Three schools located close to fresh water agreed to participate in the study: Barmera Primary School, Burton Primary School and Goolwa Primary School. In each school a Year 5 classroom teacher worked with students on the topic of fresh water and, in two of the three classes, a second teacher provided support.
Teachers were introduced to the notion of action research in the first professional learning workshop. At each subsequent workshop conversations were held around possible classroom inquiry-based questions and approaches that could be pursued during the project. Table 2 shows the foci of the participating schools and how their inquiry questions were narrowed with subsequent conversations. The third column lists the ways that students’ learning was communicated to the local community.
Table 2: Teacher inquiry questions and project communication
| School | Initial question | Final question | Communication/celebration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barmera | How does enhanced connection to local place impact on thinking, feeling and intention in relation to living sustainably within natural environments?
How does communicating science impact on visualising futures? |
How can we change the curriculum and children’s learning from passive participation to active participation in the management of the lake systems?
How can I create a connection to the lake for my class? |
Expo Fund my community Letters to council Letters to MP |
| Burton | How does investing in scientific literacies impact on desirable futures for our local wetlands? | What works to develop students as activists for the local environment wetlands? | Expo: 90 parents/grandparents BBQ Letters |
| Goolwa | What is solution for dealing with the overabundance of carp in the local river system. | Not applicable. | Poster presentations
Garden beds and planting |
The case studies that follow provide some background about each school, describe the school project and respective teacher’s inquiry question. They also provide some reflections on how the project played out in their context.
View Primary School Case Studies:
