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Recent posts
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- The history of science—we’ve come a long way, baby!
- Exemplary science program monograph series
- Looking for a challenge
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- Seasonal scavenger hunt
- New blog on the block
- Science Education Leadership
- Peering into students’ “private universe”
- So close, yet so far
- It’s not Broadway—but NSTA will see its name in lights!
- Preschool STEM
- Science careers
- “Connecting Science Past with Science Future …”
- Outdoor Science
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- Never Be Within Doors… | Purple For Parenting on Are children getting enough direct experience with natural materials?
Author Archives: PeggyA
Preschool STEM
Science, technology, engineering and math are linked together in what is called “STEM” curriculum. If we break down this (possibly unfamiliar) term into it’s parts, we see that much of it is already happening in early childhood programs. Science can be planting seeds, mixing materials together to make a change, rolling objects down a ramp, sorting [...]
The Great Backyard Bird Count: Community science in your backyard or schoolyard
Bird counts involve children in citizen science projects where a greater community contributes to the data used by scientists to understand bird behavior and more. The Great Backyard Bird Count is happening now and counting can take place through Monday, February 15th, so there is still time for your students to participate.
Footprints in the snow—books to extend learning
With 18 inches on the ground, and another 2–4 inches of snow due Tuesday, is it any wonder I’m thinking of how to make the most of this unique material in school? When we get back to school we’ll look for signs of animal activity and read to learn how animals live in the snow.
Earlier in [...]
Exploring form and function with hats: books about firefighters
In the February 2010 Early Years column (Science and Children) I wrote about exploring form and function using hats, and testing them for how water flows off of them. Children might think, “Of course a firefighter’s hat works well to keep dripping water off their face and head! It’s made to do that!” And what [...]
Posted in Early Years Tagged activity ideas, books, early childhood, form and function Leave a comment
Two-year-olds explore transparent, translucent, and opaque materials
Science activities with two-year-olds may not last very long but sometimes the children surprise me. One group of four children spent about 15 minutes exploring a set of cardboard tubes with ends covered with either clear plastic wrap, wax paper, or a double layer of black plastic (black construction paper would also work). We looked [...]
Posted in Early Years Tagged activity ideas, early childhood, light and shadow, nature of materials 6 comments
More science in the early years—a reoccurring theme from high school teachers and researchers
So it’s not just me, or you…An elementary school science specialist wrote to National Science Teacher Association colleagues asking middle and high school teachers which science skills and knowledge are typically seen lacking in students as they transition from the elementary level to the middle school level and then to high school level classes. The [...]
Gardening catalogs arriving daily? Help is on the way!
Is the arrival of gardening catalogs inspiring you to dream about planting with your students, and plan a garden of any size? You know that people of all ages benefit from spending time outdoors and that your children were interested in seeds, perhaps in October if you carved a pumpkin, opened a milkweed pod, or [...]
Posted in Early Years Tagged activity ideas, early childhood teachers, gardening, plants, resources 3 comments
If you were a dinosaur …
Some children love pandas, some love dogs, but many more love dinosaurs. At times it seems young children feel dinosaurs are “more real”—more interesting, more important, more present in their minds—than modern animals. “More real” might be an exaggeration, but details about dinosaurs are verbalized more often than those about most modern animals. They can [...]
Posted in Early Years Tagged activity ideas, animals, dinosaurs, early childhood, insects, online resources 3 comments
Snow explorations
The snow was lovely for me, arriving on a Friday night after my children were home and enough neighbors were in town to make the shoveling more of a community gathering than a huge chore.
I did wish that school was in session so I could learn what my students would do with 20 inches of snow, [...]
Posted in Early Years Tagged activity ideas, early childhood, nature of materials, snow, weather 4 comments
Seasonal scavenger hunt