Please join in the 15th annual count!

What birds do your children notice as they arrive and leave your site? Taking a walking fieldtrip is another way to have a bird-viewing session with your students. Casual observations of birds can be the beginning of understanding that living things react to their environment. Do birds hang out in the playing field in the morning and fly away when the children come out? Are they sitting in trees on a sunny afternoon but nowhere to be seen on a rainy day? Scientists and beginning bird watchers count birds to understand where birds are.

Your students can take part in The Great Backyard Bird Count, an annual four-day event to count birds. But you don’t have to count on all four days to participate! By reporting on the website what you see in nature, you contribute to a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. The site offers regional checklists so you know what birds you are likely to see.

Read about participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count at Growing with Science, entomologist Roberta Gibson’s blog. Turns out she likes observing birds as well as insects!

Many children can recognize crows.

These days my students are observing a lot of crows and imitating their calls. If we had internet access I might show them some archived video of a crow on a nest (note that this video site has advertisements). Does anyone know of a currently active webcam on crows?

Peggy

An elementary school PTA veteran observed to me, “If you want families to come to school, serve food or have their child take part in a performance.” This advice goes for preschool too!  Serving food makes it easier for families to participate together and seeing their child in action gives families what might be a rare look at what happens at school. Some families can come in at lunchtime—ask them to spend another 15 minutes with their child in the classroom observing the class pet, reading a book aloud, or at a science station.

A “Science Night” or “Science Saturday” opens a different time slot for the same purpose—to connect families to their child’s education. These social gatherings can be relatively simple, with stations such as leaf rubbings, making a seed sprouting bag to take home, spinning and comparing tops, and building castles on a piece of cardboard that won’t fall over when the “ground” shakes. Follow up the action with a pizza and fruit dinner or just an ice cream social. The Foundation for Family Science and Engineering has two publications with very detailed lists of how to prepare for a more elaborate Family Science (and/or) Engineering Night, with instructions for activities to challenge older children too. Take a look at Family Science and Family Engineering: An Activity & Event Planning Guide.

Technology allows teachers to share science learning outside of school hours with any family with access to a computer. PreK teacher Gail Laubenthal built a wiki (a website database), titled  Using the Latest Technology to Support Young Children in Science and Math for teachers to share their’ work in using technology in the classroom and to connect to families. Explore the wiki, beginning with the “Agenda” on the right side, to learn about technologies that you can use. Other teachers use school websites or blogs to connect families to school learning, such as Deborah J. Stewart’s Teach Preschool blog. 

Are you a teacher who sends home a science activity for the student to do with family members? The data collected by each student can be put together back in the classroom to see if there are any patterns, such as, “How did family members describe the cornstarch and water mixture in the bag—as a liquid or solid?” or “What happens to light when it falls on a mirrored surface?” Read about an example activity in The Early Years column in the February 2012 Science and Children.

Or explore this list of other resources to find a take-home science activity for your class:

Exploratorium, museum of science, art and human perception, The Science Explorer excerpts

http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/secret_bells.html

National Science Teachers Association. April 2009. Parent Involvement in Science Learning.

http://www.familyscience.org/pdfs/PositionStatement_ParentInvolvement.pdf

Questacon. Science Play: Play-based science activities for early learners. Australian Government, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

http://scienceplay.questacon.edu.au/assets/scienceplay_booklet.pdf

Scientific American. Bring Science Home activities for families

http://www.scientificamerican.com/section.cfm?id=bring-science-home

WGBH Educational Foundation, Family Science and Math letters in English and Spanish

http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/guide/pdf/peep-family-letters.pdf

http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/guide/pdf/peep-family-letters_es.pdf

WGBH Educational Foundation, Neighborhood Safari

http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/printables/pdf/Peep_safari_parentsguide.pdf

WGBH Educational Foundation, Peep in the Big Wide World Explorer’s Guide

http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/guide/

Other articles in the February 2012 issue of Science and Children are great resources for developing a connection with families:

Science Sacks by Kimberlee Freudenberg and Lab With Dad by Brenda Havers and Karen Delmotte.

I send an email to the families of my students once a week to touch on the work their children did and invite their participation. Send a photograph or two, if you can, to entice the families to open up and read the email!

Peggy

I am so looking forward to the NSTA national conference in Indianapolis in March 2012! It’s not that I’m tired of my everyday life and teaching work—it’s that I’m eager to be back from the conference with fresh ideas and new connections to create in the curriculum. NSTA conferences are joyful events, populated with educators doing what they love best.

I want to:

• learn more about the Next Generation Science Standards and the Framework from which they are being written, (Friday March 30, 9:30-10:30 AM, Featured Panel: Next Generation Science Standards, Indiana Convention Center, Sagamore Ballroom and Saturday, March 31, 2:00–3:00 PM, Exploring the Science Framework, JW Marriott Indianapolis, JW Grand Ballroom 3),
• learn more about Developing Early Childhood Learners’ Inquiry Skills through Play-based Nature Study Activities (Thursday March 29, 9:30–10:30 AM, 235, Indiana Convention Center) and,
• share my ideas on making connections between indoor and outdoor activities to draw students and teachers outdoors (Friday March 30, 11:00 AM–12:00 PM, Outdoor–Indoor Connections to Beguile Your Students into a Love of Nature, Chamber, Westin Indianapolis).

All of us who count astronauts as role-models can look forward to hearing NASA’s Associate Administrator for Education, Leland Melvin, speak on “Inspiring the Next Generation of STEM Leaders” (Thursday March 29, 9-10am, Indiana Convention Center, Sagamore Ballroom).

The NSTA Learning Center has a Professional Development Community Forum discussion going on with tips for attending conferences. Here are some of the ideas contributed by veteran conference-goers:

Tina Harris: Take your own flat-rate postal boxes and tape with you so you can pack and ship as you accumulate give-aways and purchases. 3 flat rate boxes = $50 extra suitcase and you don’t have to lug it through an airport! We here in Indy are also offering some wonderful field trips (check the conference schedule).

Carolyn Mohr: The exhibitors’ hall is not ‘doable’ in one day. Some socials provide free treats and beverages and you get a chance to mingle with like-minded teachers.

Susanne Hokkanen: I recommend at least two workshops at each time slot, because sometimes workshops fill up fast, and your first choice may not be available or open or may be too far away to reach in time. And try to leave a time slot open just for “absorb it all” time.

Laura Jones: I also would recommend the most comfortable shoes you have.

Ms. Mentor suggests visiting the Conference Newcomers’ Page. She made some recommendations for the 2011 conference which apply to area and national conferences in any year, such as, Introduce yourself to teachers at the sessions or events. You’ll meet lots of interesting people and make many new personal connections.

I hope to meet some of you in Indianapolis or at another conference. You can register online now, and the early bird price is good through February 3. My wishful-thinking schedule has three (gulp!) sessions for each time slot—guess I’d better re-evaluate the list and look for a slot to “absorb it all”—wait, isn’t that what the plane trip home is for!?

Peggy

There is nothing like a family illness for making the point that it is important for the average person to have a basic understanding of science concepts. Several recent hospitalizations among family and friends have made me aware of how much there is for me to learn about medical science and engineering, even though I feel I have a good (but not advanced) understanding of physics, chemistry, biology and earth science, and some engineering. There are always choices for the patient and family to make, alternatives to weigh, and procedures to follow for better health. Some of those require us to understand what the blood tests are measuring, how blood pressure affects the body, which Continuous Positive Airway Pressure breathing mask to choose, and how medications work.

Like imaginative play about Space, children enjoy pretending to be medical personnel, taking temperatures, looking at or drawing x-rays, and applying band-aides. This imaginative play supports childrens’ developing science understanding and an interest in learning more. Children’s play allows them to make beginning theories about how the world works. Undirected play also allows teachers to assess academic and social skills to see what we need to focus on in coming weeks.

After observing the children’s undirected play I ask myself, What materials can I add to the room to spur the students to extend their play using practices which will support their later learning in science and engineering? What group discussions will support students in the science and engineering practices of asking questions and defining problems, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking, constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in unstructured and structured activities? What structured activities will focus on the concepts they appear to be exploring? And, how will all of this fit into the standards and curriculum of my program?

One example is the frequent math play I see the three and four-year-olds doing with manipulatives and their snack items. They are trying out, on their own, the concepts they’ve been working on with teachers and through their observations of the world. For the math-exploring young five, I might introduce the idea of using a Venn Diagram when grouping, by offering two hoops to define the groups. For the snack-sorter who is demonstrating a strong interest in one-to-one correspondence, I might ask “How are these objects the same and how are they different?” and “How many do you have all together?”

Another example of how science concepts can be explored during undirected play is learning about the friction (or lack of) between winter mittens and the playground sliding pole as compared to the friction between bare hands and the metal of the pole. When a child went down too fast for his comfort, I was able to have him compare a bare hand to a mitten-covered hand on the pole—a short experience and discussion about the nature of materials.

These small moments are positive steps towards building scientific literacy.

Peggy

Happy New Year! This year I look forward to more conversation in the early childhood community about science education.

The January 2012 Early Years column adapts an activity about making craters from Marie Faust Evitt’s book, Thinking BIG, Learning BIG. Craters on the Moon are visible without a telescope, even in daytime, a time when teachers can point out the Moon to their students. Children enjoy making craters in snow, damp sand, or other fine material, by dropping balls of varying sizes and weights into the material. There are many ways to use imaginative play to allow children to explore the topic of Space, and the ideas they have already learned through media and at home. Some of what we learn as children (Think of “The cow jumped over the Moon”) may lead to misconceptions that, if teachers learn of them through conversation, we can help students replace with accurate information. Simply talking about the accurate information will not correct misconceptions, but through activities and discussion students can discard them.

Learn more about the Moon and its relationship to the Earth and Sun by using some of the resources in the National Science Teachers Association’s Learning Center such as the a collection of resources I created titled “Moon and sky—observations.” Register at no cost, go to Advanced Search and enter Keyword: Moon, Author: Ashbrook, and Type of Learning Resource: User created collections (select in both menus) to see resources in the “Moon and sky—observations” collection. Photos of features of the Moon can be viewed on GeologyRocks site by Dr. Katie Davis and Dr. Jon Hill.

Young children may know the word “gravity” but we don’t expect them to understand yet that it is a force between any two objects and that it pulls the objects together. In the case of the Earth and the objects on it, the gravitational pull of the Earth on the objects is greatest, so objects are pulled down to the Earth (ground). The January 2012 Teaching Through Tradebooks column, “Gravity and Weight”, by Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry uses the 5E Learning Cycle in activities for grades K-2 and 3-5. These authors are sometimes referred to affectionately as “The Picture-Perfect ladies” because their “Picture-Perfect Science” books are very helpful to elementary teachers (note that the picture trade books they suggest are available through NSTA).

The article “Shadow Play” by Kathy Cabe-Trundle and Margilee P. Hilson is free to all—read about how students can observe shadows to learn about seasonal change. I recommend reading it (even if some of the activities are too advanced for your class) to see the authors’ approach to teaching concepts about which students commonly have misconceptions. I find the articles for older students a useful review of concepts at an elementary level, for myself.

Let me know what your plans are for the New Year, and what you’d like to see discussed on this Early Years blog by commenting below. Best wishes for the new year,

Peggy

What science and engineering practices will he use to solve this problem?

With any profession, including teaching, experience helps the practitioner be better at the job. Not every part of teaching gets easier with years of experience (unbending my knees) but I no longer have to remind myself to use clear phrases to set limits or further children’s thinking, to plan some next steps in the science inquiry, and to make statements about the practice of science. Learning from research as well as our own practice improves our teaching effectiveness. Researchers are finding better ways to describe the process of learning both the concepts and practice of science and they are calling it “practices of science.” This term does not describe a new whole new way of teaching but a new way of describing this complex process. The new work from the National Academies Press,  A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, uses the word “practices” to “stress that engaging in scientific inquiry requires coordination both of knowledge and skill simultaneously.” Even young children can learn science content knowledge, such as “water can exist as a gas, a liquid and a solid”, and science skills, such as making observations to find out.

When reading the Framework, it is interesting to reflect on the science activities that the children are currently engaged in. Yes, they are learning about the needs of living organisms by caring for and observing roly-polies, but  are they also learning that scientists make observations and record this data to gain understanding of biological systems, and that engineers make observations to be able to design environments (terrariums) to meet the needs of living organisms? To apply this new Framework to my work in the classroom I found guidance in Robert Bybee’s article, Scientific and Engineering Practices in K-12 Classrooms, in the December 2011 Science  & Children. He describes the relationship between science and engineering as written in the Framework and his explanations helped me understand, and hopefully apply, the science and engineering practices he restates from the Framework.

To help bring understanding of engineering practices into your classroom, consider using these resources, and add your own suggestions to this list by commenting below:

• I love to visit other classrooms to see what is working well and think about how to do the same in my  work. Join Margaret Berry Wilson, author of What Every Kindergarten Teacher Needs To Know and the Responsive Classroom approach blog, and take a peek into a classroom where the teacher’s “careful selection of age-appropriate tasks…, along with her careful set-up, cheerful reinforcement, and  appropriate challenges, made all students feel safe and significant.”
• Engineering Is Elementary (EiE) has several videos of children in grades 2 and up learning about engineering through the EiE storybooks and hands-on explorations. At the end of the videos, the teachers offer tips to implement the lessons.
• Engineering for All: Strategies for helping all students succeed in the design process by Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue, Sarah Lovelidge, and Erin Bowling, describes how “the core practice of engineering, the engineering design process, was taught in a third-grade inclusive classroom in which students used this process to design windmill blades” using the EiE unit, Catching the Wind: Designing Windmills (Science and Children March 2010).
• Family Engineering, developed by the Foundation for Family Science and Engineering, with Michigan Tech and the American Society for Engineering Education, is a program for providing informal engineering learning experiences to elementary age children and their families.
•  Engineering, Go For It! (eGFI) sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Education.

What engineering practices do you do in your classroom?

Peggy

Gentle readers, here are two opportunities for us to be part of a larger professional community.

For just 24 hours, beginning 9:00 a.m. on Monday, NSTA membership for $50

The National Science Teachers Association publishes four journal, including Science and Children, the journal for early childhood through grade 6. The December issue has 5 articles written with the early childhood educator in mind (plus the Early Years column). By joining NSTA you get a journal in the mail and access to many archived and additional resources online as well as discounts on books and conferences.

Beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET on Monday, November 28, for one day only, a regular individual NSTA membership (normally $75) will be offered online for 33% off, or just $50! Whether you’re renewing your membership, re-joining some time after an earlier membership lapsed, or starting out with a brand-new membership, click here for your Cyber Monday countdown clock and then, starting at 9:00 a.m. ET on Monday, 11/28/2011, a link will appear that will take you to your savings page. This offer is valid only online and will expire in just 24 hours, at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, so remind yourself on Cyber Monday to join/renew and save!

The NSTA membership broadened my professional development choices and gives me a community to go to with questions about teaching science. Be part of this community by joining NSTA.

Online Professional Development from NCQTL

“Why and How Can We Promote Science in Early Childhood” is the title of the National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning’s Front Porch Series Broadcast Call of Monday, November 28^th, 2011 (10:00AM – 10:45AM PST). Topics include:

• Children’s ability to engage in inquiry
• Fostering children’s engagement in science
• Benefits of early science teaching and learning

A brief presentation by Dr. Andrew Shouse and Dr. Ximena Dominguez will be followed by time for questions and answers. Dr. Shouse authored (with Sarah Michaels and Schweingruber) Ready, Set, Science! Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms, a 2008 Association of Educational Publishers Distinguished Book Award winner. Dr. Dominguez, an Early Childhood Researcher at SRI International, is currently    co-leading the early science NCQTL task force, identifying evidence-based practices that support early science learning.

Space is limited to 500—go to https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/242569846 to reserve a spot. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Broadcast Call. Contact for more information: ncqtl@uw.edu or 877-731-0764

Readers, you can post information about upcoming events on the forums you participate in. Maybe they include the NSTA Learning Center, NAEYC Interest Forums, or the Early Childhood Science Interest Forum (naeyc) on Facebook.

Peggy

It is always nice to hear from the parents of my students:

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Wanted to share with you Sasha’s painting. She did it yesterday while I was cooking.
That is what she wanted to paint and she said that this is a caterpillar. I remembered that you did this project with our kids, and look how it went! I was amazed. I see the container, the caterpillar and a leaf, do you?

I do see them and see that what I do in the classroom has introduced this three-year-old to the concept of lifecycles and the needs of living things.

Thank you Sasha and mother,

Peggy

Being away from my daily routine is both exciting and a little anxiety-producing, as in Look at all the other early childhood educators who are attending a session on science! and Did I remember to ask someone to feed the fish? Here are descriptions of a few of the sessions I attended at the 2011 NAEYC national conference.

The first session (8am!) got me in the swing of early childhood learning. Jill and Adam Bienenstock made a roomful of people feel as though we were outside as we photo-toured many playgrounds and play areas, and were introduced to features such as Wacky Posts, and ideas, such as, shrubs can be better than trees in maintaining close to the goal of 50% shade coverage because their shadows stay on the play area. Then each table got to find out how difficult it is to design a playground that meets most of children’s needs (and the designers’ requirements)—and how satisfying! We imagined ourselves working hard to climb a boulder, feeling the wind in our face as we went down the slide, and as teachers, being able to see and count all the children, even those behind a shrub (because the lower trunks are bare, we can see their legs). I will never look at playgrounds in the same way!

Jill and Adam know how to be playful while learning about the natural world through direct contact with it.

I especially looked forward to the conference because this was the first time  the NAEYC Early Childhood Science Interest Forum (ECSIF) would  hold an official meeting! (I sometimes think of my work as being in two worlds, the world of early childhood education and the science-teaching world, and it is so satisfying when they overlap.) The Early Childhood Science Interest Forum provides an opportunity  for early childhood educators, both experienced teachers and those new to the field, to network with others about teaching science, explore what is appropriate  content, discuss what young children are capable of doing and learning, exchange effective strategies and materials, and learn about resources for boosting  inquiry-based science in early childhood. Join the ECSIF, and help fuel a national dialogue around early childhood science  teaching and learning! Find the ECSIF on the NAEYC Interest Forum page, Facebook or email the facilitators at naeyc.ecsif@gmail.com

Presenting a workshop session with Science & Children editor Linda Froschauer to a  roomful of early childhood educators was delightful! My Early Years columns benefit from her expertise (in addition to the work of editors Valynda Mayes and Stephanie Anderson) and her knowledgeable instruction anchored our workshop. And the participants worked  so hard! When teachers participate in science inquiry we understand more fully how  to engage young children. (Read Debra Shapiro’s account of a workshop at a National Science Teachers Association conference where participants explored a motion-and-force activity.) Thank you for doing science with me.

Something about hearing a speaker in person makes their words connect more immediately  with my own experiences. Vivian Gussin Paley invited NAEYC participants to tell stories with her, and we did, even in a huge hall. You can learn more about this honored educator’s work by reading interviews with her at http://www.naeyc.org/content/conversation-vivian-gussin-paley and http://illinoisearlylearning.org/interviews/paley.htm

Oh why didn’t I take notes at Sylvia Chard and Yvonne Kogan’s presentation “Implementing the project approach: Changes in teaching, children’s work, and classroom displays”? They narrated a slide show of teachers’ and children’s work before and after implementing the Project Approach which revealed the ways classes can use a variety of media to investigate the  world and develop understanding through in-depth project work. And now I wish I had written down those inspirational words! You can read some of Chard’s and Kogan’s work in an introduction to their book of photography, From my side: Being a child.

At lunchtime I met with people at the Early Childhood Science Interest Forum table in the Interest Forum Café. The conversations I shared with educators from Florida, Turkey and China were about how science inquiry supports other curriculum areas and develops children’s problem-solving skills. How far did you have to travel to participate in this enriching conference?

The American Museum of Natural History presentation brought educators together with invertebrates—small animals such as caterpillars,  pillbugs, and Bess beetles. Again, our experience will help us guide our students. Look online for their resource, Life in the Leaf Litter by E.A. Johnson and K.M. Catley.

Early childhood teachers make the best astronauts! “Teacher Marie” (Faust Evitt) spoke on how interesting investigations meet teachers’ urgent need to move children from unproductive behavior to involved learning. Take a look at the work of her students and try these activities in your program.

Kindergarten teacher and author of Math Exchanges Kassia Wedekind shared math activities that are contextually meaningful and mathematically significant. She said the key characteristics of these mathematical conversations are that they are: 1) short, focused sessions that bring all mathematical minds together, 2) responsive to the needs of the specific group of mathematicians, and 3) designed for meaningful, guided reflection.

Even if you did not attend the conference, for a little longer you can download the handouts that presenters posted by going to the NAEYC website at www.naeyc.org, go to “Conferences” and select “Annual conference and Expo”, and then click on the “Session Handouts” button on the top menu bar to go to http://precis.preciscentral.com/utils/ip/FindPresentation.asp?EventID=9431c87f&Presenter=True&bhcp=1

Search the sessions for whatever interests you, click on the presentation title to make another small screen pop up, and scroll down on that screen to see any handouts that were uploaded by the presenters. Test it out by searching for “ashbrook,” or “evitt,” for example, and download my lesson plan for using our sense of smell, and Marie Faust Evitt’s resources.

One must eat and luckily the first restaurant I went to had many appealing dishes that proved delicious. I passed up the Ice Bar, the WonderWorks science-themed indoor amusement park, and Disney, but had great fun talking with teachers and others. Have you been to a conference? Check the NAEYC conference page to see where the next one will be and make a plan of how you can attend next time.

Let me know what the conference did for you,

Peggy

Children observe and document seasonal changes as they begin to learn how living organisms respond to their environment.

Do you have resources for early childhood teachers who are struggling to teach earth science or life science concepts? Especially for teachers who understand that young children need to be physically involved with their learning but not simply making a craft project to take home? Teachers who responded to this NSTA members’ email list request suggested:

•Young children really do well with observation techniques. Get them talking and discussing what they see using their senses. Make a chart with the senses and document verbiage they use in short words/phrases about an object/topic. Go outside and explore their environment with hand-lens, let them get their hands dirty. Let them bring items from home that would add to the discussion. Let them draw what they observe (this helps with fine motor coordination). Let them use a BROCK microscope, my first graders loved to take them out to recess. They are VERY durable. Make screens with varying grids to shake [sort] out dirt. ASK them what THEY want to learn about. Open the world of science for them and you’ll have life-long learners in no time! Graph [the number of] objects they bring in or find outside. Get them thinking what else could they use the object for. Have them draw/trace an object say, scissors, then have them draw them as something else. Deb Wilson, Retired Primary Teacher, Executive Director for STOM (Science Teachers of Missouri).

• Being able to use the outdoors as your classroom is a real plus. Humans begin to make sense of their world by using their 5 senses, so take advantage of investigating it, especially the tiny minute organisms. Most children are so ready to go outside…running, playing, etc., but how many children go outside to observe and investigate? I take a bag of science tools outside with me: hand lenses, binoculars, small “collection” jars, rulers, identification books, nature journals, pencils, and my camera. Encourage the children to “take in” the textures – tree bark, leaves, rocks, soil; the sights: get on their knees and look for tiny insects and bits of nature that have interesting color, shapes, texture, smells; look up in the trees and the sky; go on a listening walk and identify natural and man-made sounds; plant a small garden so the children can experience plant life cycles and the interdependence of plants and animals. If you have access to a digital microscope, bring some of the nature inside so your children can look even closer (see attachment). Hope this gives you some more ideas. The experiences that I am talking about can be enjoyed by all children. Asking leading inquiry based questions might result in projects. Gail Laubenthal, Pre-K teacher, Austin, Texas

• Here are some life science learning activities. Some may be considered “arts and crafts” because they are required to draw or assemble, but these are legitimate science (and motor) skills that young students need to learn. Describing and depicting what they observe is an early building block to later inquiry. Specific to elementary life science: camouflage as a selective advantage,  animal behavior and observation and recording skills,  studying pollination and seed dispersal adaptations, parts of the plant with a Plant Party and using Hidden Pictures to search for and name animals and plants that live in various habitats around the world. Sheri Amsel Science Coordinator, Exploring Nature Educational Resource, Wild Science Professional Development, www.exploringnature.org

Children plant seeds to begin learning about life cycles.

Here are my two cents about these resources–a few books that I found especially helpful in teaching about life cycles and flower-fruit-seed formation in plants, and a rich discussion and listing of resources on an NSTA Learning Communities forum.

From Seed to Plant (Rookie Read About Science Series) by Alan Fowler. 2001. Childrens Press.

Nature Close-Ups: Seeds and Seedlings by Elaine Pascoe. 1999. Blackbirch Press.

Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman, illustrated by Phyllis L. Tildes. 2009. Charlesbridge.

Seeds by Ken Robbins. 2005. Atheneum Books.

Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown. 2001. Knopf Books.

Examining rocks up close to see small textural features.

And a couple about earth science concept of rock formation:

Materials, Materials, Materials: Rock by Chris Oxlade. 2002. Heinemann.

Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smooth, and Rough by Natalie M. Rosinsky. 2003. Picture Window Books.

See more resources on teaching earth science to young children, at the NSTA Learning Center Elementary Science forum, Earth Science Ideas for Kindergarten 

Rock on! (groan) Peggy