Science learning can occur whenever children have the opportunity to pursue an answer to a question. If you wait until it’s your turn in the science lab, the questions that can be asked may be limited to the materials available there and the length of the 30-50 minute session. Add science and engineering learning to [...]
Sometimes activities engage children in overlappings mathematics, science, and engineering learning. Check out Kassia Wedekind’s discussion of how she uses math centers in her kindergarten classroom. The discussions she holds with students are central to her planning. I had some questions and maybe you will too. Peggy
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
