Promoting and Teaching Science in the Early Care Environment

Web links and other resources can be found at this address

• http://new.schoolnotes.com/jwpayne/

Find the seeds : Part One

Overview of Research

Intentional Science Teaching

• Standards Domains

• Performance Indicators

• Activities Assessments

Intentional Science Teaching

Standard : Children will use processes of science to actively explore and increase understanding of the environment.

Performance Indicators: Uses senses to OBSERVE , classify , and learn

about objects. Records observations through dictating to an

adult, drawing pictures, or using other forms of writing. (There are other alternatives here)

How much intentional science teaching goes on in your classroom?

• What science lessons did you teach • yesterday?• Last week?• This month?

Do you ever put science concepts at the center of your weekly lesson plans?

Find the Seeds : Part 2

Where are the seeds?

• Carrots, potatoes, celery, onions, lettuce , broccoli don’t seem to have seeds.

• How do they reproduce?• What parts of a plant do they represent?• Leaves, stem, roots?

The Nature of Science

• Students will use processes of science to actively explore and increase understanding of the environment

• Children will acquire scientific knowledge related to life science

• Children will acquire scientific knowledge related to physical science

• Children will acquire scientific knowledge related to earth science

Science performance indicators

Asks questions about objects, organisms or events in the environment

Uses senses to observe, classify, and learn about objects

Uses language to describe observations Uses simple equipment to experiment Predicts what will happen Observes and explores a variety of living things

Really what are we looking for to indicate the child is growing in the cognitive areas of math and science ?

• The child is alert to changes in his/her environment, cares about how things work, wants to know why things change and is willing to think about and work toward an answer.

• Observes Wonders Thinks • Predicts Tries Records Reports

Make Science Pervasive

Use the “Science /Scientist” word What does a scientist look like, what do they

do? Lab coats, aprons, goggles, safety glasses Science puzzles, Science books, Science at

lunch Have a science visitor

Pervasive Science Environments

• Teachers set the tone• Students can read science related books• Meals can be planned to enhance and support

the science themes• Toys and puzzles can be science related• Science ideas can link home and school

Do science outside

Integrating science concepts into other curriculum areas

• Webing

Make science interesting and exciting

Rotate your science inventory to fit the theme Have a good question or instruction for every

science toy. Relate your group reading time to your

science center themes and activities Design games around science themes and

standards.

Take a new look at your science/math areas

Find science and math connections Develops increasing ability to count in sequence to 10 and beyond Begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups

of objects. Begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less,

greater than, fewer, equal to. Shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in a series and regrouping objects according to

one or two attributes such as color, shape or size. Builds an increasing understanding of directionality, order and positions of objects, and

words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front and behind. Shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to

one or two attributes such as shape or size. Begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute. Shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures for length and area of objects Begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather

information, investigate materials and observe processes and relationships. Develops increased ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences and

comparisons among objects and materials.

Developmental Continuum

• Simple to complex• For example sorting into 2 groups, 4 groups, 6

groups• Teacher driven to student driven• For Example teacher chooses materials to

student asks for materials• Knowing, understanding, applying

Learning CycleExplore

Class Response/Concept Invention

Concept Extension

The 5 E Model

Engage

Explore

ExplainElaborate

Evaluate

Elaborate

Engage

Evaluate Explore

Explain

Carrot flowers

• Carrots are biennial, flowering in their second year of growth. In areas with mild winters, leave your carrots in the ground, mulching them heavily. The foliage will die back in autumn, but will then re-sprout and start forming flowers in the spring.

Carrot seeds under microscope

Potato seeds

• TPS—true potato seed—is harvested from the berries that grow among the foliage of potato plants. An average plant produces dozens of berries, each of which contains hundreds of tiny seeds.

• Similar in appearance to tomato seed, TPS is usually sown in seedbeds three or four weeks prior to the potato planting season. The plants in the beds produce small tubers, sometimes called tuberlets, which farmers plant in the field much as they would conventional seed tubers.

Potato plant, flower and berry

• Lettuce, cabbage, onions, broccoli, celery, etc all have flowers and seeds.

Inquiry

Observing(s)Wondering(s)I think(s)Let try(s)DiscoveriesExcitement

Planning

Standards http://www.hsnrc.org/CDI/pdfs/UGCOF.pdf ObjectivesLink to prior learningMaterialsTeacher ActionsStudent ActionsSafety

Student Work

Teaching and Learning

Standards

CURRICULUM

Performance Task and Assessment

Tool

Model of Excellence

FEEDBACK

Backwards Design

• Decide how and what you are going to assess before you design the performance task.

• Model of Excellence is an example of the work you expect as an example of proficiency in the standard appropriate for the age of the student

Unpacking the standard

• Pulling out the main words in the standard or indicator and/ or rephrasing . Then using the unpacked standard to decide on the activity that would best address the standard.

• Then visualizing the model of excellence based on your knowledge of the students.

• Accommodations• Differentiation• Links to other curriculum areas• Assessment

Series of lessons to promote observation and classification

Lesson 1 : Living or non-living or I don’t know

Lesson 2: Plants or Animals / What’s the difference?

Lesson 3: Fruits or Vegetables:Find the seeds- Part 3

Activity

• Living and non-living

• Make a list of items that would be available and interesting for students to classify as living or non-living.

• Are there items that you would have a difficult time classifying or that the students would have a hard time classifying?

• These “I don’t know” moments are when students “learn science. “

Living and non-living

• You might have your students divide objects into two groups, living and non-living.

• It might be wise to add a third group:• Don’t know, not sure, once living• Sticks, pine-cones, fingernails, hair, shells,

bone, seeds, brown leaves or grass , bark, etc ,might go in this group.

Activity

• Plants and Animals

• Write down in your journal some properties that determine if an organism is a plant or an animal.

• Share and discuss in your group• Decide on at least 3 characteristics to share with

the class.• Give some examples of “I don’t know” organisms.

Plant or Animal

• After we sort out the living and non-living , the next question might be Plant or animal.

• Here again we should add a third group ( not sure)

• What makes the difference between a plant and an animal?

• The answer would probably be a little different for a 3 year old or a 6 year old, or you.

Taxonomic Kingdoms and Their Traits

• MONERA-bacteria • Single celled with no defined nucleus; split into two• Kingdoms due to different tropic (eating) strategies.• PROTISTA - microorganisms, seaweeds• Single celled or multi-celled with a membrane bound nucleus• includes most seaweeds and microbes.• FUNGI-mushrooms , yeast, mold and rust• Mushrooms are the fruiting body of some of the more• common Fungi • PLANTAE-plants :• Trees and flowering plants, mosses, ferns..ect. cell walls are cellulose and cells are

organized into distinct tissue.• ANIMALIA-animals :• Animals with distinct tissue and digestive nutrition ,locomotion, and did I mention

we eat a lot.

• Generally, plants make their own food , usually from light energy through photosynthesis.

• Animals eat plants or other animals and digest that food and turn it into energy.

• It should also be noted that plants use the food they create from light also. They actually make the food for themselves .

Find the seeds: Part III

• Look at the plant parts on your table. Discuss with your group and place the objects into two groups. Those you think have seeds inside and those you don’t.

• Now look for the seeds in both groups of objects.

• Make careful observations and write or draw what you see, feel, hear, smell, or taste.

• Discuss with your group what you wonder about seeds and plants.

• Discuss with your group about what you think about seeds and plants.

• Are there some foods that you would like to explore later to see if they have seeds?

Fruits and vegetables

• Humans eat parts of plants. We commonly call these plant parts , fruits and vegetables.

• Start out with this simple definition:• Fruits are the parts of plants that have the

seeds inside.• Vegetables are the other parts of the

plant:Roots, stems, leaves, flowers , etc.

No really , where are the seeds?

• Onions, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, celery are vegetable which are stems, roots, leaves,etc. The plants they come from do have flowers and seeds , we just don’t eat them or see them.

• What about seedless grapes or watermelons?• What about• Pineapples and bananas

Where are the seeds?

• Apples, peaches, pears, oranges, watermelons , tomatoes, peppers, squash,cucumbers, etc.

• You can avoid some complications by not including strawberries. Just use fruits that have easily recognized seeds.

• Sometimes we eat the seeds, peanuts, peas, sunflower and pumpkin seeds

Coconuts• Unless it is picked, a matured coconut eventually drops from the tree. The

fully developed hard shell does not crack easily. Dry and brown, the coconut may sit underneath the tree for months and appear as if it were dead, until one day a green shoot pushes its way out of the shell. The whole time the old coconut has been sitting under the tree, changes have been slowly taking place inside. At one end of the coconut (where the eyes are), an embryo starts growing, feeding off the juice and nutrition of the thick white flesh. This embryo develops into a creamy mass that gradually fills much of the empty space inside. It is good to eat – sweet, somewhat spongy and less fibrous than the matured meat.

• The embryo eventually sprouts out of the shell and becomes a young coconut seedling. At this point, the plant can survive for several more weeks or months on the food and water inside as roots gradually develop and extend out of the shell to anchor the plant in the ground. Nutritious coconut meat can sustain life for a long time; one of my students, who is a horticulturist, has successfully used coconut milk to nurse seedlings of other plants in his greenhouse. Coconut palms lead a long productive life. They begin bearing fruits at the age of five to seven years and continue to do so until they are seventy to eighty years old.

Can you grow a palm tree from a grocery store coconut?

• As complete seed packages, coconuts have been known to travel to faraway lands to find new homesteads. Stories abound of coconuts floating their way across seas and oceans to be washed ashore on distant islands, rooting themselves in handsome groves to greet visiting humans in search of paradise. The dehusked coconuts you buy at the supermarket, however, are no longer productive seed packages. Once the husk is removed, the seed dies.

• Planning a lesson• Find a book on the table that you could build a

science lesson around. • Take a few minutes to think about how that

lesson might go.

Lunch

• When you eat lunch , think about any plants and or seeds you observe or eat.

Gardens

• Where• When• How• Ideas????

What do seeds need to start growing?

• Water?

• Soil?

• Light?

• Heat?• Fertilizer?

For the record

• Plants get their energy from sunlight. They turn the water from the ground and carbon dioxide from the air into sugar through photosynthesis. The minerals from fertilizers , that we incorrectly refer to as plant “food” simply are necessary to make the many cell parts and structural elements of the plant. They don’t provide any energy and the plant does not eat.

Discovery vs. Inquiry

• Are sometimes used interchangeably • Students might discover that ice melts into

liquid water and that liquid water evaporates• Students might discover that there are seeds

inside apples and oranges.• Students might discover that white light

produces several colors of light when it passes through a prism

Inquiry

• When students begin asking questions and testing their answers they are using inquiry

• Can we put colored lights back together to make white light?

• Do apple seeds grow into apples?• Does ice melt faster in my hand or in a cup?• So really discovery or observing is the first

step in the inquiry process.

Inquiry practice

• Work in groups of 2 or 3.• Look at the materials in the Inquiry bags

provided.• Follow the instructions to get you started.• Generate questions to answer using the

materials provided. If you need other equipment to find answers to your questions please ask us. We may be able to provide some help.

• Discuss your observations, wonderings, I thinks, etc. with your partner. Make note of the experiments you did in your journal. Prepare to discuss your activity with the group.

• Use the Assessment sheet to mark all the domain areas touched on in this activity.

• Find a book on the reading table which could be used as an engagement tool or a follow-up activity

• Information on children's progress on the Domains, Domain Elements, and Indicators is obtained from multiple sources, such as teacher and home visitor observations, analysis of samples of children’s work and performance, parent reports, or direct assessment of children. Head Start assessment practices should reflect the assumption that children demonstrate progress over time in development and learning on a developmental continuum, in forms such as increasing frequency of a behavior or ability, increasing breadth or depth of knowledge and understanding, or increasing proficiency or independence in exercising a skill or ability

Science Methods• Begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring

devices to gather• information, investigate materials and observe processes and

relationships.• Develops increased ability to observe and discuss common properties,

differences and comparisons among objects and materials.• Begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations,

discuss and draw conclusions and form generalizations.• Develops growing abilities to collect, describe and record information

through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps and charts.

• Begins to describe and discuss predictions, explanations and generalizations based on past experiences.

Scientific Knowledge

• Expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe and discuss the natural world, materials, living things and natural processes.

• Expands knowledge of and respect for their body and the environment.

• Develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature.

• Shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships.

http://www.little-scientists.com/units_pk.htm

• How do colors mix?• Introduces students to primary and secondary colors. They learn to

recognize and sort basic colors. The students make rainbows using a prism and a flashlight (Physical Science).

• $495.00• Science Topics 1 • Primary Colors - Students will learn the three

primary colors.2 • Identifying Primary Colors - Students will learn to recognize and sort the primary colors.3 • Mixing Colors - Students will learn that the primary colors can be mixed to make other colors.4 • Rainbows - Students will learn the colors of the rainbow and how to make a rainbow.

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Why do flowers grow?• Introduces students both to the re-awakening that occurs each Spring and to

the parts of plants, including flowers. Students examine a variety of flowers (Life Science).

• $495.00• Science Topics• 1 • Why do Flowers Grow? - Students learn that a large variety of plants have

flowers, including grasses and trees.2 • What are the Parts of a Plant? - Students learn to identify the parts of the plant and how the plant uses these parts for water and sunlight that are necessary for a healthy plant.3 • Growing Plants from Seeds - Students learn that most plants start as seeds.4 • How do Bees Help Flowers? - Students learn that bees are important to the pollination of may important plants, which helps the flowers to produce seeds.

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What makes me healthy?• Students learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, including the basics of

proper nutrition, exercise, and disease prevention. Students also learn how a healthy body remains healthy (Life Science).

• $495.00• Science Topics• 1 • Our Bodies - Our heart, along with many other organs and systems,

keeps us healthy. Students will explore the basics of a healthy body.2 • Exercise - Students will learn that exercise is important to maintain a healthy body, and the basic effects of exercising are studied.3 • Germs - Students will learn how and why people may get sick. They also learn how to prevent infection through simple procedures.4 • Nutrition - Students will learn that a proper diet is an important aspect of a healthy life. The food pyramid is introduced and explained.

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