Learning by Experience

Killer Whale in the Galapagos Island - Summer 2016 Photo by Michele White

Today I started my science lesson in the classroom and read aloud facts about whales to my students. Most of the time they were listening but I knew I was losing some of them as I read. It was a long passage with a lot of information, even I got distracted and I was the one reading it. Then I had them use fact cards and highlight the coolest facts about the whales that they could find. Next they worked with their teams and each student got 10 seconds to share their coolest facts. The students had picked some pretty spectacular facts like: A male Narwhal has a 3-10 foot long tooth or tusk. . A Killer Whale is actually in the dolphin family. The Blue Whale eats 3 tons of food per day.

None of the students were impressed with the size of the whales. When I asked them about the size they said it wasn't a big deal. This is where the real learning begins.........

The students are all types of learners. Some of them learn by hearing me read the facts aloud and were able to comprehend and remember most of the information while others were able to learn with the fact cards and sharing with their teams. I knew what what capture all of their attention and make a bigger impact on them so I took them outside.

We learn, all of us, by experience. Since we live in Kansas, most of the students have never seen a marine animal up close. Unfortunately, I couldn't make that happen for them, but I could take them outside and have them walk. We went outside and walked steps to approximate the size of a Dolphin, Great White Shark, Killer Whale, Humpback Whale, and lastly a Blue Whale. The kids were really excited after walking out a Great White and a Killer Whale; they could eat us whole!!! The kids couldn't wait to walk out the next animal after each one they turned and looked back in awe. The Blue Whale was last, did you know that a Blue Whale can be as long as 110 feet? Have you ever walked that out to see how big that really is? Try it! You will be amazed at how enormous these amazing creatures are.

At the end of my lesson the kids all decided that the coolest fact they learned today was that a Blue Whale can be around 110 feet long. When they first read the fact in the classroom, they didn't understand what that truly meant. My goal this year is to help these 5th grade students learn by experience.