What you need: Objects you can put in the water e. Directions: Invite your child to put a few objects in the water and see what happens. Ask, "Do you think this one will sink or float? What makes you think that? Science principle: Children can explore how size, weight, or other properties of an object determine if it sinks or floats and how quickly it sinks to the bottom or rises to the top.
She is currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow at National Taiwan Normal University. She can be reached at lollipop gmail. Skip to main content. By Yi-Chin Lan 1. Give children time and space to explore. Accept that explorations are often messy. Learn from mistakes together. Invite curiosity. Support further exploration.
There are many phenomena that can be explored, many questions to be explored, many basic concepts to be introduced, and many topics to choose from, so rather than make a list of possible subject matter and topics, following are key criteria for guiding decisions about topic selection.
At the core of inquiry-based science is direct exploration of phenomena and materials. Thus, the first criterion is that phenomena selected for young children must be available for direct exploration and drawn from the environment in which they live. The study of snails is an example of an exploration that meets these criteria. Others include light and shadow, moving objects, structures, and plant and animal life cycles. Examples of some that do not meet these criteria include such popular topics as dinosaurs or space travel.
Other topics often chosen in early childhood classrooms such as the rain forest or animals of the Arctic polar bears and penguins may be based in appropriate concepts habitat, physical characteristics, and adaptation of animals , but these too lack the possibility for direct engagement.
Topics such as these need not be excluded. They can be the subject of important dramatic play, elaborate discussion, and exploration using books and other secondary sources. The problem arises when they take time away from or substitute for inquiry-based science experiences. Such an experience provides a base from which children will gradually develop an understanding of adaptation and evolution. Working with balls on ramps is yet another example where skillfully guided experiences build a foundation for later understanding of forces and motion.
A third criterion is that the focus of science be on concepts that are developmentally appropriate and can be explored from multiple perspectives, in depth, and over time. When children have many and varied opportunities to explore a phenomenon, they come to the final stages of inquiry with a rich set of experiences on which to base their reflections, their search for patterns and relationships, and their developing theories. This might be followed by observing their own movement and that of other familiar animals and a continuing discussion about similarities and differences and how movement relates to where an animal lives and how it gets its food.
In contrast to this depth and breadth are experiences with phenomena such as magnets that are very engaging, but once children have noted what they do, there is little else to explore. Equally important, the third criterion is that the phenomena, concepts, and topics must be engaging and interesting to the children AND their teachers.
While not a criterion for the selection of content for an individual unit, across a year, the science program should reflect a balance of life and physical science. For many reasons, teachers are more comfortable with the life sciences and steer away from physical science.
This leaves out explorations of deep interest to children and deprives them of the challenges and excitement of experimentation.
Inquiry into life science is different from inquiry into physical science, the former being more observational, taking place slowly over time. Inquiry in the physical sciences is more experimental with immediate results. Both are important, so it is balance that is important in an early childhood science program. January Water tables continue to be one of the favorite centers in the room.
I love seeing how engaged the kids become filling cups, emptying cups, moving water from one compartment in the water table to another. January It was too cold for the kids to go outside today, so the kids in my small group did a clay project instead. The theme for the project was making things that can hold water. Tonya made a pot. Alex made a vase. Sam made a bowl. Ben made a pancake, then rolled it up.
And suddenly, all the kids were making pipes! January The kids in my small group asked if they could keep making clay pipes today, so we did. They can really imagine how the water is going to move. Later Sam and Ben worked on making a long pipe. They wanted water to come out of both ends at once, so Sam suggested cutting a hole in the middle of the top so that they can add another pipe there.
I asked him where that idea came from. January During free choice, the kids continue to spend lots of time at the water table—using the tubes and T-connectors, exploring how water goes up and down and around the water wire wall. At the same time, their work on Water Town feeds their work at the water table. There are many implications for the classroom given this view of science.
It is co-constructed by the child and the teacher. The phenomena and the basic concepts are determined by the teacher, perhaps because of an interest she has observed in the classroom, but this need not be the case. Once a phenomenon is introduced and children begin their explorations, their questions may guide much of what follows. But the idea of pipes and Water Town clearly belonged to the children.
The selection of and access to materials are critical to science. It is through the materials that children confront and manipulate the phenomenon in question. First Discoverers is a unique independent childcare resource. It is an incredible resource for anyone who works in childcare and wishes to further their knowledge, or simply anyone wishing to learn more about the children around them.
Email me more like this…. Related Items early years Education science. You may also like Almost everything that a person does requires a basic knowledge of science, and logical reasoning that is based on this subject. This elementary school show is packed with mind boggling experiments as I help your students explore the world of science and demonstrate the scientific process, step-by-step, in a fun and engaging way.
Search for:. PHONE Email cris elementaryschoolassemblies. Open Button. The Importance of Teaching Science to Children. Knowledge Teaching science offers students to opportunity to increase their overall understanding of how and why things work.
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