June 5, 2007 Kay Gandy Daily Assignment

http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/download/docs/geoginquiry.pdf
How can I apply these skills to math, science and history?
In all subject areas, we want our students to ask questions. When students ask questions they get to lead their own learning. In math, when students ask questions they discover the real-world purpose for mathematics (i.e. “Why do teachers in NYC make more than teachers in Kentucky[LD1] ?” ). Asking questions is also one of the most important aspects of science. It’s what keeps inquiry going and research flowing.
Acquiring resources in any field is a complete necessity. Once we have the question, we need to figure out what we need to answer it. To take the example of the NYC teacher salary, we can determine that we need to know what the cost of living is (and has been), what the overall average salary is (and has been) and then we can:
Explore the data. Historically speaking, NYC has had a rather strong teachers’ union. When the resources and data are integrated together we begin to see connections. If we go back to what we read in the textbook yesterday (chapter 1), we see that inductive reasoning (whereby the data is explored and decisions are based upon these observations) is a very effective way to teach and learn. The method presented here is clearly an effective way to explore many different paths.
This leads us into analysis. When I have collected the data mentioned above and begin to see the connections, I can analyze the whys of their what appears to me insanely high starting salary (stuff costs more, there’s a higher tax base, the teachers’ union borders on bullying).
From the above I can act upon what I’ve learned. I cannot make as good as a living in NYC as I make here even though I would make 20 grand more.
In conclusion, this process is useful in any subject.

[LD1]I know, I know, this skirts over to economics (subset of geography), but it’s all connected, right?