Visit http://blogs.nsta.org/EarlyYearsBlog to read about and comment on early childhood science.
Copying the name of the dinosaur.
Making rubbings of dinosaur shapes, then adding details.
Painting in details after completing a shape rubbing.
Dinosaurs inspire young children to practice writing by copying dinosaur and time period names.
The "happy face" is typical in drawings of animals by young children.
At what age is your earliest snow memory?
Create a shadow puppet theater with a white plastic trash bag screen taped between two chairs and a flashlight lantern as the light source. Puppets are made from contruction paper with straws as handles.
Shape of a mourning dove, a 30 cm (12 inches) long bird.
Northern Cardinal, a rubbing made from a cardboard shape placed underneath the paper.
Holding the crayon sideways to "wipe" the paper, these children are making bird shape rubbings of common birds--pigeons and crows.
February 2008
Housing for butterflies made from 4 paper plates, netting, tape, and hot glue.
The 'car' cup has stopped but the 'driver' marble keeps going.
'Driving' a 'car'......brrrooommmmm!
March 2008 issue of Science and Children
Spring blooms capped by spring snowfall.
Using a mirror to reflect sunlight around the room.
Reflecting sunlight with a mirror--part of an exploration of light.
Building with dominoes with the intention of knocking it down. Children often sort by color.
At the Rainbow Preschool in Portland some children were interested in washing apples. The apples floated!
A Family Science activity about vibration and sound.
The team discusses strategy, NSTA Portland Area Conference November 2008.
Ready, set, go! Moving as many small PVC pieces as they can without touching them with their hands--using only larger PVC pipe pieces.
Counting the pieces to see which strategy moved the most.
Wearing goggles while working with Borax to protect their eyes, these children are learning about following a procedure as they mix a solid (Borax) and liquids (water and white school glue) to make "slime".
Is the apple touching the bottom?
Recalling science activities while looking at the "What is a Scientist?" wall of photographs. Thanks to author Barbara Lehn and photographer Carol Krauss for the inspiration.
Working to move water and comparing a variety of tools--spoons, scoops, eye droppers, dental irrigators, and pumps. Later they will consider these questions and tally the classes answers: Which tool did you like the best? Which tool moved the most water?
Introduce "sink or float" activities with two items to demonstrate and define the words "sink" and "float," in this case a rock and a wooden block.
Children often expect pumpkins to sink. With large items, ave the children check to see if the item is touching the bottom of the container, or floating above the bottom.
Children can record the results by drawing.
Create a shadow puppet theater by taping a plastic trash bag between two chairs as a screen and using a battery powered lantern as a light source. Puppets can be made from construction paper.
Binoculars made of two cardboard tubes taped together enliven a walking fieldtrip and help the children focus their attention.
A Foundation for Family Science presentation at the NSTA Portland 2008 Regional Conference demonstated how families are motivated to do science together.
Looking up at the Foucault pendulum at the Oregon Convention Center.
Looking up at Latourelle Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. See more photos of this amazing part of the world at http://columbiariverimages.com/ a website connecting today's landscape with that traversed by Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery.
The path did not look this wide when I was walking on it!
Putting a flashlight and periscope together leads to the discovery that mirrors can change the direction of a beam of light.
Children create new ways of using the materials, leading to further learning.
“I have to hold them to make them stay together.”
Testing attraction to a magnet and talking about what happens.
“I'm here in Small Group with Nadia. Nadia, what can you tell us about magnets?” Children turn a magnet into a microphone in imaginative play.
Sorting objects by material.
Using a felt board to communicate understanding.
Slug on the move...who can get it back onto the plate!?
Reading to encourage children to ask questions.
Thanks to Barbara Lehn for her inspiring book, What is a Scientist? Display photos of your student-scientists with her captions.
Using a mirror to change what you see--"Can you make it whole?"
A half-picture becomes whole when viewed with a mirror.
A Monarch butterfly egg on a milkweed leaf.
Baby food containers hold small animals, such as roly-polies, for upclose viewing.
Children are fascinated by roly-polies (aka isopods or pillbugs).
Science & Children, November 2008
Science teachers at the NSTA 2008 Portland conference observe the Foucault pendulum at the Oregon Conference Center.
This one is cherry, yum!
Building with dominoes to observe motion--“Let's put it closer together.”
At a Family Science session: Describing what happens to the air pressure (and the card) when you blow.
Science & Children, December 2008
Making bubbles by inverting a small container within a larger container of water.
Making "binoculars" from two cardboard tubes and tape. They will be fun to use on a walking fieldtrip.
A simple experimental set-up for sprouting mung bean seeds.
Counting the amount in each group of snack shapes.
Grouping by shape.
A snack of varied shapes leads to sorting, making patterns, and counting.
March 2009
Showing understanding that words convey information. Student dictated the explanation to the teacher.
A feltboard provides the props to tell the story of the growth of a tadpole.
Counting using tally marks. Children marked which tool they thought moved the "most" water after their first exploration using tools to move water. In further work they can measure and count exactly.
Science activities are a time for conversation, sharing ideas and developing vocabulary.
Innovative thinking can happen when children do not feel constrained by the teachers' instructions.
Hmmmmm....
The big (laundry soap powder) scoop is a favorite tool for some.
Pumps from liquid soap bottles are difficult to use, requiring two-handed coordination. To keep the tube on the pump from bending and breaking, support it by adding a larger clear plastic tube around it and just a few millimeters longer (sold by the foot at hardware stores).
Nasal aspirators make interesting tools for moving water (clean all tools with a bleach solution before first use and after the activity).
Colored water is easily seen in a clear tube. Open-ended questions such as, "What do you see happening?" support children's discussion of their work.
Young children can match the tools they used with the picture of the tool on the tally chart, and then record their favorite tool, or another category of tool, which one was the easiest to use.
A problem-solver tries using her hands to move water.
Sometimes the right tool is a nasal aspirator.
Colored acetate designs can be mounted inside a page protector or taped to a sheet of white paper.
Science notebook entries about mixing colors, and resist: oil and water in a jar.
Mixing colors using diluted liquid watercolors.
Science notebook entries about mixing colors, and resist: oil and water (colored blue) in a jar.
Documenting the results of mixing colors.
Mixing liquid watercolors in snow.
Comparing substances for possible use as paint: paprika, tumeric, and dirt mixed with egg yolk, oil, or water.
Mixing dabs of liquids with pinches of powdered solids. The water is used to rinse the brush between materials.
Visit another classroom to learn from the room set-up and activities.
Painting together invites conversation, an idea to try in your classroom.
Use a cloth under potentially messy materials so spills can be gathered and returned to the container or trash can.
A sensory box is less messy when a cloth is under it to catch spills.
As rain begins to wet the ground, a lovely smell fills the air.
Clouds and precipitation can be observed and recorded by young children.
Cloud shapes vary.
As the rain begins, a distinctive smell fills the air. How would you describe it?
The children chose the color of the fuzzy stick (pipe cleaner) to use to make a bubble wand shape of their choosing.
Bubbles are science--shapes, air flow, property of liquids--and good for physical development--breath control and building muscles of the mouth--and fun!
Children may become more familiar with the purpose of tallying with frequent use of a tally chart to record observations and predictions.
Recording predictions and observations on a tally chart may not be accurate if the recorder is influenced to choose based on a friend's choice.
What shape will the bubble be? Children often use two dimensional words, square and circle, to mean three dimensional objects, cube and sphere.
The Cabbage White larva is well camouflaged by its color and shape, blending into the collard leaf.
Children can hold the empty cocoon of an Eastern Tent Moth. It can be kept for years now that the moth has flown.
Preschoolers often draw just the shape of a small animal, such as an Eastern Tent Moth caterpillar. With a longer observation time they may add details such as eyes, color spots, hairs, and legs.
Even preschool children appreciate the aid of a magnifier.
Children can learn the safe-smelling method of "wafting" or waving a smell to their nose instead of smelling directly from a container.
"Euwwwwh." (It's onion.)
Recording their favorite smell using tally marks helps children realize that not everyone experiences smell in the same way.
Few children like the smell of onions!
Children show which shape bubble they think a square bubble wand will make. They are comfortable in disagreeing with each other.
This newly adult Wood frog is about 2 cm long.
Although it has four legs, this Wood frog tadpole still has a tail and is still breathing through its gills under water.
Taking an "x-ray" in the doctor's office.
The children dictate a description of the bone breaks shown in the x-ray.
The children reveal their knowledge of their bone structure though their drawings representing x-rays.
The foam child-sized skeleton puzzle has been very durable. Children try different configurations until they have used all the pieces.
A metal radiator cover is a handy place to build with magnet-backed pattern blocks.
The children usually begin building using the largest pieces, the yellow hexagons.
Recording their work by taking a photograph makes it easier for children to accept that other children will re-use "their" blocks. Older children can draw pictures, sometimes tracing the shapes.
Did you guess that these are spaceships?
When most of the large yellow hexagon shapes were moved to use elsewhere, children began building in a different way, choosing to use more of the pieces they had previously ignored.
Can you see the Mourning Dove on the nest?
One place to find natually occuring rock in an urban area is along a creek bed.
The children scientists solve the problem of moving water from one container to another in different ways.
Using materials and finding out what happens, children learn about processes which occur in the natural world.
Read about NASA scientists like Deborah Amato at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/intro.html
Teachers can be a role model for children. models of women doing science.
Why do some objects sink and others float?
Children's concerns about keeping dirt off their shoes and clothing can be addressed by gardening on dry days, and using small tools so children can easily control the direction of soil movement.
Collards in a container garden provide food for Cabbage White butterfly larvae, and people!
Children in programs that go all summer can see tomatoes develop from the flowers. If your program takes a summer break, start your plants indoors so children can see a flower develop before the break.
Growing tomatoes helps children become familiar with them and more willing to eat them. See the Early Sprouts program at http://www.earlysprouts.org/
Sometimes gardening is simply digging in the dirt to see what is there--pebbles? grubs? roots? earthworms? a hole!
A fieldtrip to a field of sunflowers included the experience of seeing flowers in all stages of development and animals-- birds, many different types of bees, and a skink.
The curiosity of an accomplished preschool teacher knows no bounds.
Having a supportive guide facilitates explorations and entering new situations.
A Monarch butterfly visits a Butterfly Bush for food--nectar.
The Milkweed plant has flowered and produced a seed pod but has yet to host Monarch butterfly babies, otherwise known as larvae or caterpillars.
Do fireflies live in your area?
The children drew what they noticed about the caterpillars--many legs and a separate head.
Posting the children's documentation of their science activity makes the children's work visible to families and to the children for further reflection.
In drawing the initial experiment set-up, children show their understanding--in this case, that each cup holds a different amount of water.
During a large group discussion the teacher documents through drawing what the group observes.
Drawing the caterpillar and a unit cube every day for a week documents the growth of the caterpillar.
Science and Children, September 2009
Children and teachers learn about dirt and the small animals that live in it when planting spring-flowering bulbs in the fall. Teachers know their children and plan for safe science by choosing non-toxic bulbs such as Camassia spp. (also called Camas, Quamash, and Wild Hyacinth) when planting with very young children.
Read aloud, discuss, learn.
A well-sealed plastic jar or bottle filled with various liquids and solids is a contained science activity. Before sealing make sure the lip and cap are dry, then put hot glue around the threads in the lid and screw it on. Tape around the outside acts as a symbol that the bottle should not be opened.
This bottle has a few shells, a pinch of glitter, blue-tinted water, and mineral oil. What would you put in a Discovery Bottle for an experience about density?
Discovery bottle: blue tinted water, mineral oil, shells, glitter. Tightly sealed with hot glue! When held up to the light, or used on a light table, more details can be seen.
Discovery bottle: blue tinted water, mineral oil, shells, glitter. Tightly sealed with hot glue!
Discovery bottle: blue tinted water, mineral oil, coin and sand and key to sink, rubber toy to float. Tightly sealed with hot glue!
Discovery bottle: buttons and an air bottle move slowly and even slower through corn syrup. Tightly sealed with hot glue! Tape the outer lid as a symbol that the bottle is not to be opened.
Fall color in a maple tree.
The leaves of other maple trees turn yellow in fall.
A woderful resource book for early childhood science activities, aligned with national standards in reading, literacy, math, and science.
Four-year-olds like to make big tally marks when first learning about this method of recording data.
Teachers too, can record their favorite smell with a tally mark.
Oregano! Relatively easy to grow, children will enjoy adding this herb to their pizza sauce.
Fennel is an herb which smells of anise, or licorice, and also can host Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.
Can you smell the lilac blooms?
With practice, even young children can learn the wafting technique of smelling the scent from a container.
Wafting and thinking, "What does that smell like!?"
“[Accomplished early childhood teachers] realize that science is everywhere and that it can be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of ways." Early Childhood/Generalist Standards, for teachers of students ages 3–8, Second Edition (2001) by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, pages 35-37. http://www.nbpts.org/userfiles/File/ec_gen_standards.pdf
“[Accomplished early childhood teachers] show a love for science and generate in children curiosity and wonder about the world around them." Early Childhood/Generalist Standards, for teachers of students ages 3–8, Second Edition (2001) by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, pages 35-37. http://www.nbpts.org/userfiles/File/ec_gen_standards.pdf
Share your resources--tell a colleague about a favorite book (fiction or science activity), blog, commercial site, or journal today!
Take it slowly when first introducing insects to children. Over time they will become comfortable and capable in handling the small animals.
Observe and draw to really look closely at small animals such as Tenebrio beetles.
Is there a beetle or a larva hiding under the apple slice?
Everyone wants to see the beetles!
Grasshoppers courtesy of: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chrysochraon_dispar_Richard_Bartz.jpg
Share your Pumpkin Science with other early childhood educators at http://blogs.nsta.org/EarlyYearsBlog/default.aspx
What do you see? Let's try it again and see if the same thing happens.
Scientists have fun while answering questions such as, how do objects behave in water, will this object sink as I expect it to, and why do some objects float in water?
Watching closely to see what happens.
"I think it will float!" "But the other ball floated." "It sank in my tub." Science activities encourage discussion.
Learning about the Discovery Tree program, teaching young children ecology by connecting literature and visual models—from University of Virginia’s Blandy Experimental Farm, http://www.virginia.edu/blandy/
At the Virginia Association of Science Teachers' 2009 Professional Development Institute, there were plenty of sessions for early childhood teachers to choose from.
Young gardener (and Kitty) learn about soil by using a drain gauge to see how well water drains through the garden soil.
The young gardener uses her sense of touch to learn about the bean plant. The best reward for gardening--using your sense of taste--is in the basket: raspberries.
Not sure about how to approach a beetle baby, or use a magnifier. Children need time to practice using this tool, and time to observe small animals.
Using a magnifier to see the details.
This child knows how to get close using a magnifier correctly.
These children are competent using a magnifier, and comfortable handling the beetle babies.
