Ecosystem Explorers: Utilizing iNaturalist to Promote Inquiry in the Classroom

This classroom activity showcases how a free website and app, iNaturalist, can be used to introduce students to inquiry while also providing them with an opportunity to explore the outdoors. Inquiry-based approaches are known to have positive impacts on student learning. In addition to this, teaching scientific concepts outside may improve student learning gains while also highlighting the great biodiversity that exists right in their backyards. This project allows students to generate and investigate their own research questions based on their local communities. Students gather observations on the local organisms, utilizing iNaturalist, and ultimately create a presentation to share their findings. The instructor can modify the length of the project and the level of inquiry to fit the needs of a specific classroom. This project can be repeated several times to promote an appreciation of nature. Students can transform into true ecosystem explorers.