Start an Inquiry Project

For EducatorsZero Waste
Written By Kim Manunui

Dive In

Are you really interested in a certain problem or topic? Start your own inquiry project. Think about what you already know. Do some reading about your topic, online and at the library. Speak to local experts about it if you can. If there is a way to take part in some hands on experiences to learn more about it, even better!

Ask and Investigate

What are you wondering? What do you want to find out more about? Once you have decided your questions, research and investigate them.

Extend Thinking and Come to Conclusions

Sort through your information and decide what direction you want to go in with this inquiry. What did you find out? What ideas have you got? Have you had a ‘lightbulb moment’? If you need to, do further research into your new ideas. This might mean trying out an idea, problem solving, making prototypes, or talking to more experts. Decide what you are going to do from here.

Share your Findings

When you are ready, share your learning with others. You could share it with your family, teacher, class, or friends to see what they think. They might have ideas for you too. You could share your learning through a poster, booklet, video, website, or speech.

Plan and Take Action

Take action! Make a plan for what action you are going to take, and then do it! If you are going to hold an event, plan it and then advertise it to those people who would be interested. If you are making a product, show your design and prototypes to people who might help you to make your product. If you are wanting to spread information or messages, think about the best way to do this. You might need to make videos or posters. You might even start a petition!

Review and Reflect

How did your project go? Were your actions successful? Why/Why not? What did you learn? What are your next steps? You might jump back into the cycle at any point now! Have you got more questions? Will you go back to researching? Will you take new actions? Inquiry learning is a cycle, which means it can on forever!

Have fun and please share your project with us here at KGT.

For Teachers:

DOC have a wonderful page HERE to explain more about inquiry learning and how it works with their resources. It can be an incredibly successful way to integrate curriculum areas through an authentic learning context. We are passionate about this at KGT, and work with our schools to develop their own restoration projects using this model. Please contact us if you would like to know more.

If you would like unit plans and other examples of teaching environmental education this way check out theses awesome DOC resources.

This is a great resource if you want to plan an inquiry unit about climate change

*The pictures shown on this page and the Inquiry Cycle used to make this resource are from the DOC website. You can download the DOC Integrated Inquiry Cycle pdf.

Examples of nature-based learning as a base for all curriculum areas:

Kim Manunui

Hi, I’m Kim and I work with a great team to help individuals, as well as small and not so small businesses get their message, product and services to the world using digital media and creating wonderful websites that don’t cost the earth.

I was born in Canada, and grew up around Vancouver and the mountains of British Columbia. My love of pristine environments led me to New Zealand and eventually to the mountains, lakes and rivers of the central North Island which is home. My family’s heritage is here, and it’s from here that Korio traverses the planet.

The digital world is never static and neither are we.

And I say ‘we’ because I work with an awesome group of talented people who I gather together as required to complete a project.  Whatever your business, not-for-profit or individual needs are we gather the best team to get the job done.

Collaboratively we are creative, share sustainable values and work hard for great outcomes because that’s the buzz of satisfaction that drives us.

If you have an audience and market to reach, we can make that happen. Creative design, words that work and smart behind the scenes stuff that cuts through the online noise. We’ll design your website and then build it. We’ll manage the content as well as all your hosting needs. We can handle your online advertising so you get noticed,
and we’ll manage your social media presence so you get the clicks, likes and engagement to grow your business. All within the budget you set, because none of this needs to cost the earth.  And the job doesn’t stop when your website goes live. We are your virtual business partner.

https://www.korio.co.nz
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