Science is not just a set of facts that have already been discovered by others; it is a process – a way of thinking and understanding the world. It is observing, predicting what might happen, testing those predictions, and making sense of observations. “Children acquire scientific knowledge by ‘construction’ not by instruction (Kamii & Lee-Katz, 1983). They must create an explanation of observed phenomena or the outcomes of the experiments internally—an explanation that holds personal meaning” (Trawick-Smith, p. 203). As children are exploring the scientific process, teachers can pose open-ended questions that may spark more questions or a new direction to explore. “Good quality education encourages the exploration of alternative thinking, multiple answers, and creative insights” (Jensen, p. 16). Allowing and encouraging young children to explore the scientific process—rather than only using direct instruction that emphasizes science facts and prescriptive experiments—will promote the development of thinking skills such as organizing and classifying, problem solving, reasoning, and logic. Here is one way to explore the scientific method with young children in a fun and effective way.
Grow a Garden
There are many different ways to grow a garden no matter where you are located. Here are a few ideas to give children hands-on experiences and opportunities to use the scientific method. To begin, find either a garden plot or provide containers such as:
Scientific Process
ObservingChildren can observe the growing cycle from seeds, to plant, to flower, and to seeds again. They can also observe plant parts and explore the similarities and differences between plants such as colors, shapes, relative size, and textures. Children can also observe the effects of environmental elements such water, light, temperature, and much more.
Predicting
Teachers should ask children open-ended questions that do not require a single right answer to promote guessing and prediction. Encourage children to guess which plants will come up first and which will grow to be the tallest.
Experimenting
Promote child-driven investigations based on the children’s own questions by providing various materials—seeds, soils, pots, lighting, and water situations, etc.—to be used in their own experiments. Teachers can record children’s observations and questions generated by their experiments. They can also provide paper, journals, pencils, and crayons for the children to record their own observations as their experiments progress. Encourage children to use drawings and inventive spelling.
Interpreting
Children learn best from their own interpretations rather than from their teachers telling them what the facts are. Therefore, teachers should continue to promote open-ended questions encouraging children to process and draw conclusions about what they have seen in their experiments. This process will lead to more questions and to further experiments.
There are many other science activities that foster the development of the basic understanding of science concepts. Here are a few to get you started:
When children learn by doing and experimenting they retain what they learn in a uniquely accessible way. Scientific exploration promotes the development of problem solving skills, recognition of cause and effect, and organizing and classifying. These explorations lay the foundation for future understanding of more complex science concepts later. The ability to solve everyday problems through trial and error is essential for science and self-confidence. So go ahead, have fun, get your hands dirty, and inspire a young child to explore, question, and investigate. Empowering a young child to be a generator of knowledge is a special gift that will help lay the foundation for a life-long love of learning.
@NiRaaLi_Man0 @SweeeT_AnGeL
Grow a Garden
There are many different ways to grow a garden no matter where you are located. Here are a few ideas to give children hands-on experiences and opportunities to use the scientific method. To begin, find either a garden plot or provide containers such as:
- Wooden box
- Half a wood barrel
- Plastic tub
- Single pots, terra cotta or plastic
Scientific Process
ObservingChildren can observe the growing cycle from seeds, to plant, to flower, and to seeds again. They can also observe plant parts and explore the similarities and differences between plants such as colors, shapes, relative size, and textures. Children can also observe the effects of environmental elements such water, light, temperature, and much more.
Predicting
Teachers should ask children open-ended questions that do not require a single right answer to promote guessing and prediction. Encourage children to guess which plants will come up first and which will grow to be the tallest.
Experimenting
Promote child-driven investigations based on the children’s own questions by providing various materials—seeds, soils, pots, lighting, and water situations, etc.—to be used in their own experiments. Teachers can record children’s observations and questions generated by their experiments. They can also provide paper, journals, pencils, and crayons for the children to record their own observations as their experiments progress. Encourage children to use drawings and inventive spelling.
Interpreting
Children learn best from their own interpretations rather than from their teachers telling them what the facts are. Therefore, teachers should continue to promote open-ended questions encouraging children to process and draw conclusions about what they have seen in their experiments. This process will lead to more questions and to further experiments.
There are many other science activities that foster the development of the basic understanding of science concepts. Here are a few to get you started:
- Adopt a nearby pond
- Put up a bird feeder.
- Make a classroom aquarium or terrarium, or have a class animal, reptile, or bird.
- Study ants, tadpoles, or butterflies
- Cook together to explore measurement and cause and effect.
- Explore water play: what floats, what doesn’t.
- Explore the five senses (touch—texture, tastes—sweet/sour, sounds—high/low tones, volume, etc., smells—identify onion, orange, banana, etc., and sight—notice visual differences)
When children learn by doing and experimenting they retain what they learn in a uniquely accessible way. Scientific exploration promotes the development of problem solving skills, recognition of cause and effect, and organizing and classifying. These explorations lay the foundation for future understanding of more complex science concepts later. The ability to solve everyday problems through trial and error is essential for science and self-confidence. So go ahead, have fun, get your hands dirty, and inspire a young child to explore, question, and investigate. Empowering a young child to be a generator of knowledge is a special gift that will help lay the foundation for a life-long love of learning.
@NiRaaLi_Man0 @SweeeT_AnGeL
