___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Q.1. Sarah asked: Is it possible for a list of items to be gathered for Science in an ECE classroom could be given to us?
A.1. The kinds of materials you use will depend on what your children are exploring—planting seeds and learning about plant growth? –Rolling objects on ramps to explore motion?
If you just need a very basic beginning set of materials, here is what I suggested for a family home childcare provider:
Magnifiers, 5. Clear "bug" viewer boxes A book to look at, read and discuss with children of different ages—1 copy of either What is a Scientist?
OR
1 copy of Nature Spy
Both of these books have photographs of children engaged in science explorations that don't need a lot of text.
I would also add a set of red, yellow and blue liquid watercolor paints but they aren't typically sold singly, you have to buy a whole set of additional colors that aren't part of a color mixing activity. Maybe a set of markers for each instead.
I would love to have each participant take home a set of blocks...
Here are a few more ideas from others:
A scale, perhaps a gram scale
Bug containers, maybe with magnifying lids
Bean seeds and little cups for planting them
A stop watch. Maybe a kitchen timer.
*********************************************************
Q.2. Jeanette: Love the storage area! Treasures abound!
A.2. Stuff will expand to fill the space provided!
A.3. Yes, each nation has different standards for science education. Early Childhood standards also vary from state to state and from program to program. The Next Generation Science Standards is a K-12 learning progressions model.
*********************************************************
Q.4. Leslie noted: Because the standards are mostly K-12, early childhood folks wouldn't necessarily know of them.
A.4. I should have defined what I mean by “early childhood”. Early childhood is variously defined as from birth to grade 3 or from preK to grade 2. I think the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) progressions showing how children understand each core idea at different ages are a valuable resource even if you teach younger children. Take a look at the Massachusetts preschool science standards.
*********************************************************
Q.5. Jodie noted: Knowing them [science standards in K] would make the transition from early childhood care and education services to formal schooling a smoother and connected process.
A.5. Agreed. The NGSS and the National Science Teachers Association’s position statement on Early Childhood Science Education also give preschool teachers ideas about how they may be intentional about teaching fewer concepts over time, rather than trying to “cover” all the science they know.
*********************************************************
Q.6. Pauline noted: We can read the standards—what we need to know is how you do this.
A.6. Yes, I hope that the examples I gave of children investigating sand, and the “snapshots” of moments in science inquiries where children were using the practices of science and engineering, were helpful in illustrating how to do this. Please take a look at the resource list and begin accessing those resources. The free to all NSTA Early Years blog posts that I write will give you some additional ideas.
*********************************************************
Q.7. Maria noted: Sunflower seeds are easier to see and easy to harvest.
A.7. Good point! Whether you use pumpkins, sunflowers, apples or green beans to open up to look for seeds will depend on what fruits are available in your area and in the season you investigate seeds in.
*********************************************************
Q.8. Jodie: Oh I love this book!
A.8. Here's a link to the book: Worms, Shadows and Whirlpools
*********************************************************
Q.9. Virginia asked: Is there a resource page of grant opportunities?
A.9. I don’t know of any grant opportunities. This would make a great question to post in the Early Childhood or Elementary forums in the NSTA Learning Center—a free online forum. Register and then go to the forum section to post your question or look at others. https://learningcenter.nsta.org/ There are some resources listed in NSTA Reports.
*********************************************************
Q.10. Pauline noted: We need to be careful not to answer all of children's questions. It is important not to answer those questions-the children need to discover their own ideas.
A.10. I agree! Give children time to make observations and have experiences. Only if they want a specific piece of information, such as, the name of a tool they are using, I tell that information. Ohterwise I wonder with them.
*********************************************************
Q.11. J DeWitt wondered: how are exploration and experimentation different in the preschool world?
A.11. There is a lot of overlap in the way the terms exploration, investigation and experimentation are used in science education. This can be different from the way these terms are used in everyday life. I think of science exploration as the opening of an investigation. Exploration allows children to experience materials, objects and phenomena, and to make changes. This leads to children trying to achieve a goal of some kind, or to answer a question that they may or may not verbalize, beginning an investigation. Because the way that “experiment” is used in everyday life differs from how it is used in science, I avoid using the term in preschool or in any situation where we are not doing a fair test. In everyday life we might “experiment” with different hairstyles or cooking with a new ingredient. In science, “experiments” are a fair test of a question or idea. In general, this means that you have an experimental setup that allows you to compare outcomes (differences that become evident), control variables (have only one thing vary between setups), avoid bias (i. e. “I like green so the green ball bounces best”) and have enough data to “distinguish chance from real differences” (do the experiment with enough setups to see if the results happen over and over). See the Understanding Science 101 for more detail about fair tests.
I agree that facilitation of children’s exploration is helpful sometimes, but standing back and letting them explore and supporting them with vocabulary to describe their work, and additional support as needed is just as important—in the beginning. Telling children what is happening is appropriate when you are describing your work, alongside them as they work, but we should not tell them what is happening with their actions or tell them all the facts we know because this diminishes how their contributions are seen.
*********************************************************
Q.12. Pauline mentioned: This would be an unusual thing in a New Zealand early childhood centre because the children are outside in the sandpit daily-the sand is often wet.
A.12. I had to bring a small box of sand indoors and let it dry thoroughly for some of the children to explore dry sand!
*********************************************************
Pamela noted: That was a radiator not magnet board. I'd be concerned about that, radiators can get quite hot.
A: Yes, radiators can get too hot to touch. This one has a cover over it that allows air to circulate and become heated but prevents burning by keeping body parts away from the hot fins inside.
*********************************************************
Q.13. Laura asked: Do you have a favorite go to book for,experiment ideas. I teach three year olds.
A.13. Yes, my favorite books for how to approach teaching science in early childhood are Worms, Shadows and Whirlpools by Karen Worth and Sharon Grollman, and the Young Scientists Series books by Karen Worth and Ingrid Chalufo
