PHASE TWO

After most of the children had already shared personal stories and experiences, interest in boats was still keen. It was now time to start investigating their questions, exploring new resources, planning field work, and gathering information and representing new learnings.  In planning our field experiences we became frustrated when we realized that in landlocked Alberta in the middle of Winter that the opportunities for fieldwork were limited.  We attempted to: arrange a field visit to a riverboat, tried to get a guest speaker from navy and reserve personnel, we inquired about the possibility of bringing an actual boat into the school, as well as sought boat builder experts (native elder, canoe builder, kayaking maker), we also looked for guest speakers from the rowers, sailors, paddlers, fishermen etc, again we couldn’t get these kind of people into our classroom due to job conflicts and unavailability.  Luckily we have West Edmonton Mall and John Walter Museum and some very accommodating parents. 

An excursion was planned to West Edmonton Mall to see and experience a variety kinds of boats.  Prior to the field trip we discussed what to look for and how to collect data. Children practiced taking and sharing field notes in the classroom.  

West Edmonton Mall has a tremendous variety of boats on display. The highlight for many of the children, and parents too, was the submarine ride. The children asked impressive questions of the captain, some even she could not answer. But they did find out how the ship is provided with air when underwater, what propels a sub, how submarines rise and sink in water, what crash docking is as well as a good look of the world underwater. Much of the children's work reflected this underwater scene.

The John Walter Museum has a wonderful school out reach program. The facilitator was knowledgeable about how boats were used in helping shape Edmonton in the past. She brought in several examples of boats and activities for the children to do. It was interesting that many of the children posed difficult questions to the facilitator that she could not answer. As the children's knowledge and experience grew their questions became more complex and technical. We were very lucky to have one of the children's father in the classroom that day. He had built a boat himself and had brought in his pictures. He patiently explained the workings of a boat motor and how it drives the prop, how to steer a boat and how to stop a boat as well as answered many more of the children's questions.

In the classroom the children had a variety of materials to use at centers that invited inquiry and exploration.

Discussion during this second phase became very rich, especially around the reading of stories based on real happenings.