8.3: Environmental Factors in Supporting Science
The indoor and outdoor environments provide the context for children’s physical and social explorations and the construction of scientific concepts. The following are strategies for helping teachers set up a physical environment that is rich, stimulating, and conducive to children’s construction of knowledge:
- Be thoughtful about what objects and materials to include in the environment
- Provide a variety of natural materials to observe and investigate
- Include objects and materials that allow for creativity and open-ended investigation
- Include living things in the preschool environment
- Include scientific tools for observation, measurement, and documentation
- Make scientific tools available throughout the preschool environment
- Consider adaptations in scientific tools and materials for children with special needs
- Use technology to support children’s scientific experiences
- Present documentation of science-related experiences in the preschool environment
- Include children’s books with science-related content
- Use the outdoors for natural explorations and investigations
- Organize the space in ways that promote children’s explorations
- Allow space for observations and objects, materials, tools, and resources related to science
- Allow for flexibility in the use of physical space and furniture to accommodate the changing needs of each activity
- To promote self-direction and free exploration, tools and materials need to be accessible and consistently available to children
- Social interactions are necessary for conceptual growth and the development of communication skills
- Always be aware of children’s safety
- Foster children’s curiosity and questioning
- Guide children in exploring their questions
- Be an active observer
- Talk with children and engage them in conversations during their investigations
- Provide children with time.
- Know when to intervene and when to stand back
- Model the use of scientific vocabulary:[1]
- Observe
- Observation
- Predict
- Prediction
- Test
- Similar
- Different
- Compare
- Contrast
- Count
- Measure
- Investigate
- Explore
- Experiment
- Discover
- Record
- Explain
- Hypothesize
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Types of Tools |
Names of Tools |
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Observation Tools Tools to extend close observations |
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Measurement Tools Tools for measuring length, height, weight, volume, and temperature |
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Recording Tools Tools for recording and documenting information |
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Types of Materials |
Names of Materials |
|---|---|
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Materials for Building and Construction Open-ended materials can be used in multiple ways and therefore allow for investigation, creativity, and problem solving |
Sample Materials:
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Collections of Objects and Reclaimed Materials For exploration of diverse materials and use in sorting, classifying, and ordering activities |
Sample Materials:
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A Variety of Substances/ Materials |
Sample Materials:
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Natural Materials: Earth Materials Natural materials found on Earth |
Sample Materials:
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Natural Materials: Plant Materials Materials derived from plants and animals |
Sample Materials:
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Research Highlight
Children bring to science many ideas about how things work. These intuitive understandings or naïve theories that children have constructed often conflict with what is known to be scientifically correct. Children hold preconceptions and misconceptions about different topics of science, including forces, changes of matter, light, sound, and earth phenomena. For example, children believe that water disappears when it evaporates or that rain occurs when clouds are shaken. It is important to know how these conceptions differ from the scientific explanation and why children construct these ideas. Children’s misconceptions are intuitively reasonable, from the child’s perspective, and are used by children to explain the “why” behind physical events. Some of the children’s ideas may be cultural beliefs that have been introduced at home. The teacher’s role is to guide children through numerous opportunities to discover and re-create concepts, without overtly correcting their misconceptions. Remember, science is about experimentation, and the goal is to support children’s scientific thinking, not to merely provide the correct answer.[5]
Sources:
C. E. Landry and G. E. Forman, “Research on Early Science Education, in The Early Childhood Curriculum: Current Findings in Theory and Practice, 3rd ed., ed. C. Seefeldt (New York: Teachers College Press, 1999).
N. L. Gallenstein, Creative Construction of Mathematics and Science Concepts in Early Childhood (Olney, MD: Association for Childhood Education International, 2003)
References
[1] The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3 by the California Department of Education is used with permission
[2] The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3 by the California Department of Education is used with permission
[3] The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3 by the California Department of Education is used with permission
[4] The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3 by the California Department of Education is used with permission
[5] The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3 by the California Department of Education is used with permission
This page titled 8.3: Environmental Factors in Supporting Science is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jennifer Paris, Kristin Beeve, & Clint Springer.
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