by Niki Coller, Support Teacher

Young children have a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world. Whether watching fish in an aquarium, blowing bubbles, using a flashlight to make shadows or experimenting with objects to see what sinks or floats, the child is almost always engaged in finding out how the world works. Children in almost all environments “do science” throughout the day; they experience the world around them and develop theories about how that world works. Abstract thoughts and concepts are difficult for them to grasp because they primarily learn about their world by experiencing it through their senses. For that reason it is important to expose children to things they can see, hear, touch, taste and smell so that they are continually immersed in science as they discover new and different things about their world. These types of discoveries are science in a very real way.

Young children are highly interactive when they have opportunities to explore. They create strong and enduring mental representations of what they have experienced in investigating the everyday world. They acquire vocabulary to describe and share these mental representations and the concepts that evolve from them. Children then build on these skills to develop higher cognitive abilities such as problem solving, predicting outcomes, and generalizing across situations. Children’s natural interest in science can be the foundation for developing skills in literacy, language, and math.
Children learn by finding answers to their questions, which evolve from their curiosity, and are a very important part of their thought process. Question- asking helps kids make connections in their minds between different things they have experienced. Children ask many “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, and “why” questions, this can be a time to investigate and search for the answer(s) together.
Science in our classrooms does not always have to be a teacher-directed activity. A child at the easel may be using blue and yellow paint. Suddenly, she notices that as she paints, the color green appears. The child has the opportunity to theorize about color mixing. The process of formulating theories based on experiences can happen in the art, block and dramatic play areas, and during outdoor play.

Science begins with childhood curiosity, which leads to discovery and exploration, with the help and encouragement of teachers and parents.

Young children benefit from practicing the process skills of predicating, observing, classifying, hypothesizing, experimenting, and communicating. They need opportunities to reflect on their findings, how they reached them and how the findings compare with previous ideas. Because science is so intriguing for young children, they become more engaged and therefore more attentive to and involved in the language of the classroom. Using charts and science notebooks are an excellent way to collect data, and then make comparisons. Children love to observe how things in nature change and evolve. Charting these observations is a great activity to do with children; posting the charts in the classrooms gives the children the opportunity to refer back to them. Strong and meaningful learning takes place as children participate in language and literacy experiences about something meaningful to them. Children can use drawings and words to document the growth and changes that occur in their environment; such as a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. Having books available about these experiences adds to and reinforces the content as well as teaching the love and usefulness of reading.

It is important to remember that children are constantly learning. Parents can take advantage of this by involving them in as many daily tasks and routines as possible (e.g. making a meal, weeding the garden, fixing something broken). This type of “spur of the moment” learning can be ongoing and is easy to fit in with a busy schedule. This provides young children with opportunities to use their senses and ask questions.

Children need to solve problems and manipulate objects and ideas. Exploring unfamiliar objects, combining new materials, taking things apart, and uncovering relationships helps them to learn how the world works. Science-ing means questioning, observing, and recording, noticing similarities and difference and observing changes.

Teachers and parents can nurture scientific skills even if they don’t have all the answers. Here are some ideas of how to incorporate science into your every day:

• Capture the moment. (Biology) When children find a frog, roly- poly bugs, a moth or an anthill, offer a magnifying glass. If they notice birds building a bird nest, provide binoculars and help them make regular observations to record what they see. Compare observations over time. Ask children to predict what might happen next (baby birds?)

• Grow things. (Horticulture) Grow different types of beans in wet cotton and plastic bags. Tape some to a window and some to a closet. Observe and photograph (or draw) sprouting each week.

• Introduce measurement. (Math) Offer measuring tapes, rulers, thermometers, balance scales, stand on scales and help children weigh and measure everything. Record measurements, repeat often and discuss what changes and what stays the same.

• Take things apart. (Technology) When children ask, “ How does this work?” help them find out. Provide non-working toasters, clocks, VCR’s, tape recorders and other appliances to disassemble.

• Watch the wind. (Weather) Use balloons, flags, hair dryers, wind chimes, and pinwheels to learn about wind. Compare cloud and tree limb movements on windy and calm days.

• Move things around. (Physics) Connect PVC pipes to roll marbles or running water downhill to fill containers or connect with other pipes. Use pulleys. Help children set up ramps at different angles to roll Matchbox cars. Ask them to predict how far the car will roll. Mark predictions with tape and measure actual distances. Compare. Change the length and angle of ramps and compare results.

• Change things. ( Chemistry) Observe frozen and boiling water and steam. Discuss what happens when water changes state. Help children make jell-o or ice cream. Ask them to predict the effects of mixing ingredients. Experiment and draw results.

Always stimulate a sense of wonder. Ask open-ended questions like “ I wonder what might happen if…” or “ If we change the temperature (or size, or shape, or location), what do you think will happen? Answer their questions by asking “ How might we find out?” Encourage predictions. Test out ideas. Discuss results. Be open to all the questions your child will ask.

As adults, we do not need to have all the answers. We need curiosity, a little planning, and some interesting “stuff”. Then we can take pleasure in watching a young scientist develop.

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