Did I tell you how happy I was to see the returning three-year old students use magnifiers appropriately? Because this half-day preschool for 2-5-year-olds had moved to a new space over the summer, the “usual place” for everything had to be determined. It is one thing to design a preschool in a set of rooms and another to put it into action. That’s what the children did and showed us that our design needed adjustment. So I did not get magnifiers into use until late October when I brought a container of Tenebrio beetles and larvae (mealworms although they are not worms, just baby insects like caterpillars). I was all set to have the children practice using the magnifiers before getting out the beetles but these former two-year-olds showed that they remembered how to use magnifiers by immediately holding the instrument close to their fingers to view, saying, “It’s bigger!”. The beetles looked bigger too, and the children counted the tiny legs.

Here is how children often approach magnifiers (and beetles) on first encounter:

Here are experienced beetle wranglers using magnifiers expertly:

The Science Shorts columns in the National Science Teachers Association’s elementary school journal describe classic classroom activities that emphasize science-process skills. Larger Than Life: Introducing Magnifiers by Tracy L. Coskie and Kimberly J. Davis (Science and Children, Summer 2009) is a valuable discussion and activity about magnifier use.

Now the magnifiers are easily available for self-serve in the two-year-old class room, at the light table, and in the centers room. It is so gratifying to see that the lessons of last year are retained and used by the children to learn more about their world.

Peggy

Will I see you at the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s national conference in Washington, D.C. this week?

Come say “Hi” and tell me what great sessions you’ve attended. I’ll be in the Learning Galleria, Table 12, on Thursday November 19, 2009 from 10-11:30am, and at the Gryphon House Publishers booth 703 on Saturday morning until 11am.

Look ahead at the schedule for state affiliate or national NAEYC professional development coming near you next year. The learning is well worth the time and money spent.

See you later,

Peggy

 

After a period of minutes or days of exploration, students can do some predicting using this knowledge. Using exaggerated body gestures to represent our predictions is fun. “Do you think it will float?” Put your hands high above your head and gently wave them like they are floating above you. “Do you think it will sink?” Slide your hands down from your shoulders to your lap like they are sinking. With a bit of direction by the teacher towards documenting their thinking in drawings or writing, the children will have a record of their predictions to compare with what they find out when they put the object in water.

 

Students can explore buoyancy with a Discovery Bottle—for details read Sandy Watson’s article, Discovery Bottles, in the July 2008 issue of Science and Children. She explains how “Discovery bottles are inexpensive, quick to assemble, and an excellent way to provide students with practice in developing science-process skills, such as observing, measuring, predicting, and so on.”

 

The next time you can present some new objects and ask the children to separate the objects into groups, those that they think will float and those that they think will sink. The children may choose to create a third group of those objects they aren’t sure about, or objects that sometimes sink and sometimes float. Be sure to let children know that it is okay to have differing predictions. To keep the two concepts clear in their minds, use two clear cups on the table, one with a sinking object in it and one with a floating object in it, to represent the two groups, and the children can place objects around the cups. Tell the children that scientists ask questions and try to answer them and they can too.

 

I like to keep some towels handy to help with clean up, and to rinse all objects with a bleach solution and allow them to air dry before storing. Send home the children’s papers documenting their work  and it might inspire families to continue the exploration at home in the bathtub or at the sink.

Peggy

 

 

When I shared my copy of the book, Early Sprouts: Cultivating Healthy Food Choices in Young Children, with a nutritionist friend she got very excited about the possibilities, but then her job changed and she no longer works directly with children. Did that stop her? Read on...

 

I am doing Early Sprouts with my neighbor Sydney (4 years old) every Saturday afternoon. We did the initial taste tests and we've done five or six of the sessions, with the activity and then the cooking back to back. It takes about an hour. We've made couscous castles with green peppers, Chinese green beans, butternut squash pancakes (too wet but yummy), yogurt dip, and pasta with sauce made from cherry  tomatoes. I love it. I took photos of the plants in the garden in different stages and made cards out of them and at the beginning of each class, she sorts them into piles by vegetable and then puts the cards for each vegetable in order from sprout to plant to flower to small fruit to large unripe fruit to ripe fruit, or whatever applies to the vegetable. I also took photos of the compost pile. 

Wish I could send you some of our raspberries. 

 

 

 

 

What she's begun with one child she can use to inform her teaching with more, in future years. The materials can be used every year too—each following year will need less set-up time.

 

Read more about the Early Sprouts program at

http://www.earlysprouts.org/

 

Thanks for the inspiration Bonnie!

Peggy

I’m interested in your opinions on what should be included in early childhood science standards. We don’t want to underestimate the abilities of young children to understand relationships in natural systems, nor overestimate their ability to understand the concepts of a “fair” test or the importance of collecting data. Many states have early learning standards, and the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) begin in kindergarten.

Is anyone very satisfied with their state or program content standards for preK-grade 2 science?

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards describes a rigorous delivery of science curriculum that is the mark of an “accomplished” early childhood teacher: “This NBPTS Standards document describes in observable form what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.” It sounds wonderful to me, but perhaps out of reach for the majority of early childhood teachers who have not studied science in college. Read the Early Childhood/Generalist Standards, for teachers of students ages 3–8, Second Edition (2001) by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards at http://www.nbpts.org/userfiles/File/ec_gen_standards.pdf (science on pages 35-37).

A sample of the expectations that are part of Standard V: Knowledge of Integrated Curriculum, science content:

 

“[Accomplished early childhood teachers] understand that discussions can transform a class from a collection of individuals into a community of learners sharing their interpretations of the natural world with their peers. Such experiences help children reform and refine their theories and explanations—to learn how to think through their ideas, to pose additional questions, and to reconsider their ideas on the basis of others’ views.” 

“They realize that science is everywhere and that it can be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of ways. They provide sufficient time to develop a deep understanding of essential scientific ideas rather than a superficial acquaintance with many isolated facts. They show a love for science and generate in children curiosity and wonder about the world around them. The importance of having ongoing exploration, investigation, and inquiry in science is clearly understood by accomplished teachers.”

“Teachers design learning experiences that will help children build their knowledge and understanding of science and uncover for themselves the counterintuitive nature of many scientific principles. They incorporate a variety of experiences from each of the three major categories of science. They realize the importance of safety, environment, and conservation. They understand the scientific method and provide experiences in which the children can explore the scientific method and document what they observe.”

If you have become Board Certified as an Early Childhood/Generalist, please let us know about your experiences and your favorite science standards. Anyone who is very satisfied with their state or program content standards for preK-grade 2 science, please let us hear from you too!

Peggy

I love the way two-year-olds inexpertly sniff, to sense an odor. They crinkle up their nose and snort, or gasp, and blink their eyes, not quite putting it all together to inhale through their nose. Yet they have an expert sense of smell—nothing comforts them like their favorite “lovey”, a much worn toy or blanket that has achieved a certain smell.

 

What did your grandmother’s house smell like—boxwood bushes along the sidewalk and old feather pillows on the window seat like mine? I loved the smell of those bushes but my father thought they smelled like cat urine! My great aunt used to light her late husband’s cigars because the smell brought his presence closer. Smelling muddy ooze left by a flooding creek brought the memories of my childhood closer, reminding me of watching the pattern of water-flow past overfull creek banks. The scent of lilac flowers reminds me of my childhood home too.

 

Scientists study the way smells affect people and our perceptions of smells. In the October Early Years column in Science and Children, I write about a smelling activity using lemons, cinnamon, onions, and coffee beans. In my ten+ years of using this activity, I have never had a student who was allergic to any of those foods. There is always a first time so I check every class.

 

Here are a few more ideas for engaging students’ sense of smell as they explore the world. Please teach the Safe Smelling method of wafting (waving) an odor towards your nose with your hand instead of sniffing directly from a container.

From NSTA The Early Years Blog

 

Cinnamon Shapes, a smell recipe.

½ cup of cinnamon

½ cup of applesauce

2 Tablespoons of white school glue

 

Ground cinnamon lifts into the air very easily so monitor students closely as they slowly add the powder to the other two ingredients. Have the children touch each ingredient and talk about how it feels. Is it dry? Wet? Mix all three ingredients together and roll out onto wax or parchment paper to about 5 mm thick. Have children use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Roll out the scraps again and cut more shapes. Poke a hole near the edge of each shape so when they are dry, you can put a loop of ribbon through the hole to hang the shape. Youngest children can just make a pancake shape from a ball of dough. Even after completely dry (air dry for several days) the cinnamon smell is strong. This recipe makes about six small shapes.

 

Smelling, then planting herbs

What if you had to live in a small space for a long time with no windows to let in fresh air? Astronauts living in space breathe the same air over and over. A machine cleans the air and tries to keep the right balance of gases. NASA has many ideas for science activities, including one about using our sense of smell to identify herbs and spices at http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/en/kids/enose_do1.shtml We can not be sure what's in a container so it’s best to always smell substances the "scientific way". Hold the open container about six inches away from your face, and with your free hand fan the air over the container toward you. The smell from the substance in the container will be mixed in the air and you will get a gentle sample of the substance—not enough to sting your nose or make your eyes water.

 

Some herbs are winter hardy in many regions and can be planted in the fall: oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, and garlic bulbs. The children can rub the plants’ leaves to release the smell, and plant them outside to make a “smelling” garden. After the last frost date in spring (also see the USDA plant hardiness map), plant tender herbs such as basil, fennel, and dill. Much more can be learned from The Herb Society of America’s Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking with Herbs, edited by Katherine K. Schlosser (Louisiana State University Press 2007). See the society’s website at: http://www.herbsociety.org/

 

Read these books aloud to open up discussion and introduce vocabulary to your class:

&Dog Breath: Horrible Trouble With Hally Tosis by Dav Pilkey (Blue Sky Press 1994). Young children may not understand the title’s play on words but they will get the humor of a dog with smelly breath saving the day. Ask your class, “When is our sense of smell useful?” 

&The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss, Marc Simont (Illustrator) (HarperCollins 1949). Children can guess what the animals are smelling but they will be surprised!

 

&Smelling Things (Rookie Read-About Science) by Allan Fowler (Childrens Press 1991). An easy reader introduction to the sense of smell. Fowler’s books pair simple, pertinent details about the topic with informative photographs.

 

&Two Eyes a Nose and a Mouth by Roberta Intrater (Cartwheel Books 1995). In a book full of photographs and rhyming text celebrating the variety in human faces, one page with repeated photos of just one face catches our attention, asks us to “imagine how dull the world would be, if everyone looked like you or me” and reminds us “…the variety is just fine.” Young children will enjoy pointing to the part of our body that we sense smells with, or see/hear/taste with.

 

&What Can I Smell? by Sue Barraclough (Raintree 2005). Opening with the question, “What is your favorite breakfast smell?”, this book invites discussion of familiar smells.

Your class might want to write and illustrate a book about odors they have smelled—their favorites and the ones they do not appreciate.  Share your experiences with sense of smell activities....make a comment!

Peggy