The Backyard Ecology Content Stream Continues to Deepen

This is now the fourth week of Long-View@Home and our three science strands are deepening their work. For Strand 1: Biogeographic Survey, Ms. Swanson gets into the distinction between nature journaling and field guides. Learners are now shifting away from nature journaling (which is how the unit started) to creating field guides that help us identify things in nature. If the kids want to keep up their nature journaling, Ms. Swanson encourages them to do so by studying The Laws Guide To Nature Drawing and Journaling (John Muir Laws). She noted that this book is more focused on the art than the science of nature journaling, but it's a really great tool for any naturalist who wants to build on this skill set….

ScienceLisa ZapalacApril 23, 2020Long-View SchoolLong-View@Home, Backyard Ecology

Backyard Ecology through Long-View@Home

As schools around the country work to figure out how to support students in learning throughout the rest of the school year, Long-View science teachers have enthusiastically taken on the challenge. They’ve designed a creative and accessible solution to keep kids engaging in the practices of actual scientists, a key goal in the Long-View science program no matter where our learners are. Rather than resorting to worksheets or apps or other inauthentic online options, our young scientists are diving into a study of ecology. What’s the setting? Their backyards, of course! Front yards will do, too, as well as any patch of land or greenery they can find — the point is that kids are studying organisms, the relations to one another and to their physical surroundings, getting outside, and doing authentic science work while engaged in the Backyard Ecology Content Stream….

ScienceLisa ZapalacApril 15, 2020Long-View SchoolLong-View@Home, Backyard Ecology, inquiry

In Response to Quarantine, Long-View@Home Launches

The banner photo on this page was taken on what we now realize was the last day of school for the 2019-20 school year. It was an idyllic spring day in which we enjoyed time outside, skyped with an archaeologist, celebrated the writing of a group of our young poets, worked on mathematics in groups at whiteboards, presented biomimicry design challenges to a panel of scientists, ate lunch by the creek, had a discussion about what we learned about magical realism during a field trip to UT’s Harry Ransom Center, and ended the day all together talking about some of the things we really appreciate about our community at Long-View.

Like so many schools in the world, Long-View had to pivot to ensure that our students continued to learn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our virtual learning launched on March 23 and is called Long-View@Home….

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