EARLY YEARS LEARNING FRAMEWORK
OUTCOME 1: Children
have a strong sense of
identity
Children feel safe, secure,
and supported
Children develop their
emerging autonomy, inter-
dependence, resilience and
sense of agency
Children develop
knowledgeable and
confident self identities
Children learn to interact in
relation to others with care,
empathy and respect
Principles:
1. Secure, respectful & reciprocal
OUTCOME 2: Children are
connected with and
contribute to their world
Children develop a sense of
belonging to groups and
communities and an
understanding of the
reciprocal rights and
responsibilities necessary for
active community participation
Children respond to diversity
with respect
Children become aware of
fairness
Children become socially
responsible and show respect
for the environment
2. Partnerships
OUTCOME 3: Children
have a strong sense of
well being
Children become strong in
their social and emotional
wellbeing
Children take increasing
responsibility for their own
health and physical
wellbeing
3. High expectations & equity
OUTCOME 4: Children are
confident and involved learners
Children develop dispositions for
learning such as curiosity,
cooperation, confidence, creativity,
commitment, enthusiasm,
persistence, imagination and
reflexivity
Children develop a range of skills
and processes such as problem
solving, enquiry, experimentation,
hypothesising, researching and
investigating
Children transfer and adapt what
they have learned from one context
to another
Children resource their own learning
through connecting with people,
place, technologies and natural and
processed materials
4. Respect for diversity
OUTCOME 5: Children are
effective communicators
Children interact verbally and
non-verbally with others for a
range of purposes
Children engage with a range of
texts and gain meaning from
these texts
Children express ideas and make
meaning using a range of media
Children begin to understand how
symbols and pattern systems
work.
Children use information and
communication technologies to
access information, investigate
ideas and represent their thinking
5. Ongoing learning & reflective
relationships practice

Practices:
Holistic approaches Responsiveness to children Learning through play Intentional teaching

Continuity of learning & Cultural competence Assessment for learning Learning environments
transitions
 LEARNING CENTRE PLAN

Inquiry Table
LEARNING CENTRE:
This learning centre will be an inquiry-based centre to allow the children to explore, experiment and extend their
curiosity. Within the classroom, there will be a table set up with a deep tray of water on it and tall cylinder-shaped clear
water containers. It will be based around the concept of sinking and floating, and will contain a wide range of various
materials for the children to place into the water at their own leisure to observe what will happen. Not only will the
centre be used for individual exploration, but it will also promote peer discussions and collaborative learning. To promote
students to engage with the space, the teacher will already place floating and sinking materials in the water tray to
model to the students how to engage with the learning centre.

The intention behind this learning centre is to introduce children to the basic concept of floating and sinking. As the
children engage with the inquiry table, they are able to learn about objects that float and objects that sink. Children
then develop their own meaning of this mathematical concept in an interactive way through water play.

Key questions to reinforce content and facilitate learning:

Before
What could you do with these objects?
How will these objects react to being dropped in the water?

During
What might happen if you drop the ______ into the water?
Could we sort the objects into two groups, what might these groups be? (Floating and sinking)

After
Who saw the tray of water I put out in the classroom this morning?
What did you do at that table?
What did you find out?
CENTRE OBJECTIVES:
The intended learning outcomes for this learning centre include:
- Children observing how different objects behave in water, finding out that some objects float and some objects
sink
- Children being able to predict which objects will float and which objects will sink based on their properties and
features.
- Children extending their vocabulary to include words such as top, bottom, below, under, heavy, light, solid etc.
- Sort, classify and match objects according to attributes (weight, size, shape)
- Participate in rich and meaningful enquiry-based experiences
- Manipulate objects and experiment with cause and effect

These learning outcomes and objectives draw from the Kindergarten Curriculum Guideline learning area of learning and
thinking. This includes children using positional language, sorting objects due to their properties, developing a range of
skills and processes through inquiry and investigation, and using skills of prediction, hypothesising, testing,
experimenting and evaluating in play experiences.

The learning area of communicating in the Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines outlines the interactive use of verbal and
non-verbal language with others for a range of purposes. This includes turn-taking in conversation, increased used of
vocabulary by exploring meanings of new words, and listening to others.

In outcome 4 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity,
cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity. Evidence of this
includes the children being curious and enthusiastic participants in their learning, using play to investigate, imagining
and exploring ideas, and participating in a variety of rich and meaningful inquiry-based experiences. The learning centre
outcomes were drawn from this document.
RESOURCES:

Floating and sinking materials shells, corks, bubble wrap, foil trays, sponges, wood cut-offs, boats, ice,
polystyrene trays and cups, plastic trays, pumice stone, rocks, plastic toys, table tennis balls, golf ball, marbles,
plasticine, fabric, glitter, grapes, apples, leaves.

Signs around the learning centre displaying words to extend vocabulary:

- Light
- Heavy
- Top
- Bottom
- Under
- Sink
- Float

Portable plastic tray deep enough to show the materials sink to the bottom and float on top.

Cylindrical tall water containers

Floor protection to avoid spilt water on the floor, place a towel under the water tray and plastic floor covering
that can easily be cleaned and removed from the area.

Small hand towels for the students to dry their hands on before moving around the classroom.

Sorting trays/baskets
 Small-world Play
LEARNING CENTRE:
The second learning centre will be small world play with a setting. It will be placed in the dramatic play area, set out as
an ocean themed area for the duration of this enquiry. The children can interpret the setting, but it will include a tray of
water to represent a beach, river, lake, or something similar. This small world play will include small people figurines at
one side of the lake and both floating and sinking materials that could be used to make transportation objects such as
a boat to help the people cross the water. To help the children make sense of the small world play, the teacher will ask
key questions in this learning centre to stimulate participation within the space.
The materials provided to make floating boats would be in baskets next to the water tray. Not only will this learning
centre require students to think about what materials they can use to make a boat that floats, it also requires the
children to use their imagination and problem solve to complete the task.

Key questions to reinforce content and facilitate learning:

Before
How might the people get from one side of the river/ocean/lake to the other?
How do you travel when you need to cross water? (Boat, kayak, ferry, raft etc.)
Could we help the people cross the river by making some of these?
What materials might you use?

During
Would you choose objects that float, or objects that sink to make your boat?
Do you know which materials will sink in the water?
Do you know which materials will float in the water?

After
How did you make your boat?
What materials did you use?
How did you know that these materials would float in the water?

CENTRE OBJECTIVES:
The intended learning outcomes for this learning centre include:
- Creating their own improvisations in play
- Organise self and simple resources to carry out a task or participate in an activity
- Use simple tools and materials to investigate, assemble, invent, construct and represent ideas
- Listen to others and share own ideas
These learning objectives and outcomes draw from the Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines learning area of learning
and thinking. It includes children representing experiences in creative ways, making choices, and using thinking
strategies to engage with situations and solve problems and adapt these strategies to new situations. This learning and
development area also includes using imagination and innovation to explore ideas and different ways of creating models
and doing things.

In the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) children develop a strong sense of identity (outcome 1) and develop their
emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency through persisting when faced with challenges
and when first attempts are not successful. This learning centre requires children to create a floating boat, and make
changes to their design if their first attempts are not successful. The children experiment with different materials and
use their imagination to construct a boat.

RESOURCES:
Materials: bottle caps, blu tac, clay/plasticine, corks, elastic bands, toothpicks, foil, bubblewrap, popsticks, paper,
fabric scraps, small juice boxes, tissue paper, cotton wool, glue and scissors. (Basic craft and art supplies).

Recycled materials.

For the small world play, there will be a clear tray with sand at both ends representing land-to-land and where the
people figurines need to travel.

Water and sand.

Blue and yellow fabric to put on the floor of the centre to represent water and sand.

Plush sea animals to place in learning centre.

Small beach chairs.

 Outdoor Maths Centre
LEARNING CENTRE:
The third learning centre will be outdoors. Next to the sand and water trays, and amongst the floating and sinking
materials, there will be large wooden balancing scales for the students to use. The scales will help the students to make
predictions and decide which objects will sink and float. The students can weigh the supplied materials on the scales.
The scales will encourage the children to use mathematical language such as heavy and light to predict if the objects
will sink to the bottom of the water, or stay on top. This learning centre will be used in conjunction with the two indoor
learning centres based around the concept of sinking and floating. This learning centre will contain large-scale materials
that are not available in the classroom, adding to the enquiry experience for the children. It also allows children to
collect their own materials from the yard.
The main purpose of this learning centre is to extend and support the learning that happens with the indoor enquiry
table. It allows the children to explore the weight of objects and how this affects their reaction when placed in water. In
Samplemathematical
diagram
this centre, the children can move beyond the focus of floating and sinking, and on to other investigations
involving weight, size, and mass.

Key questions to reinforce content and facilitate learning:

Before
Have you used scales before?
What can we use scales for?
Can you make predictions about which objects will float?
Can you make predictions about which objects will sink?
How will you make these predictions, what information will you need?

During
Which object do you think will be heavier?
This item feels light, do you think it will float or sink?
Can we use the scales to make predictions?

After:
What did you find out?
How did you decide which objects might sink/float?
What happened to the light objects?
How did you use the scales?
CENTRE OBJECTIVES:
The intended learning outcomes for this learning centre include:
- Use the appropriate language of measurement to describe size and mass
- Contribute constructively to mathematical discussions and arguments
- Develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, enquiry, experimenting, hypothesising,
researching and investigating
- Participate with others to solve problems and contribute to group outcomes

In the Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines, the learning area of communicating includes outcomes related to building
oral language, extending vocabulary and interacting verbally with others. In the learning and thinking development
area, children engage in and extend numeracy in personally meaningful ways.

In outcome 2 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), children become socially responsible and show respect for
their environment. This learning outcome is evident when students participate with others to solve problems and
contribute to group outcomes. As this learning centre is outdoors, it provides an opportunity for students to work
together to hypothesise and investigate together, towards a shared learning goal.

RESOURCES:
Large scales constructed using metal and wood (Handmade or sourced)
Materials: rocks of various sizes, blocks, wooden cut-offs, leaves, sticks, bottles filled with various substances
(sand, water, stones).
Sand and water trays (portable trolley trays)
Baskets to store materials
Wagons for students to collect materials from the play area and bring back to the maths area