MODULE 2

LESSON 1
10 Tips to Support Children's Science Learning

1.Value your child’s questions.

“Mommy/Daddy, why is the moon following us?” With this question, a child lets
us know she is thinking about how the world works. We can respond in ways that
encourage her scientific thinking. Think of how you might respond. Do you think it’s
adorable? (It is! But the question also shows your child is thinking!) What can you do if
you don’t know the answer? (Don't worry. Your child just might want to share something
that intrigues her.) Enjoy discussing the questions your child asks. Encourage her to
share her perspective and observations.

2. Explore and find the answers together.

You don’t have to be your child's encyclopedia and quickly try to answer all your
child’s questions. Responding with “What do you think?” or “I don’t know but we can find
out together” can stimulate more thought and additional questions. Explore and find the
answers together.

3. Give children time and space to explore.

Children learn science through trial and error. They need time to experiment, try
things out, and think on their own. Wait before jumping in with "correct" answers. Give
your child the time and space to explore and discover on her own.

4. Accept that explorations are often messy.

Whether it’s outdoor exploration with mud and sticks or indoors with water,
children are likely to get dirty when they explore materials. Dress children in old clothing
and tell them it’s ok to get dirty.

5. Learn from mistakes together.

 If an experiment goes wrong, take advantage and investigate with your child to
see what went wrong. A mistake can lead to all kinds of possibilities and it provides
opportunities for you and your child to refine your ideas, understanding, and hypothese

6. Invite curiosity.

Science learning begins with curiosity. Observations and questions can create a
climate of discovery – key to scientific learning. Children can learn a lot about science
even at bath time. Let your child ask her own questions but you can also stimulate
curiosity. For instance, when seeing a rubber duck float in the water, invite him to think
by saying, “I wonder if the soap will also float?" See what questions she asks and what
experiments she tries.

7. Support further exploration.

Intentional adult interactions with children can extend their learning. When the
moment is right – maybe when she’s done exploring on her own, offer a suggestion to
extend her exploration. Guide your child by asking questions like, “What might happen if
we try this?”

Share some things you find while exploring, - a beautiful striped rock, for
example. This lets your child know there is always something worthy of our attention
and investigation.

8. Encourage children to record their observations.

Writing, drawing, or taking photographs are all ways to record observations - an

important scientific skill. Such records allow children to keep track of what they saw,
heard, questioned, or discovered. When you notice your child is interested in something
(like the moon, leaves changing on the trees, or the growth of a plant) you can suggest
ways for them to record what they have observed. “Do you want to draw that?” or “Do
you want to take photos?” or “Do you want me to help you write down what you
noticed?”

9. Make good use of your electronic devices.

Take pictures of a stunning butterfly, record frog sounds, use a website or app to
learn more about a specific phenomenon or creature.

10. Use items you have at home to experiment and explore

You don't need to spend money buying science supplies. Here are some science
questions your child can consider using materials you might have at home.

Question #1: How does water move up a plant’s stem?

What You Need: celery, water, food coloring.

Directions: Put a celery stalk or carnation stem in water that has some food
coloring in it.

Science principle: Children can see how the colored water travels up the stalk or
stem and might notice how a specific part of the celery stalk (called the xylem) draws
the water up from the roots just like a straw.
 You can do it .
Aside from the mention Activities abogive some your example on how to support
science in Early Childhood.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
 LESSON 2

Exploring the World of Science with

Your Child

Preschoolers have an insatiable need to explore and understand things that

adults might overlook. As marine biologist Rachel Carson said, children need an adult
who can share this joy of discovery with them. Your family can share the joy of
discovering science at home and in your neighborhood.

Go for a walk.
Talk with your child about what you can see, hear, and touch. Look at clouds,
smell pinecones, gently touch a caterpillar, see what’s under rocks, and listen to birds
and squirrels in trees. Take walks when it’s rainy, when it’s sunny, early in the morning,
and in the evening. Talk about how the experiences are similar and different.

Discover answers together.

Children often know all the dinosaur names or notice small details in a leaf. You
don’t need to know the name of every plant, but you and your child can investigate and
answer questions together.

Care for animals, plants, trees, and gardens.

Plant bulbs (flowers or onions) and watch what happens. Put toothpicks in an
avocado pit and suspend it over a clear container of water. Visit it daily. Soon you will
see a new plant growing from the top and bottom of the pit.

Find science all around you.

Learn about physics by playing with tennis balls and soccer balls. Which ball
bounces higher? Which one can be kicked farther? Learn about chemistry while baking
cookies together. What happens when the ingredients are mixed together and baked in
the oven? Ask your child to share his or her ideas about what happens and why. If your
child asks a question you can’t answer, write it down so that later you can look for the
answer together in a book, at the library, or on the Internet .

Nurturing the Scientist in Your Child

Children are natural scientists. They are curious, love to explore, and ask a lot of
questions. But you don’t have to have all the answer1s! Help your child develop the
skills needed to think like a scientist, which will allow him or her to understand
increasingly complex science concepts. Here are some ways to do that:

 Model your own curiosity. Wonder out loud by saying things like, “I wonder
what would happen if . . .” or “I am curious about . . . .”
 Listen carefully to what your child is saying and encourage your child to
explain why he or she thinks a certain way by asking questions such as,
“Why do you think the snail is eating that leaf?” “What other animals eat
leaves?”
 Don’t immediately correct your child if he or she says something that is
scientifically incorrect. For example, if your child says, “Only birds can fly,”
you can ask, “What does a bird have that helps it fly?” Then ask, “What
other animals or things have wings?” Guide your child to name some
animals and objects with wings, such as “bees and airplanes.” Then ask,
“Can they fly?”
 Encourage your child to make observations and then to record those
observations, by writing, drawing a picture, taking a photograph, or making
an audio or video recording. They can even act out what they saw
happen. Give your child a special notebook for recording these
observations, and ask him or her to tell you about them.
 Engage your child in simple investigations, such as rolling different balls
down a ramp to see which one goes farthest. Before you begin an
investigation, encourage your child to predict what will happen. Afterward,
talk about the results.
 Encourage your child to compare and contrast things they see in the world
around them, for example, “How are these two trees the same, and how
are they different?”
  High-quality educational media can be a catalyst for real-world
exploration. For example, if you and your child watch a video about how a
roller coaster works, say, “Let’s build our own roller coaster!” Then gather
simple materials such as paper towel tubes, construction paper, and
blocks to build a coaster for a toy car or marble.

YOU CAN DO IT !
Answer the following question .
1. Do you believe that early childhood children are born natural scientist ?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________

2. In your own opinion how effective all of this method in child’s science learning
?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________
3. As a future teacher what you will contribute in their science learning
exploration ?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________-
 LESSON 3

SIMPLE TOYS AND TOOLS SUPPORT

CHILDREN IN SCIENCE LEARNING

Simple toys and tools can engage children as they explore natural phenomena in ways
that will support their later science learning. Adults who allow children to play and work
through small difficulties by themselves support children as they build an understanding
of how the world works. Resist the temptation to “fix it” or “make it go faster” or “use it
the right way,” and you will build your child’s self-confidence and problem-solving ability.

1. Spinning Tops

Concept: Use these toys as tools to explore motion.

How to support exploration: Ask your child open-ended questions (questions with
more than a yes or no answer). How hard do you have to push each type of top before it
begins to spin? Are light or heavy tops easier to spin? Are tall or short tops easier to
spin? Can a top with a penny taped to it maintain a spin?

Where to purchase: Look for tops in party stores or in catalogues that sell small
plastic party favors.

Concept: Tools can extend our senses, allowing us to obtain more information
than we would be able to on our own. Magnifiers extend our sight by making objects
look bigger.

How to support exploration: This tool is fun to use to make the world look blurry
and our eyes look huge, and to look closely at everything! Magnifiers reveal aspects of
nature that are too small to see with just our eyes. Examine skin, coins, flower
structures, and insects—all objects with small parts that make up the whole.
 Variation: Fill a round, clear plastic jar with water and have your children look at
their hands or a picture through the jar. Children often notice the change in apparent
size. Ask them, “Did your hand look bigger?” Then let them examine it and ask, “Did my
hand really get bigger, or did it just look bigger?” Take another look so children can be
certain of their answer. Have your children pinch the lens of a magnifying glass between
two fingers and gently run their fingers across it to notice that the magnifier is not flat but
has a curved surface, just like the jar!

Where to purchase: Drug stores and discount stores sell inexpensive plastic
magnifiers, or you can order them from a scientific supply company.

3. Eye Droppers or Pipettes

Concept: As children use eyedroppers and pipettes to move liquids, they learn a
lot about how liquids behave. For example, they learn that when they squeeze the bulb
the dropper pushes air out, and when they release the bulb it pulls water in. Children
this age can also observe that water forms drops.

How to support exploration: Show your child how to squeeze the dropper to force
the air out of the bulb and how to release it to allow it to pop back into shape, drawing in
air or liquid as it reforms. Your child can feel the air as it leaves the dropper by holding
the dropper up to her cheek (away from her eyes) as she squeezes the bulb. Use the
dropper to suck up small amounts of rain from a puddle or to mix colored water from
one dish with water of a different color in another. Turn the dropper upside down to
create a fountain. All of these activities have the added benefit of helping your child
develop small motor control.

Where to purchase: Buy just a few at a pharmacy or dollar store or order many
from a scientific education supply company.

4. Bubbles and Bubble Wands

Concept: Bubbles teach children about geometry (shapes) and give them an
awareness of air movement. How long will the bubble last, and where will it float?
 How to support exploration: Bend a pipe cleaner into a square-shaped bubble
wand and ask your child to predict what shape the bubbles will take. Introduce less
common words like “sphere” as you blow bubbles to give your child the ability to
describe a three dimensional shape and to expand his vocabulary.

Where to purchase: Look for bubble solution in party stores year-round or, during
the warm months, in drug stores and discount stores.

5. Balls

Concept: Use balls of the same size but differing weights to explore how the
mass (what we feel as weight) of an object affects its motion.

How to support exploration: Which ball will roll farther if we give them the same
push—the heavier ball or the lighter ball? Children become very familiar with the effects
of the pull of gravity as they throw or kick balls. They explore the properties of materials
when they compare the height of the bounce of balls made of different materials. They
will draw on these kinesthetic experiences in later science learning.

Where to purchase: Buy a variety of balls at toy stores, drug stores, and discount
stores in the toy or sports sections.

6. Mirrors

Concept: Playing with mirrors to reflect light and wondering how our image is
reflected teaches children a beginning understanding about the properties of light.

How to support exploration: Bounce light off of different surfaces. A large plastic
“baby” mirror, held freely, is especially good for this. Have your children use mirrors to
look behind themselves. “Catch” some sunshine and reflect it to another surface outside
or inside. Children can use a mirror to examine their face to draw a self-portrait.
Children are more likely to draw from the observations they see in the mirror and not
from memory if they are encouraged to focus on parts of their face they don’t usually
begin with, such as their nostrils. Ask, “Do you see the holes in your nose? How many
are there?”

Where to purchase: Buy mirrors at a pharmacy or dollar store. “Baby” or

designed-for-preschool plastic mirrors can be ordered from preschool, or scientific,
education supply companies.

7. Magnets

Concept: Children can play with magnetic force and explore this property of
materials. By using the phrase, “attracted to the magnet,” instead of “sticking to the
magnet,” you reinforce that there is no “stickiness” involved—magnetism is a force that
pulls or pushes. How it does this involves understanding that all materials are made of
tiny pieces too small to see (atoms), a concept that children will build toward
understanding around age 10. There is no need to rush this understanding. In early
childhood, children can understand that being attracted by a magnet, or not, is the
nature of a material.

How to support exploration: Ask questions such as, “What objects in my house
can be attracted to a magnet?” and “Can magnetic force work through fabric?” Put the
magnet in a sock and see if it can still attract objects.

Where to purchase: Be sure to buy magnets that are too large for a child to
swallow. These can be found in hardware stores or toy stores, or they can be ordered
from preschool, or scientific, education supply companies.

The most important science learning comes from experiencing the natural world.
Without the natural world we could not manufacture any of the human-made materials
that make our lives easier and more comfortable. The natural world is the most
important science tool of all, so go outside with your child, breathe, look around, and
explore.
 YOU CAN DO IT !
In your own thoughts and ideas give some toys and tools that can contribute
learning in early childhood education. Cite the following function of it and in which part
of child’s domain they can use.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
 LESSON 4

TEACHING ALL COMPONENT OF

SCIENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION

BIOLOGY WITH PRESCHOOLERS

Wondering how to teach biology at home? These tips and ideas will help you
create or choose a homeschool science curriculum for biology.
Biology is a great subject to tackle in preschool! Kids love learning about animals
and plants, especially if it involves heading outside or to the zoo!

You can introduce basic principles through hands-on demonstrations. You can
teach a simple biology unit that covers topics like:

 Observation
 Your community
 Insects
 Seeds
 Leaves
 Flowers
You can use simple activities, such as making a seed collection, collecting for a
fall leaf journal, or digging for worms, to show these concepts in action. You can also
have the students memorize a simple sentence that explains the concept in a language
they can relate to.

Biology with a preschooler will be short, sweet, and loads of science fun!
 EARTH SCIENCE WITH PRESCHOOLERS
Learn how you can teach earth science at home from preschool to high school!
Earth Science is a great subject to tackle in preschool! Kids love finding rocks,
recording the weather, and digging in the dirt!

You can introduce basic principles through hands-on demonstrations. You can
teach a simple earth science unit that covers topics like:

 Dirt
 Rocks
 Volcanoes
 Weather
 Clouds
 Air
 Seasons
 Compasses
You can use simple activities, such as rock collecting, observing the clouds, and
making a season’s book, to show these concepts in action. You can also have the
students memorize a simple sentence that explains the concept in a language they can
relate to.

Earth science with a preschooler will be short, sweet, and loads of science fun!

ASTRONOMY WITH PRESCHOOLERS

Astronomy is an interesting subject to tackle in preschool. Kids love to look up at
the stars at night, especially if they get to stay out past bedtime!

You can introduce basic concepts through hands-on demonstrations and art
projects. You can teach a simple astronomy unit that covers topics like:

 Observation
  Stars
 The Sun
 Our planet, Earth
You can use simple activities, such as stargazing, making a constellation jar, or
making a glow-in-the-dark representation of the solar system. You can also have the
students memorize a simple sentence that explains the concepts in a language they can
relate to.

Astronomy with a preschooler will be short, sweet, and loads of science fun!

CHEMISTRY WITH PRESCHOOLERS

Chemistry in preschool – is that really possible? Yes, it is!

You won’t be balancing any equations or tackling any formulas, but you can
introduce basic principles through hands-on demonstrations. You can teach a simple
chemistry unit that covers topics like:

 Crystals
 Solids and Liquids
 Density
 Solutions
You can use simple activities, like adding water to juice and tasting the
difference, to show these concepts in action. You can also have the students memorize
a simple sentence that explains the concept in a language they can relate to.

Chemistry with a preschooler will be short, sweet, and loads of science fun!

PHYSICS WITH PRESCHOOLERS

Physics in preschool – is that really possible? Yes, it is!

You won’t be tackling any formulas, but you can introduce basic principles
through hands-on demonstrations. You can teach a simple physics unit that covers
topics like:
  Gravity
 Magnets
 Static Electricity
 Light
You can use simple activities, like rubbing a balloon on your hair and watching
what happens, to show these concepts in action. You can also have the students
memorize a simple sentence that explains the concept in a language they can relate to.

Physics with a preschooler will be short, sweet, and loads of science fun!

Summertime…and children are at play at the ocean, sifting through sand,

scooping up buckets of water, and chasing the waves. You’d be surprised at how much
science and math children are learning as they play!

Volume—Infants, toddlers and preschoolers enjoy filling and emptying buckets.

They explore how many things their hands, pockets, and shirts can hold. Some children
may enjoy filling shells with smaller shells or rocks.
Physics, architecture, and engineering—It’s fun to stack rocks in tippy piles.
When will they fall? Balancing on rocks keeps their feet dry in tide pools. Older children
can make amazing forts with driftwood.
Categorization and sorting—Infants, toddlers and preschoolers enjoy collecting
various items, such as seaweed and shells. Older children can learn the objects’ names
and make piles of their finds by category, noticing differences and similarities. Lots of
lost things can be found at the beach, too.
Cause and effect and problem solving—Infants, toddlers and preschoolers
discover the sensations of being wet and sandy at the beach, very different from the
usual sensations of school and home. They discover that wet sand behaves very
different from dry. Older children may research how wet sand needs to be to make a
castle stay up and how high a sand wall needs to be to keep the water away.
Animal behavior—Did you ever notice how seagulls stay just a few feet ahead of
a toddler or preschooler, rarely flying away, but also not permitting the child to get too
close? Goose barnacles move when stroked, and anemones close if you feed them a
sea snail. Seals bark protectively when you approach their territory. There’s a lot for
infants, toddlers and preschoolers to observe at the beach (and you can document it
too, if you have a camera).
Mathematics—Infants may discover one treasure and hold it, while toddlers and
preschoolers find many things to count at the sea. There are treasures to tally up,
waves to count. Three stick candles on a sand birthday cake means someone is turning
3! And when you eat your snack on the beach, you have no more snack.
Plant identification—Toddlers and preschoolers may discover that beach
strawberries are edible, poison oak should be avoided, and seaweed grows in the sea!
Some may learn that you can eat some kinds of seaweed.
Geology—Infants, toddlers and preschoolers may find that beach stones come in
many colors. Preschoolers learn that some are special (beach jade and jasper, agates,
fossils) and worth collecting and trading.
Weather observation and astrophysics—Children learn lessons about these
things too: when there is wind, the kite will fly, and when there is not, it will stay down.
When it is windy, it is cold, and when it is not, beaches are often hot. The tides go out
during part of the day (if children ask you why this happens, it’s because the moon isn’t
pulling the water up onto the land).
Technology—Parents can invite children to explore this as well -- use maps to
get to the beach, books and cell phones to find the names of things, cameras to record
adventures, and bring kites to explore the sky.
What a joy to learn as you play beside the sea – happy adventuring!

YOU CAN DO IT !

As a future teacher give some 3 topics in all component of science that you can
teach in your children cite some example of it and explain .

BIOLOGY

1.
2.
3.

CHEMISTRY
1.
2.
3.

EARTH SCIENCE
1.
2.
3.

ASTRONOMY
1.
2.
3.

PHYSICS
1.
2.
3.