Invitations to Inquiry with FieldScope

What is the best time of year to host a lilac blossom festival? Does a plastic bag tax work to reduce litter in the environment? Students now have the opportunity to explore large data sets to answer questions like these and ultimately increase their confidence in analyzing data.

BSCS Science Learning has launched Invitations to Inquiry to help middle and high school students work with community and citizen science data from projects hosted on FieldScope. Teachers and students use FieldScope to collect, visualize, and analyze data. Using these new Inquiries, students can explore FieldScope’s advanced mapping and graphing tools to dig deeper into data in the context of meaningful science classroom lessons.

Each lesson engages students in interpreting graphs and maps to learn about where the data are collected and what they mean. In one Inquiry, students use data from the Chesapeake Bay estuary to determine suitable sites for oyster reef restoration. In another, students investigate what contributes to light pollution using data collected internationally.

The 12 Inquiries are designed for 2-4 days of learning and support the Science and Engineering Practices from the Next Generation Science Standards. They include teacher guides, slides, handouts, and other instructional resources and supports. Although the Inquiries are designed for classroom learning with computer access, each activity presents an opportunity to get outside and collect data for local and global community and citizen science projects.

These Inquiries, designed for the classroom, can be accessed HERE. Educators and parents navigating at-home learning can access modified, student-directed versions of the Inquiries HERE .