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http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=431
EarlychildhoodNEWSArticleReadingCenter
HandsOnScienceforYoungChildren
ByTanyaEggers
Doyouknowachildwhoisnotcompletelyfullofquestions?As
educatorsandparents,itseasytotuneoutthebarrageofinquiries
butwaitcouldwebemissingvaluableteachingmomentsfullof
motivatedlearners?Theresoundingansweris,YES!Whatmaybea
neverendingsupplyoftrivialquestionsmay,infact,beacomplex
scienceinvestigation.Teacherscanstimulatecuriositybyasking
questionsthemselves,andbyrespondingwithwarmthand
enthusiasmtochildrensinquiries(TrawickSmith,p.205).Those
whoworkwithyoungchildrenhavetheuniqueopportunitytofacilitate
powerfullearningexperiencesandinspiredeeperinvestigationsthat
willvalidateandempowerchildrentolearn.Handsonscience
activitiesandinvestigationsareessentialcomponentsofanyearly
childhoodsetting,andtheyhelplaythefoundationforlifelong
learningandhealthydevelopment.
Research
Beforeeducatorscanembarkondesigninganeffectivehandson
scienceprogramforyoungchildren,itsimportanttoknowabitabout
howachildsbrainworks.Thebrainisapatternseekingmachine,
andscienceisthequesttorecognizeandclassifynaturallyoccurring
patterns.Jensen,authorofTeachingwiththeBraininMind,says,
Usingthepatterndetectingandpatternmakingareasofthebrainis
criticaltoproperdevelopment(p.96).
Childrenarenaturallyequippedtolearnthroughobservationand
investigations.Everyexperience,everyword,everytoydeeply
impactsherunderstandingofherworldandtheconnectionsshe
makes.Everytimeachildlearnssomethingnew,thebrainrewires
itselfbasedonthechildsunderstanding.Everytimethechildrepeats
ataskoraskillthatparticularneuralpathwayisreinforcedand
strengthened.Learningchangesthebrainbecauseitcanrewireitself
witheachnewstimulation,experience,andbehavior(Jensen,p.13).
Providingvariedandmultipleopportunitiesforachildtousewhatshe
hasjustlearnedareimportantwaystohelpbuildefficientconnections
inthebrain.Itmaybeassimpleasprovidingblockstodropand
knockoveronceyouvenoticedthatthechildisdroppingacupfrom
thehighchair.Themoreaneuralpathwayinachildsbrainisused,
thestrongeritbecomesconversely,ifitisnotused,thepathwaycan
belost.
Inearlychildhooditisequallyimportantthatscienceactivitiesbe
handson,childdriven,authentic,andactive.Developmentally,young
childrenlearnandunderstandbestfromwhattheycansee,touch,
feel,andmanipulate.Providingsafe,readilyavailablematerialsthat
childrencanexperimentwithisoneofthemostimportantsteps
towardseffectivehandsonscienceinvestigations.
Effectiveeducatorsuseachildsownnaturalcuriosityandquestions
tofuelscienceinvestigations.Anotherwaytoexplorescience
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2/4/2017 EarlychildhoodNEWSArticleReadingCenter

conceptsiswithinformationalbooksandstoriesinfusedwithscience
conceptslikeweather,water,animals,etc.Scienceactivitiesand
investigationsarealsoagreatwaytobuildoralvocabulary,develop
readingreadiness,andfuelliteracydevelopment.

BasicScienceConceptsandApplication

Scienceisnotjustasetoffactsthathavealreadybeendiscovered
byothersitisaprocessawayofthinkingandunderstandingthe
world.Itisobserving,predictingwhatmighthappen,testingthose
predictions,andmakingsenseofobservations.Childrenacquire
scientificknowledgebyconstructionnotbyinstruction(Kamii&Lee
Katz,1983).Theymustcreateanexplanationofobserved
phenomenaortheoutcomesoftheexperimentsinternallyan
explanationthatholdspersonalmeaning(TrawickSmith,p.203).As
childrenareexploringthescientificprocess,teacherscanposeopen
endedquestionsthatmaysparkmorequestionsoranewdirectionto
explore.Goodqualityeducationencouragestheexplorationof
alternativethinking,multipleanswers,andcreativeinsights(Jensen,
p.16).Allowingandencouragingyoungchildrentoexplorethe
scientificprocessratherthanonlyusingdirectinstructionthat
emphasizessciencefactsandprescriptiveexperimentswillpromote
thedevelopmentofthinkingskillssuchasorganizingandclassifying,
problemsolving,reasoning,andlogic.Hereisonewaytoexplorethe
scientificmethodwithyoungchildreninafunandeffectiveway.
GrowaGarden
Therearemanydifferentwaystogrowagardennomatterwhereyou
arelocated.Hereareafewideastogivechildrenhandson
experiencesandopportunitiestousethescientificmethod.Tobegin,
findeitheragardenplotorprovidecontainerssuchas:
Woodenbox
Halfawoodbarrel
Plastictub
Singlepots,terracottaorplastic
ScientificProcess
Observing
Childrencanobservethegrowingcyclefromseeds,toplant,to
flower,andtoseedsagain.Theycanalsoobserveplantparts
andexplorethesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenplantssuch
ascolors,shapes,relativesize,andtextures.Childrencanalso
observetheeffectsofenvironmentalelementssuchwater,light,
temperature,andmuchmore.
Predicting
Teachersshouldaskchildrenopenendedquestionsthatdonot
requireasinglerightanswertopromoteguessingandprediction.
Encouragechildrentoguesswhichplantswillcomeupfirstand
whichwillgrowtobethetallest.
Experimenting
Promotechilddriveninvestigationsbasedonthechildrensown
questionsbyprovidingvariousmaterialsseeds,soils,pots,
lighting,andwatersituations,etc.tobeusedintheirown
experiments.Teacherscanrecordchildrensobservationsand
questionsgeneratedbytheirexperiments.Theycanalsoprovide
paper,journals,pencils,andcrayonsforthechildrentorecord
theirownobservationsastheirexperimentsprogress.Encourage
childrentousedrawingsandinventivespelling.
Interpreting
Childrenlearnbestfromtheirowninterpretationsratherthanfrom
theirteacherstellingthemwhatthefactsare.Therefore,teachers
shouldcontinuetopromoteopenendedquestionsencouraging
childrentoprocessanddrawconclusionsaboutwhattheyhave
seenintheirexperiments.Thisprocesswillleadtomore
questionsandtofurtherexperiments.
Therearemanyotherscienceactivitiesthatfosterthedevelopment
ofthebasicunderstandingofscienceconcepts.Hereareafewtoget
youstarted:
http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=431 2/3
2/4/2017 EarlychildhoodNEWSArticleReadingCenter

Adoptanearbypond
Putupabirdfeeder.
Makeaclassroomaquariumorterrarium,orhaveaclass
animal,reptile,orbird.
Studyants,tadpoles,orbutterflies
Cooktogethertoexploremeasurementandcauseandeffect.
Explorewaterplay:whatfloats,whatdoesnt.
Explorethefivesenses(touchtexture,tastessweet/sour,
soundshigh/lowtones,volume,etc.,smellsidentifyonion,
orange,banana,etc.,andsightnoticevisualdifferences)
Conclusion
Whenchildrenlearnbydoingandexperimentingtheyretainwhatthey
learninauniquelyaccessibleway.Scientificexplorationpromotes
thedevelopmentofproblemsolvingskills,recognitionofcauseand
effect,andorganizingandclassifying.Theseexplorationslaythe
foundationforfutureunderstandingofmorecomplexscience
conceptslater.Theabilitytosolveeverydayproblemsthroughtrial
anderrorisessentialforscienceandselfconfidence.Sogoahead,
havefun,getyourhandsdirty,andinspireayoungchildtoexplore,
question,andinvestigate.Empoweringayoungchildtobea
generatorofknowledgeisaspecialgiftthatwillhelplaythe
foundationforalifelongloveoflearning.
ReferencesandResources
Bowden,M.(1989).Naturefortheveryyoung:Ahandbookofindoor
&outdooractivities.NewYork,NY:JohnWiley&Sons.
DepartmentofEducationbrochureforparents:
http://www.ed.go/pub/parents/Science.
Jensen,E.(1998).Teachingwiththebraininmind.Alexandria,VA:
ASCD.
Ross,M.(1995).Sandboxscientist:Realscienceforlittlekids.
ChicagoReviewPress.
TrawickSmith,J.(1994).Interactionsintheclassroom:Facilitating
playintheearlyyears.MacMillanPublishingCo.

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