LE 1.A Sharing Places: Neighborhood Walk

Family Science Learning Overview

Use this activity to explore your neighborhood. Take a walk and make observations. Who and what do you share your neighborhood with? For example, what plants, animals, other people, and elements like water do you notice?

You may use the three-page template provided for this activity to write and draw observations and questions, or make your own template on blank sheets of paper.

Overview

This is a two-part activity.

• Part 1: Write or draw who and what you think you share your neighborhood with. Discuss what you might learn by exploring your neighborhood.
• Part 2: During or after your walk, write or draw who and what you observed in your neighborhood.Look back at Part 1 after you walk in your neighborhood and observe. Would you change anything to the picture you created in Part 1? If so, what would you change and why?

What Can You Do To Support Learning?

• The goal of this activity is to have fun walking in your neighborhood, and to make observations and ask questions (instead of looking for a “right” answer).
• You can ask questions throughout this activity to encourage family members to share. For example, you can ask what is important to family members in your neighborhood. You can ask about what types of things they notice and why. You can ask if they have questions about what they are noticing. 
• For other questions to ask family members look on page 3 of the activity sheet. 

Activity Sheet

Connecting with Other Families

Ask other family members and friends to participate in this activity. Then you can share your observations and questions that came up on your walks. For example, you can share observations and questions over the phone or using email, and/or take pictures of what you observe on your walks and text those to each other with any questions you have about what you photographed. 

Connect to Other Activities

• 1.B: Family Learning Across Places

Learning in Places Frameworks to Consider

• Socioecological Histories of Place
• Observation and Data Collection
• Collaborative Discussions
• Asking Powerful Questions in Field-Based Science