{"id":689,"date":"2025-05-02T20:54:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T20:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintroductiontoece\/?post_type=chapter&p=689"},"modified":"2025-06-22T19:34:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T19:34:54","slug":"8-6-conclusion","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/accintroductiontoece\/chapter\/8-6-conclusion\/","title":{"raw":"8.6: Conclusion","rendered":"8.6: Conclusion"},"content":{"raw":"

Young children have a sense of wonder and a natural curiosity about objects and events in their world. Through exploratory play and experimentation with objects and materials, they discover how to make their car go downhill faster or how to control the movement and flow of water. They are excited to find out what\u2019s inside a pumpkin, how trees change over the year, how the rain feels and smells, and why pill bugs curl into a ball. The preschool environment nurtures children\u2019s innate or natural dispositions to observe and seek information and guides their curiosity into opportunities to observe, explore, and inquire about objects and phenomena in their environment. Teachers provide children with a purposefully planned, play-based, supportive environment that expands their explorations. Children\u2019s explorations and guided investigations deepen children\u2019s understanding of concepts in science and develop their attitudes, skills, and language of scientific inquiry.<\/p>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"423\"]\"clipboard_e26e95999b0e022349f37a7a983814276.png\" Figure 8.9: Capturing documentation of the worm this child found while exploring outside.[1][\/caption]\r\n

While investigating concepts from physical, life, and earth sciences, teachers encourage children to ask questions, to observe and investigate, to predict and experiment with objects and materials, to draw conclusions, to document their work, and to share their observations and ideas with others. Such experiences not only develop children\u2019s scientific inquiry skills but also provide the context for learning and developing their language (building vocabulary in English and their home language), literacy, mathematics, and social skills. Science also offers a special avenue to include caregivers in the curriculum and bridge the home and preschool cultures. Preschool science is inclusive and prepares children for the scientific skills and knowledge they encounter later in school. It fosters a joy of discovery, a positive approach to learning, and the development of skills and attitudes necessary for many areas of learning throughout life.[2]<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Pause to Reflect<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

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What aspects of the natural world are you curious about? How might that affect how you plan curriculum for science?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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References<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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[1]\u00a0Image\u00a0by\u00a0Seattle Parks\u00a0is licensed by\u00a0CC-BY-2.0<\/p>\r\n

[2]\u00a0The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3\u00a0by the California Department of Education is used with permission<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n