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A field trip to the Biogeoscience Institute in Kananaskis took 30 of Werklund鈥檚 STEM Education pre-service teachers into the natural world to learn how to design STEM learning environments in the field.  The field trip was an invaluable experience for learning how to use and teach the scientific method within a scientific field inquiry. Time was spent brainstorming and designing STEM inquiry ideas, taking a big topic and refining it into answerable questions, and nailing down the details to make outdoor inquiries a reality.

Pre-service teachers put on their rubber boots to try out all sorts of instruments including velocimeters, thermometers, dissolved O2 and pH measures in streams and ponds. Many had never seen those instruments before. After collecting critters in the stream, binocular microscopes facilitated observations and identification.

Many pre-service teachers had no undergraduate science experience. All of them loved the trip. By the end of the weekend everyone gained confidence and experience with designing STEM learning environments in the field. They couldn鈥檛 wait to take their own students out to learn about nature. Most of all, everyone loved getting outdoors in beautiful Kananaskis and making new friends in the program.