. To complement this investigation, the inquiry was re-written as a story for families to read with their children. The story included activities from the classroom inquiry and encouraged families to explore their own backyards. Pre- and post-assessments indicated that the inquiry significantly increased student understanding that insect pollinators may see flowers quite differently than humans (chi square, P < 0.02), but students experiencing both the story and the inquiry gained a better appreciation of the nature of science than those experiencing either the inquiry or story alone (chi square, Ps < 0.03). This project was completed as part of the NSF GK-12 program at the University of Montana.
