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Welcome to

Project Learning Tree

Presented by UC Environmental Stewards

Eliot Freutel, Pamela Byrnes & Karyn Utsumi

We are excited to learn with you today!

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UC Environmental Stewards

Statewide program

Train the trainer

Network of community partners

Two adult certification courses

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Introductions

Name
Organization
Role
Location (native-land.ca/)
Favorite 3 Organisms

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Today’s Learning Objectives

Familiarity with Project Learning Tree

Project Learning Tree’s History and Organization
Project Learning Tree “Explore Your Environment” K-8 Activity Guide
Additional resources

Instructional Methods & PLT Application

5E Instructional Model
Inquiry-Based Learning Methods

Completing a PLT Activity

Selecting and modifying PLT activities to meet your educational delivery needs

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Mission, History, and Goals of Project Learning Tree

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Project Learning Tree Mission

Project Learning Tree advances environmental literacy and promotes stewardship through excellence in environmental education, professional development, and curriculum resources that use trees and forests as windows on the world.

“Teaching students how�to think, not what to think”

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History of Project Learning Tree

Launched in the 1970’s in collaboration with the American Forest Institute (AFI) and the Western Regional Environmental Education Council (WREEC)
PLT was transferred to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc.
Today PLT is used in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia
CA PLT is funded by Cal Fire and housed in the UC ANR

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Goal of PLT

PLT’s goal is to advance environmental education, forest literacy, and career pathways using trees and forests as windows on the world.

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How to achieve these goals?

Provide students with the awareness, appreciation, and skills to address environmental issues.
Enable students to apply scientific processes and higher order thinking skills as well as encourage creativity, originality, and flexibility to resolve environmental issues.
Inspire and empower students to become responsible, productive, and participatory members of society.

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Workshops and Audience�

Education Workshop: trains teaching, naturalists community leaders and others on how to utilize the K-8 guide
Facilitator Workshops: trains individuals to be PLT leaders in their community. Learn how to host education workshops on their own
PLT depends on network to grow and spread awareness of environmental education
Community of Practice

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Notes on this slide from Karyn:

Book Great resource - not just useful for K-8 these are great activities that can be modified for audiences of all age and family groups.and many activities available online in Spanish

The main way that PLT spreads its curriculum is through workshops, like the one you are attending right now
PLT hosts two different kinds of workshops
This workshop is considered an education workshop, where we get participants familiar with the K-8 Activity guide through demos and workbook walkthroughs
If you are interested in hosting your own workshops, you can also attend a facilitator workshop or a “train the trainer” workshop, which trains folks to host their own education workshops

Once a facilitator, you can also incorporate PLT into your CalNat course and offer PLT certification in addition to CalNat certification. We’ll touch on this more in a little bit

After attending this workshop, you will become a part of the PLT network and Community of Practice

CoP- PLT List-serve and mailing and Conferences

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Activity #1

Have Seeds, Will Travel (pg 50)

Delivery model: 5Es Model of Instruction

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5E Model of Instruction

Engage: Introduce a phenomenon, object, problem, situation, or event.
Explore: Students participate in activities to produce a concrete shared experience.
Explain: 1) Students share their initial observations and explanations

2) Facilitator provides information to support student learning and introduces scientific & technological terms and concepts.

Elaborate: Apply, extend, or elaborate the concepts, processes, or skills to other phenomenon
Evaluate: Provide feedback and assess progress

Source: https://ngss.sdcoe.net/Evidence-Based-Practices/5E-Model-of-Instruction

Eliot

Key Ideas

Teachers use the 5E Model of Instruction to sequence lessons and activities which provide best first instruction for all students. Through this process they emphasize opportunities to personalize learning.

In each phase of the 5E Model of Instruction, teachers carefully consider how the evidence collected or information obtained builds student understanding of a phenomenon or a solution to a design problem.

The optimal use of the 5E Model is a learning sequence of two to three weeks where each phase is used as the basis for one or more lessons.

Using the 5E Model as the basis for a single lesson reduces the effectiveness of individual phases due to the shortening of the time and opportunities for meaningful and deep learning across a learning sequence.

According to research, there is the greatest impact on learning when phases are not omitted or their position shifted (e.g., Explain before Explore).

Phases can be repeated or looped as needed to create time or experiences to learn a concept or develop an ability (e.g., Engage, Explore, Explain, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate).

Activities in a 5E learning sequence should be designed to integrate the Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas.

“The 5E Model of Instruction promotes active learning. Students are involved in more than listening and reading. They learn to ask questions, observe, model, analyze, explain, draw conclusions, argue from evidence, and talk about their own understanding. Students work collaboratively with peers to construct explanations, solve problems, and plan and carry out investigations.” –Rodger Bybee

ENGAGE

The first phase of the 5E Model engages students by having them mentally focus on a phenomenon, object, problem, situation, or event. The activities in the Engage phase are designed to help students make connections between past and present learning experiences, expose prior conceptions, and organize thinking toward the essential questions and learning outcomes of the learning sequence.

The role of the teacher in the Engage phase is to present a situation, identify the instructional task, and set the rules and procedures for the activities. The teacher also structures initial discussions to reveal the range of ideas, experiences, and language that students use which become resources for upcoming lessons.

Student Behaviors

Asks questions such as, “Why did this happen?” “What do I already know about this?” “What can I find out about this?” “How can this problem be solved?”

Shows interest in the topic through curiosity and expression of wonderings

Demonstrates engagement by expressing ideas, sharing observations, and creating initial models

Expresses current understanding of a concept or idea

Teaching Strategies

Raises questions or poses problems

Elicits responses that uncover students’ current knowledge

Helps students make connections to previous work

Posts learning outcomes and explicitly references them in the lesson

Invites students to express what they think

Invites students to raise their own questions

EXPLORE

Once students have engaged in activities, they need time to explore ideas. Explore activities are designed so all students have common, concrete experiences which can be used later when formally introducing and discussing scientific and technological concepts and explanations. Students have time to investigate objects, events, or situations. As a result of their mental and physical involvement in these activities, students question events, observe patterns, identify and test variables, and establish causal relationships.

The teacher’s role in the Explore phase is to facilitate learning. They initiate activities and allow time and opportunity for students to investigate objects, materials, and situations. The teacher coaches and guides students as they record and analyze observations or data and begin constructing models or initial explanations.

Student Behaviors

Tests predictions and hypotheses; Forms new predictions and hypotheses

Discusses problems with others

Plans and conducts investigations in which they observe, describe, and record data

Tries different ways to solve a problem or answer a question

Creates initial models

Compares ideas with those of others

Teaching Strategies

Provides or clarifies questions or problems

Provides common experiences

Observes and listens to students as they interact

Acts as a consultant for students

Encourages student-to-student interaction

Asks probing questions to help students make sense of their experiences and redirect them when necessary

Provides time for students to puzzle through problems

EXPLAIN

The Explain phase consists of two parts. First, the teacher asks students to share their initial models and explanations from experiences in the Engage and Explore phases. Second, the teacher provides resources and information to support student learning and introduces scientific or technological concepts. Students use these resources and information, as well as ideas of other students, to construct or revise their evidence-based models and explanations. In engineering, students design solutions to problems based on established criteria.

Student Behaviors

Shows models, explanations, answers, or possible solutions, to other students

Listens critically to and questions explanations offered by others

Explains using evidence from investigations

Uses labels, terminology, and formal scientific language

Compares current thinking with former thinking

Records ideas and current understanding

Adjusts ideas, models, and explanations as new evidence or reasoning is presented

Teaching Strategies

Encourages students to explain concepts and definitions in their own words

Asks for justification (evidence) and clarification from students

Formally provides definitions, explanations, and information through mini-lecture, text, internet, or other resources

Builds on student explanations

Provides time for students to compare their ideas with others and if desired revise their ideas

ELABORATE

Once students have constructed explanations of a phenomenon or design solutions for a problem, it is important to involve them in further experiences that apply, extend, or elaborate the concepts, processes, or skills they are learning. Some students may still have misconceptions, or they may only understand a concept in terms of the exploratory experience. Elaborate activities provide time for students to apply their understanding of concepts and skills. They might apply their understanding to similar phenomena or problems.

Student Behaviors

Applies new labels, definitions, explanations, and skills in new, but similar, situations

Uses previous information to ask questions, propose solutions, make decisions, design experiments, or complete a challenge

Draws reasonable conclusions from evidence

Critiques the models, explanations, or arguments made by others using evidence and reasoning

Makes conceptual connections between new and previous experiences

Communicates understanding to others

Teaching Strategies

Expects students to use vocabulary, definitions, and explanations provided previously in new contexts

Encourages students to apply the concepts and skills in new situations

Provides additional evidence, explanations, or reasoning

Reinforces students’ use of scientific terms and descriptions previously introduced

Asks questions that help students draw reasonable conclusions from evidence and data

EVALUATE

It is important that students receive feedback on the quality of their explanations. Informally, this may happen throughout the learning sequence. Formally, the teacher can also administer a summative evaluation at the end of the learning sequence. The Evaluate phase encourages students to assess their understanding and abilities and allows teachers to evaluate individual student progress toward achieving learning goals and outcomes.

Student Behaviors

Gives feedback to other students

Evaluates progress or knowledge

Checks work with a rubric or against established criteria

Assesses progress by comparing current understanding with prior knowledge

Asks additional questions that go deeper into a concept or leads to additional learning

Demonstrates understanding of Disciplinary Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Science and Engineering Practices

Answers open-ended questions by using observations, evidence, and previously accepted explanations

Teaching Strategies

Asks open-ended questions such as, “Why do you think…?” “What evidence do you have?” “How would you answer the question?”

Observes and records notes as students demonstrate individual understanding of concepts learned and performance of skills

Uses a variety of assessments to gather evidence of student understanding

Provides opportunities for students to assess their own progress

�

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Engage

Observe this habitat.

How would you describe it?
Do you notice a plant hidden in the grass in the foreground?
Using this picture for context, what do we think that plant might be?
How did it get there?

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Explore

Take one sheet of paper and cut, fold, ball-up, twist or tear it in any way you like to create a seed that you think will travel as far as possible.
You can choose to head outside or stay inside. Mark a spot on the ground and hold your arm out straight and drop your seed. Repeat several times, modifying how you drop the paper.
Observe the seed and measure how it travels. Be sure to note conditions and any other valuable observations.
Collect your observations and head back.

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Explain

In small groups, share your observations.

Place your seeds into categories based on how they traveled.

Why would a seed [need to] travel?
4 W’s of transportation:

Wind, Water, Wings*, We
Any other ways you can think of?

What requirements do plants have?

Water, sunlight, nutrients, habitat, reproduction.

Example Terms and Concepts:

Competition
Tropism
Endemic or Invasive Species

*wings as a catch-all term for animals transporting seeds naturally through contact or ingestion

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Elaborate

We are already seeing the effects of climate change on our ecosystems. How might climate change affect a plant’s ability to reproduce? In breakout rooms, brainstorm a scenario in which a plant might be challenged to disperse its seeds.

Fire, extreme weather, sea level rise, loss of biodiversity, etc.
What does this mean for the plant’s ecosystem?

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Evaluate

The Ultimate Seed!

In your group or individually, design the ultimate seed.

How will this seed survive, compete and travel?
Define its habitat.
Every feature must have a purpose.
Think in terms of systems and energy conservation.
Bonus points for taking climate change into consideration.

Once everyone is finished, we can all hold up our seeds for a picture!

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5 Minute Break!

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Getting to Know the Activity Guide

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Getting Started

If you haven’t already:

Go to www.plt.org and create an account/log in
Go to “Account Home,” then “Use an access code” under “Quick Tools” on the left side of the page
Enter the access code that was emailed to you
Use PLT.org password to access your virtual copy of the guide!

Access your content at any time by logging into PLT.org and go to My Account > My Content.

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PLT Activity Guide Intro

Chapters, Appendices & Indices

Organized by grade
Each activity is ready to go out of the box but can be modified to meet your course needs
Online content and resources

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Activity #2

Backyard Safari

Delivery model: Open/Inquiry Based Learning

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Inquiry Based Model of Instruction

Several models exist:

Open Inquiry -- You give students time and support. You provide initial investigation through the presentation of a problem or topic. They pose original questions that they investigate through their own methods, and eventually present their results to discuss and expand.

Why should you use it?

Student Centered
Hands On
Connect learning to the real world
Improves critical thinking, problem solving, creativity
Encourages engaged learning

Helpful tools

Think-Pair-Share
Learning Loop
Can you tell me more? Can someone elaborate/reword?
No direct answers (unless absolutely necessary)
Follow content with a question
All answers are valid

What does that tell you?

Why is that important?

What do you see?