Learning from Water is Inquiry-based Learning

Inquiry-based learning recognizes that we learn best about things that interest us. 

There is an immense range of things to learn, but we don't have to learn it all. We simply find one thing that interests us and we will be led to a whole host of other things.

Learning from Water is not a curriculum. Instead, it is a perspective and practice to help us develop our own curriculum. We can become familiar with the perspective and practice in a few hours, either individually or in a group. However, we can continue the practice for our entire lives.

There are many ways to learn from water. Below is one that works for many people. 

Find Something that Interests You and Start There

Go to a body of water or fly around on Google Earth to find a water place that looks interesting.

Ask yourself the 6 Basic Questions about the place -- what, why, when, who, where, and how to find something that catches your imagination.  For example, what kind of tree is that in the photo below and why is it there?

If you search for images of "Texas river trees" you will find a bunch of photos of trees just like this one. One was from the USGS, the United States Geological Survey, which is a highly scientific and credible source. Click on this link to that website.

There you will find the tree is a baldcypress. Search for baldcypress and see what you get. For general information go to the Wikipedia site. There you will find information about the species' ecology, range of growth, uses, and many other things, such as that Native Americans carved caskets from cypress trees, and boat builders used them for the planking on boats.

The point of this is that one question about one tree can lead you into biology, ecology, history, engineering, and much more. This method works with any place and any topic. So you build your own "course," focused on what you want to know. And as you do this you will find that there is much, much more that you want to know! Remember, this is the World Wide Web and it has a world of useful information.

Your Smart Phone is an Amazing Learning Tool

Your smart phone gives you access to the world's knowledge.