ECE 308: SCIENCE IN PRIMARY AND ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Introduction

Hill had explained that many children in high school go through the science classes like
physics, chemistry, geology and others. However, most of the children do not like having these
topics as their classes. It is because not everyone is going to become scientists. And not to
mention, the students who do not even take these classes are not going to be scientists too.
Despite this, science is in the lives of everybody including these students everywhere. “Science
is everywhere. It affects us daily—individually and collectively, as a family, as a society and
as citizens of Earth. We need to pay attention to it to make the best decisions at several
crossroads of our lives” (Hill).
In today’s time, complex and gigantic scientific processes and theories are behind everything
we do from waking up to going back to sleep. It is very easy to forget all this backend
complexities and scientists who are behind our devices of luxuries and necessities. Due to
lacking in knowledge of concepts and scientific theories, an average person in today’s society
“does not fully appreciate the value the scientific endeavour has on his or her own life” (Hill).
This is an issue we have to work on considering that science is the only accurate way to know
about nature of everything we see, touch or hear.
As Hill says, the thoughtful use of science can also play a vital role in fixing the problems in a
society. The debates and discussions on different issues of science and scientists make it to the
mainstream media very easily nowadays. Science needs to be taken seriously by the public to
see these discussions in the mainstream medium with clarity and transparency. Thus, when the
general public starts to be aware of the branch of knowledge and starts appreciating science,
“we no longer have to beat back the anti-science voices rampant in politics, in schools, or at
the doctor’s office”. To explore more reasons to appreciate the science and technology, there
are multitude of important and valuable petroleum products to be discussed - which are the
results of the science itself.

The Importance of Learning Science: Teaching Strategies for Today’s Educators

It’s not always obvious that science shapes our daily lives, but the fact is science impacts
countless decisions we make each day. From managing our health and well-being, choosing
paper over plastic at the grocery store, or answering a child who asks why the sky is blue,
science has an important role in our lives. More than ever before, educators need to employ
teaching strategies that inspire and prepare children to embrace science and potentially pursue
it in their college and career choices.
Science is the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical, social, and
natural worlds through observation and experimentation. It’s key to innovation, global
competitiveness, and human advancement. It’s important that the world continues to advance
the field of science, whether it’s finding new cures for cancer and other diseases or identifying
and exploring new galaxies.
The Value of Learning Science
Beyond the potential scientific breakthroughs, there are individual benefits to learning science,
such as developing our ability to ask questions, collect information, organize and test our ideas,
solve problems, and apply what we learn. Even more, science offers a powerful platform for
building confidence, developing communication skills, and making sense of the world around
us—a world that is increasingly shaped by science and technology.*

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Science also involves a lot of communication with other people and develops patience and
perseverance in children. Finding answers to their countless “why” questions pushes children
to research and form their own opinions instead of taking others’ for granted. While it’s easy
to go along with another child’s answer or pull out a smartphone and do a quick internet search
to know why the leaves fall from the trees, a healthy dose of skepticism can take children
farther as they explore the world around them and tackle some of its challenging questions.
Teaching Strategies for Educators
There is an increasing need for scientists, engineers, and innovators. Our country’s future
depends on the nation’s educators to use hands-on and minds-on activities to make science
interesting, engaging, and inspiring. However, a career in education, especially science
education, can be challenging. A reputed scholar, says kids tend to make up their minds about
whether they like or dislike mathematics and science by the fourth grade.

The consensus among students and educators is that science should be fun to learn and teach.
"Engaging students in science content requires educators to help students see themselves as
scientists and engineers instead of passively observing other people doing the work of science”.
“It is about creating opportunities for them to see science in application instead of just reading
about it in a textbook." Complex textbooks are important to have, but if young learners can’t
grasp the information and educators aren’t effectively teaching the content then it limits
students’ chances for success.

When asked about the role teachers should play, Melyssa Ferro replied that "In this day of
instant and global information access, it has become increasingly important for science
educators to help students develop science process skills instead of science focusing solely on
the memorization of a body of facts. Science include problem-based learning, incorporating
educational technology into the lesson, and project-based learning. Science should be a verb
instead of a noun”.

Some of the teaching strategies educators are using to promote science learning.

Science study involves the development of important skills, including life skills.

The list below applies to learning any branch of science (chemistry, biology, physics), at any
grade level. By focusing on developing these science process skills, you will help your
student(s) not merely memorize the scientific method, but practice it, too.

It includes basic and integrated science skills.

Some of these skills, like observation, while instinctive, still need to be taught. Why?
Distractions! They’re everywhere and left unchecked, interfere with learning.

These skills are fully transferrable to other subjects and life encounters.

Science skills for learning

Observing – This is the most fundamental of science skills. That’s because most students are
born with five senses, which inform how they experience the world.

Observation requires students to note the “big picture” and the fine details.

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Encourage your students to describe what they see in detail; this will help them identify
properties and make more knowledgeable hypotheses. When studying botany, for example,
have them do more than just note the colour and shape of the flower. Have them count the
petals, draw pictures of the leaves, and look at the pollen under a magnifying glass.

Classifying – This skill builds upon observation. Students can learn to separate and sort objects
based on properties. Younger students can learn to sort using a single factor (e.g., number of
legs: spiders have eight and insects have six), while older students can classify using several
factors at once.

Teaching classification is also a great time to introduce new vocabulary words. You can
encourage students to practice using these words by writing them in a science notebook, or, for
younger students, by memorizing a song or poem using the new words. This is an excellent
way to cross

Quantifying – One of the most valuable skills needed for science study is the ability to measure
accurately.

You can start by teaching young students how to use a ruler and a measuring cup. As they grow
older, they will acquire more complex measuring skills using mathematical equations and
advanced equipment.

Predicting – This skill derives from your students being able to spot patterns in past
experiments or existing evidence (i.e., from the natural world).

Predicting is an educated guess about what’s likely to happen when you introduce changes.

Before performing any experiment, ask your children what they think will happen and have
them write down their guesses. Explain that this is called making a hypothesis. Guide younger
students by asking questions such as: How many are in the jar? How much does this weigh?
What will happen if we add something else? Advanced students will be capable of more in-
depth predictions or hypotheses, based on what they know already.

Controlling variables – Many different factors can affect the outcome of an experiment. You
can help students understand this by discussing potential factors before starting. This provides
context.

After doing an experiment, encourage them to change one variable factor and try again.

Interpreting – This skill is closely related to inferring, which means coming to a conclusion
after analyzing information. Interpreting, is inferring, from a point of view. Two students may
interpret an experiment’s results differently.

Students should try to understand results, based on the records they keep. Their interpretation
should align with the trend or big picture of the experiment.

If students are not sure why an experiment turned out the way it did, you can direct them to
do more research.

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Communicating – This skill touches every other one. Students must be able to transmit
information through words, charts, diagrams, and other mediums.

You should emphasize to students the importance of using correct language when
communicating with an audience (teachers/parents, family, friends/classmates).

Discuss with them, also, the importance of using accurate supporting mediums (charts,
diagrams, etc.). As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Audience members
will often look at the pictures from a project without reading the words. That can lead them to
one or more incorrect takeaways.

Forming conclusions – This skill is connected to interpreting. Students cannot make

conclusions hastily; they must be reached through careful reasoning.

When forming conclusions, have your students look back at their predictions and compare
them with the actual results. Make sure they take all the information they gathered into
account as they draw a conclusion.

Science skills involved in the scientific method

Many of these skills can be taught by using the scientific method. The four steps of the
scientific method are to make observations, make a hypothesis, test your hypothesis, and make
a conclusion. Each step of the scientific method may include many science skills, such as
interpreting data while forming a conclusion, or controlling variables while testing a
hypothesis.

These skills are best taught through hands-on science: activities, experiments, and projects. The
skills at the top of the list are the easiest to master and can be introduced to young children
through nature studies. Teach the more challenging skills by using successively more difficult
experiments over time.

While not all skills may be taught at once, a good science lesson will incorporate several of
these skills. Remember, as a teacher, you should always move from material that is concrete
or familiar, to material that is more complex or abstract. Start with observing and move towards
predicting a result, interpreting what happened, or forming a conclusion. These skills can be
reinforced on a regular basis, making scientists out of any learner.

Basic Science Skills: What You Need to Develop

Science is one of the top fields of today that has continually gained recognition due to discovery
and invention. Science is one of the most interesting subjects anyone can ever take in his entire
school life. It enables you to let your curiosity loose and be able to discover many things in this
world you never knew existed. Curiosity and desire for improvement of life has led many
people to incline towards science and eventually become experts in this field. Had you decided
to go into the field of science there are basic science skills you need to learn in order for you
to be the best in the field. Such skills will also allow you to discover and invent more things
that will make our lives even better. Master all of those skills and you are on your way to
becoming among the best and the brightest in the field of discovery and curiosity.
Observing. This is by far the most important basic science skills one needs to learn and
develop. Scientists are very curious people thus they are also very much observant. They

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observe everything that happens around them and question why it is so. Using your senses you
can start gathering information about certain mundane phenomena and discover something
more exciting and worth noting. Using your sense, you can gather qualitative data and by using
exact measurements from tools you can gather quantitative data. Both are important to observe
and gather information before drawing conclusions as both supports each other. One cannot
defend itself alone and thus need the other to provide evidences.
Inferring. This means making an educated guess. Educated meaning you have observations
prior to making your guesses. You have evidences to support such guesses and the next thing
you need to do is prove that guess to be correct or wrong. This is to deduce and conclude based
on previously gathered information. Before you can infer you need to gather observations first
as you cannot do educated guesses if you don't have anything to base your guesses in the first
place. It is one of the basic science skills you need to develop to make good inferences.
Measuring. Math is the language of science thus measuring is also a skill you have to learn in
science. There are certain scientific situations where measuring is very essential especially in
chemistry. If you are in the field of chemistry you deal with all sorts of chemicals and materials
that need to be constantly measured to perfect the concoction. In science, both standard and
non-standard measurements are used to estimate and describe certain objects and events. There
are also different tools to help you with your measuring such as ruler and tape measure for solid
objects while you use graduated cylinder or beaker for liquid objects. Measuring is essential to
provide further data to your observations and help you make better inferences.
Communicating. This might seem out of the sphere of science but basic communication skills
is also among the basic science skills you need to learn. This translates every observation and
inferences you want the world to hear be it in writing or verbal form. Ideas and discoveries
should not be kept all to yourself thus communication is very important. Also, it is important
when you want to get information from other people. You need to communicate well with them
to extract the necessary information you need for your study.

All of these are the basic science skills one needs to learn to be successful in the field of science.
As an ever growing industry, they need highly skilled and highly developed people to join the
field. Master these skills to be highly competent in joining the battle in the pursuit of science.
Science in Early Childhood Classrooms: Content and Process
In a world filled with the products of scientific inquiry, scientific literacy has become a
necessity for everyone. Everyone needs to use scientific information to make choices that arise
every day. Everyone needs to be able to engage intelligently in public discourse and debate
about important issues that involve science and technology. And everyone deserves to share in
the excitement and personal fulfillment that can come from understanding and learning about
the natural world.
The need to focus on science in the early childhood classroom is based on a number of factors
currently affecting the early childhood community. First and foremost is the growing
understanding and recognition of the power of children’s early thinking and learning. Research
and practice suggest that children have a much greater potential to learn than previously
thought, and therefore early childhood settings should provide richer and more challenging
environments for learning. In these environments, guided by skillful teachers, children’s
experiences in the early years can have significant impact on their later learning. In addition,
science may be a particularly important domain in early childhood, serving not only to build a
basis for future scientific understanding but also to build important skills and attitudes for
learning. A recent publication from the National Research Council supports this argument:

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Children who have a broad base of experience in domain-specific knowledge (for example, in
mathematics or an area of science) move more rapidly in acquiring more complex skills….
Because these [mathematics and science] are “privileged domains,” that is, domains in which
children have a natural proclivity to learn, experiment, and explore, they allow for nurturing
and extending the boundaries of the learning in which children are already actively engaged.
Developing and extending children’s interest is particularly important in the preschool years,
when attention and self-regulation are nascent abilities.
This growing understanding of the value of science in early education comes at a time when
the number and diversity of children in child care settings and the number of hours each child
spends in such settings is increasing. Growing numbers of children live in poverty. More and
more grow up in single-parent homes and homes in which both parents work. Media have
become commonplace in the lives of the very young. Thus, experiences that provide direct
manipulation of and experience with objects, materials, and phenomena—such as playing in
the sink, raising a pet, or going to the playground—are less likely to occur in the home. More
and more, it is in the early childhood classroom where this kind of experience with the natural
world must take place, allowing all children to build experiences in investigation and problem
solving and the foundation for understanding basic science concepts.
What Is Science?
Science is both a body of knowledge that represents current understanding of natural systems
and the process whereby that body of knowledge has been established and is continually
extended, refined, and revised. Both elements are essential: one cannot make progress in
science without an understanding of both. Likewise, in learning science one must come to
understand both the body of knowledge and the process by which this knowledge is established,
extended, refined, and revised.
Before turning to a deeper discussion of science for the very young, it is helpful to describe our
view of science. The goal of science is to understand the natural world through a process known
as scientific inquiry. Scientific knowledge helps us explain the world around us, such as why
water evaporates and plants grow in particular locations, what causes disease, and how
electricity works. Scientific knowledge can help us predict what might happen: a hurricane
may hit the coast; the flu will be severe this winter. Scientific knowledge can also help solve
problems such as unclean water or the spread of diseases. Science can guide technological
development to serve our needs and interests, such as high-speed travel and talking on the
telephone.
Science means different things to different people. Some think of it as a list of facts once
memorized in school. Others understand it as a body of knowledge, including facts, concepts,
principles, laws, theories, and models that explain the workings of the natural world. But, as is
clear from the quote above, science is more than knowledge and information; it also is a process
of studying and finding out—which we call scientific inquiry or science practice. According to
the National Science Education standards, “Science inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which
scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on evidence from their
work”. Many scientists also speak of the fun and creativity of doing science. A famous scientist,
Richard Feynman, once said of his work, “Why did I enjoy doing it (physics)? I used to play
with it. I used to do whatever I felt like doing… [depending on] whether it was interesting and
amusing for me to play with”.
Some people, when they think of people doing science, imagine laboratories filled with
scientists in white coats mixing chemicals and looking through microscopes. Such images are
real, but there are other images of scientists charting the course of a hurricane, studying the

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behaviours of wolves, searching the skies for comets. But scientists are not the only people
who do science. Many jobs involve science, such as electrician, horticulturalist, architect, and
car mechanic. And people of all ages learn about the world through actions that begin to
approximate scientific practice—for example, when an amateur gardener asks a question,
“How much light does my geranium need to flower well?”, tries out different locations, and
observes the results. These activities, by scientists and non-scientists, whether happening in the
laboratory, in the field, or at home, have in common the active use of the basic tools of inquiry
in the service of understanding how the world works. Children and adults, experts and
beginners, all share the need to have these tools at hand as they build their understanding of the
world.
The Science of Young Children
Scenario 1: Today I asked the kids at the snail table to draw pictures of the snails. Christine
was reluctant at first, saying she didn’t want to draw, she just wanted to play with the snails. I
gave her a choice then—saying she could draw pictures of snails or play in a different area. She
said, okay then, she’d draw. Her snail pictures involved a lot of zigzaggy lines, and I tried to
understand what they represented to her. Then after a while I figured out that the zigzags were
the paths where the snail moved. So at lunch I arranged for the kids who hang out by the snail
table to sit together and I joined them. And we talked snails. Christine talked about how the
snail feels when it walks on her arm (“kind of sticky and slimy, kinda slippery”). Christine said
that some kind of “slime” comes out from the bottom part and makes the snail move; Ena stood
up and demonstrated that the snail wiggles his tail/bum, saying that pushed him. Delmy said
the snail walks like we walk but just with two feet. Joanna said he goes slow and demonstrated
by walking two fingers lightly and slowly across the table; and John said the snail runs fast
with lots of feet.
Scenario 2: Ever since Christine drew her zigzag pathway picture and we had our snail talk
over lunch, I’ve been thinking about ways to get kids thinking more about how snails move.
So, I had the idea to cover a table with easel paper and have the kids follow the path of some
snails with pencil and see the shape of the trails they made. At first, Christine just wanted to
play with snails, and I said okay, but then when she saw the other kids tracing the paths of
different snails, she wanted to join in, too. After a while, they used string to track the snail trails
and ended up with different length lines and loops.
These notes provide an image of science teaching and learning in the early childhood classroom
in which teachers and children are engaged in inquiries into scientific phenomena—animal
behaviours and, more specifically, the behaviours of snails. They suggest the potential of 3- to
5-year-old children to engage in the practices of science. These notes also provide a small
window into science for young children that is based on several beliefs that have guided my
work: (1) doing science is a natural and critical part of children’s early learning; (2) children’s
curiosity about the natural world is a powerful catalyst for their work and play; (3) with the
appropriate guidance, this natural curiosity and need to make sense of the world become the
foundation for beginning to use skills of inquiry to explore basic phenomena and materials of
the world surrounding children; and (4) this early science exploration can be a rich context in
which children can use and develop other important skills, including working with one another,
basic large- and small-motor control, language, and early mathematical understanding.
The Content of Science for Young Children
Children entering school already have substantial knowledge of the natural world, much of
which is implicit…. Contrary to older views, young children are not concrete and simplistic
thinkers…. Research shows that children’s thinking is surprisingly sophisticated…. Children

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can use a wide range of reasoning processes that form the underpinnings of scientific thinking,
even though their experience is variable and they have much more to learn.
The content of science for young children is a sophisticated interplay among concepts,
scientific reasoning, the nature of science, and doing science. It is not primarily a science of
information. While facts are important, children need to begin to build an understanding of
basic concepts and how they connect and apply to the world in which they live. And the
thinking processes and skills of science are also important. In our work developing curriculum
for teachers, we have focused equally on science inquiry and the nature of science, and
content—basic concepts and the topics through which they are explored. In the process of
teaching and learning, these are inseparable, but here I discuss them separately.
Science Inquiry and the Nature of Science
The phrase “children are naturally scientists” is one we hear often. Their curiosity and need to
make the world a more predictable place certainly drives them to explore and draw conclusions
and theories from their experiences. But left to themselves, they are not quite natural scientists.
Children need guidance and structure to turn their natural curiosity and activity into something
more scientific. They need to practice science—to engage in rich scientific inquiry.
In our work, we have used a simple inquiry learning cycle to provide a guiding structure for
teachers as they facilitate children’s investigations (Figure 1). The cycle begins with an
extended period of engagement where children explore the selected phenomenon and materials,
experiencing what they are and can do, wondering about them, raising questions, and sharing
ideas. This is followed by a more guided stage as questions are identified that might be
investigated further. Some of these may be the children’s questions, others may be introduced
by the teacher, but their purpose is to begin the process of more focused and deeper explorations
involving prediction, planning, collecting, and recording data; organizing experiences; and
looking for patterns and relationships that eventually can be shared and from which new
questions may emerge. This structure is not rigid, nor is it linear—thus the many arrows. And
while it is used here to suggest a scaffold for inquiry-based science teaching and learning, it
closely resembles how scientists work and, in interesting ways, how children learn.

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 Scientific inquiry provides the opportunity for children to develop a range of skills, either
explicitly or implicitly. The following is one such list:
 Explore objects materials, and events.
 Raise questions.
 Make careful observations.
 Engage in simple investigations.
 Describe (including shape, size, number), compare, sort, classify, and order.
 Record observations using words, pictures, charts, and graphs.
 Use a variety of simple tools to extend observations.
 Identify patterns and relationships.
 Develop tentative explanations and ideas.
 Work collaboratively with others.
 Share and discuss ideas and listen to new perspectives.
This description of the practice of doing science is quite different from some of the science
work in evidence in many classrooms where there may be a science table on which sit
interesting objects and materials, along with observation and measurement tools such as
magnifiers and balances. Too often the work stops there, and little is made of the observations
children make and the questions they raise. Another form of science is activity-based science
where children engage in a variety of activities that generate excitement and interest but that
rarely lead to deeper thinking. There are a multitude of science activity books that support this
form of science in the classroom. Thematic units and projects are yet other vehicles for science
work in the classroom. These can be rich and challenging; however, they may not have a focus
on science. Transportation or a study of the neighbourhood are typical examples that have the
potential for engaging children in interesting science but frequently focus more on concepts of
social studies. If these projects or themes are to truly engage students in science, care needs to
be taken to be sure that science is in the foreground, and the integration with other subject
matter is appropriate and related to the science.
Science Content
With an act of the practice of science that guides how we approach science inquiry in the early
childhood classroom, we turn to the question of the content of science for this age. There are
many phenomena that can be explored, many questions to be explored, many basic concepts to
be introduced, and many topics to choose from, so rather than make a list of possible subject
matter and topics, following are key criteria for guiding decisions about topic selection.
At the core of inquiry-based science is direct exploration of phenomena and materials. Thus,
the first criterion is that phenomena selected for young children must be available for direct
exploration and drawn from the environment in which they live. The study of snails is an
example of an exploration that meets these criteria. Others include light and shadow, moving
objects, structures, and plant and animal life cycles. Examples of some that do not meet these
criteria include such popular topics as dinosaurs or space travel. While these are often brought
up by children because they are part of the media environment around them, they are not
appropriate content for inquiry-based science in the classroom because they present no
opportunity for direct exploration on the children’s part and even the simplest explanatory ideas
are developmentally problematic. Other topics often chosen in early childhood classrooms such
as the rain forest or animals of the Arctic (polar bears and penguins) may be based in

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appropriate concepts (habitat, physical characteristics, and adaptation of animals), but these
too lack the possibility for direct engagement. Topics such as these need not be excluded. They
can be the subject of important dramatic play, elaborate discussion, and exploration using
books and other secondary sources. The problem arises when they take time away from or
substitute for inquiry-based science experiences.
The second criterion is that the concepts underlying the children’s work be concepts that are
important to science. For example, in the exploration of snails, the underlying concept is the
behaviour of animals and how behaviours are related to physical structure and an animal’s way
of meeting its needs. Such an experience provides a base from which children will gradually
develop an understanding of adaptation and evolution. Studying shadows is another example,
where children’s experiences build a foundation for understanding a key concept about light—
that it travels in straight lines. Working with balls on ramps is yet another example where
skillfully guided experiences build a foundation for later understanding of forces and motion.
A third criterion is that the focus of science be on concepts that are developmentally appropriate
and can be explored from multiple perspectives, in depth, and over time. When children have
many and varied opportunities to explore a phenomenon, they come to the final stages of
inquiry with a rich set of experiences on which to base their reflections, their search for patterns
and relationships, and their developing theories. In our example of the snails, the teacher
focuses the children’s attention first on description. But the next step might be to compare the
snails’ motion to that of an earthworm and a sow bug. This might be followed by observing
their own movement and that of other familiar animals and a continuing discussion about
similarities and differences and how movement relates to where an animal lives and how it gets
its food. In contrast to this depth and breadth are experiences with phenomena such as magnets
that are very engaging, but once children have noted what they do, there is little else to explore.
With a range of experiences, children are more likely to be able to think about connections
among them, question their naïve ideas, and develop new ones.
Equally important, the third criterion is that the phenomena, concepts, and topics must be
engaging and interesting to the children AND their teachers.
While not a criterion for the selection of content for an individual unit, across a year, the science
program should reflect a balance of life and physical science. For many reasons, teachers are
more comfortable with the life sciences and steer away from physical science. This leaves out
explorations of deep interest to children and deprives them of the challenges and excitement of
experimentation. Inquiry into life science is different from inquiry into physical science, the
former being more observational, taking place slowly over time. Inquiry in the physical
sciences is more experimental with immediate results. Both are important, so it is balance that
is important in an early childhood science program.
The Classroom
Scenario 3: Water tables continue to be one of the favourite centers in the room. I love seeing
how engaged the kids become filling cups, emptying cups, moving water from one
compartment in the water table to another.
Scenario 4: It was too cold for the kids to go outside today, so the kids in my small group did
a clay project instead. The theme for the project was making things that can hold water. Tonya
made a pot. Alex made a vase. Sam made a bowl. Ben made a pancake, then rolled it up. When
I asked him what he was making, he said, “a pipe.” Tonya was quick to point out that pipes
don’t hold water, but Ben didn’t care. The idea of making a pipe for water to go through, rather
than a container for water to hold, captured his interest—and everyone else’s in the group, too.
And suddenly, all the kids were making pipes!

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Scenario 5: The kids in my small group asked if they could keep making clay pipes today, so
we did. It was Tonya’s idea to roll the clay around wooden cylinders, then remove the cylinders
so that there is a hole for the water to move through, and everyone followed suit. After
completing each pipe, they then told me where to attach it—watching very carefully to see if a
hole needed to be bigger so that the water wouldn’t get stuck. They can really imagine how the
water is going to move. Later Sam and Ben worked on making a long pipe. They wanted water
to come out of both ends at once, so Sam suggested cutting a hole in the middle of the top so
that they can add another pipe there. I asked him where that idea came from. He paused for a
minute, and then said, “I was riding my bike really, really fast, and it made me think of water
going down the pipe.” All of these pipes attached together are quite a sight. The kids have even
given it a name—they call it “Water Town.”
Scenario 6: During free choice, the kids continue to spend lots of time at the water table—
using the tubes and T-connectors, exploring how water goes up and down and around the water
wire wall. It’s almost as if the kids’ explorations at the water table are “feeding” their work
with Water Town. At the same time, their work on Water Town feeds their work at the water
table. After all, it’s at the water table where they can test out new ideas and possibilities that
they can then bring back to Water Town.
There are many implications for the classroom given this view of science. Here I will briefly
address science in the child-centered curriculum, the role of materials, the use of time and
space, the key role of discussion and representation, and the teacher’s role.
Science in the Child-Centered Curriculum
There are many definitions for “child-centered” curriculum that fall along a continuum. At one
end is the belief that much of the curriculum is centered on the children’s ideas and questions.
It is co-constructed by the child and the teacher. At the other end is a structured program with
little child input except during “free time.” The reality of a good science curriculum is that it
sits in between these extremes. The phenomena and the basic concepts are determined by the
teacher, perhaps because of an interest she has observed in the classroom, but this need not be
the case. Once a phenomenon is introduced and children begin their explorations, their
questions may guide much of what follows.
From this perspective, the question to be asked is not, “Whose question is it?” but rather, “Are
the children engaged?” Children need to own the content, but it need not necessarily be initiated
by them. In the example above, water was the teacher’s science focus. But the idea of pipes
and Water Town clearly belonged to the children.
Materials for Science
The selection of and access to materials are critical to science. It is through the materials that
children confront and manipulate the phenomenon in question. To the extent possible, the
materials must be open ended, transparent, and selected because they allow children to focus
on important aspects of the phenomenon. This is in contrast to materials that by their
appearance and the ways in which they can be manipulated guide what children do and think.
One example of the difference is the prefabricated marble run. Rather than creating their own
roadway for marbles and struggling to make it work, the marble run has done the thinking for
the children. All they need to do is drop the marble in and watch it roll. This is very different
from using blocks and some form of gutter materials where they need to grapple with the slope,
the corners, the intersection of the parts, and solve the problem of getting the marble to reach
their finish line. Another example is the use of transparent tubing, droppers, and funnels in the
water exploration as described in the teacher’s journal above. The materials themselves are
open ended, and the movement of water visible. A third example is the use of multiple kinds

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of blocks and construction materials when investigating structures. In such an investigation,
Legos might be temporarily removed because the fact that they snap together reduces the
challenge of building towers and walls and thus reduces the focus on the forces at work.
Time and Space for Science
Good science investigations take place over extended time, both short term and long term.
Engaged children may stay with something for significant periods of time, and some children
may need time to get involved. The typical schedule in the classrooms of young children often
militates against inquiry-based science learning. Short 20- or 30-minute activity or choice times
allow children to start but not continue their work. In addition, if science work is episodic and
not available regularly during the week, continuity is lost and the opportunity to draw
conclusions reduced. Science also needs to be talked about and documented. This, too, takes
time. Science needs space. If children are to engage with phenomena in many different ways,
activity may need to be spread out in the classroom and outdoors. Building structures may
happen in the block area, on table tops, in the sand table. Germinating seeds need to be put
somewhere, as do plants that are growing in other ways and interesting collections from
outdoors. An investigation of shadows might include a shadow puppet theater, a darkened
alcove for playing with flashlights, and a lamp and screen to explore shapes. The implication
of this need for space and time is that focusing on a science study may require that other things
be set aside or changed. The morning circle routine might become a science talk a couple of
time a week. The dramatic play corner might be a shadow puppet theater, and the water table
might be closed to dish washing and baby doll bathing.
Discussion and Representation in Science
Discussion and representation are both critical to science learning and an important part of the
inquiry process and the development of science reasoning. Both in small groups and in large
ones, discussion encourages children to think about what they have experienced, listen to the
experiences of others, and reflect on their ideas. Similarly, representation using a variety of
media—including drawing, writing, and collage—encourages children to observe closely and
reflect on their experiences over time as well as build vocabulary and language structures.
George Forman, emeritus professor at the University of Massachusetts, in an unpublished
comment says it this way, “Experience is not the best teacher. It sounds like heresy, but when
you think about it, it’s reflection on experience that makes it educational” (Conference
presentation).
The Teacher’s Role
The teacher’s role is critical to children’s science learning, and it is a complex one that is
informed by her knowledge of children, of teaching and learning, and of pedagogical science
knowledge. I want to highlight just one of these—pedagogical science knowledge. Children’s
scientific inquiry is guided by the teacher’s explicit understanding of the important underlying
science concepts of the focus she has chosen. For example, the children’s work with water in
the teacher journal above is indeed about pipes and “Water Town,” but it is also about how
water flows—a basic property of liquids. While explicit teaching of the concept is not
appropriate, the structure of the experiences and the teacher’s facilitation is guided by her
understanding of the concepts and how children learn them. Her questions, comments, and
probes draw the children’s attention to the concept—in this case, that water flows and flows
down. In the study of snails, described earlier, the children were interested in lots of things—
whether snails liked each other, how they had babies, how they got in their shells. In the notes,
we see the teacher picking up on one of those interests and a basic characteristic of animal
behaviour and adaptation—how they move. This kind of teacher guidance and facilitation is

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based in each teacher’s understanding of the concepts behind the children’s work and enables
her to encourage children to notice and reflect on key aspects of the phenomenon they are
exploring.
For many years, the role of early childhood education has been focused on children’s social,
emotional, and physical development as well as very basic skills in language and arithmetic.
Although work with materials is fundamental to early childhood, focusing children’s thinking
on the science of these experiences is rare. Science activities often are seen as vehicles for the
development of vocabulary and skills such as small motor coordination, counting, and color
and shape recognition. These activities are not parts of long-term explorations or sequenced
into projects focused on the science concepts and emphasizing the processes of scientific
inquiry. This is exacerbated when teachers are uncomfortable with science, have little science
background, and lack confidence in their abilities to teach science to children.
In many settings, the new knowledge about children’s cognitive potential is not being used to
broaden and deepen the science curriculum to include more in-depth and challenging
experiences. Instead, the increasing concern about reading has reinforced the almost singular
focus on learning basic skills of literacy, numeracy, and socialization. It also is bringing to the
early childhood setting increased pressure for accountability, leaving little room for children’s
rich play and exploration of the world around them.
The exploration of the natural world is the stuff of childhood. Science, when viewed as a
process of constructing understanding and developing ideas, is a natural focus in the early
childhood program. As described here, children’s inquiry into appropriate phenomena is not
only the place to build foundational experiences for later science learning, it is fertile ground
for the development of many cognitive skills. It also is a context in which children can develop
and practice many basic skills of literacy and mathematics. Finally, science is a collaborative
endeavour in which working together and discussing ideas are central to the practice.
Methods of acquiring Knowledge:
1) Non-scientific method.
2) Scientific method.

1) Non-scientific methods: Under the non- scientific method there are five sources of evidence
through researchers adopts:
I) The appeal to custom and tradition: The dependence on custom and tradition is to some
extent a necessary human economy. As far as we refer to custom and tradition in the event of
solving a problem. In many activities and situation this ready-reckoner serves the purpose very
well. It largely determines our mode of living, mode of thinking, mode of tackling our problem
mode of facing the situation and mode of making adjustments. The combined custom and
tradition specify for us our food, clothes, speech, dealings etc. Ordinarily we obey the custom
and tradition and avoid violating them. We try to seek explanation of the phenomena through
the media of customs and traditions.
II) Appeal to authority: It central doctrine is that method of acquiring knowledge is authority
of some kinds-the church, the state tradition of expert. The expert, in any field is the man, who

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has by some means or other, acquired enough prestige to be considered as authority, so it is
accepted. One believes and his faith in it. The fact that earth was flat, was once believed
universally and without question. A doctrine or institution that has survived for a long time can
claim greater likelihood of being authority. Every human being used this method intelligently
and legitimately.
III) Sensory Experience: Sense experience is the major method of acquiring knowledge which
comes through senses. Modern science is empirical in methods. Concepts are formed as a result
of sense experience. Knowledge comes, if sense organs work on favourable environment.
The following methods can be applied to acquire knowledge through sense experience:
(a) Knowledge by doing: By using our sense organs, we do something and acquire the
knowledge. As we touch the fire, we feel that it is hot .This knowledge becomes permanent.
It develops self-confidence in us. This method of acquiring knowledge is interesting.
(b) Observation: While living in the society, the child observed the immediate surroundings
as well as self. On the basis of observation, we gain experience and then tries to correlate these
experiences with our life, society and nation. The facts of knowledge are elaborated in a logical
manner. Naturalism believes in this method because it advocates that nature is the best source
of knowledge.
(iv) Intuition: A possible method of acquiring knowledge is intuition. It is neither the result of
conscious reasoning nor of the immediate sense perception. All knowledge have an element of
intuition. It is merely the result of the accumulation of one’s past experience and thinking. It is
a higher source of knowledge. Intuition May give us a clue to the vision of reality, to receive
the inspiration of imminent God or experience of unity with God.
(v) Tenacity: It is the willingness to accept an idea as valid knowledge because that idea has
been accepted for a long period of time. Tenacity requires no evidence for a belief except that
the belief is already accepted. For example, entering a religious place with the head covered
and after removing the shoes, because it has always been like that. However, mere clinging to
something does not ensure its truthfulness. Such customs may have been enforce in order to
safeguard the interests of the erstwhile elites, and have since then continued. The meaning of
belief goes on changing with time, place and conditions of existence. One cannot be flexible in
choosing between one of the available alternative.

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(vi) Personal experience: Man acquires knowledge through personal experience also. For
example, we learn from personal experience to grow particular type of food grain or natural
protection of plant from insects. A teacher, in the classroom may find that a particular method
of teaching may be very successful with a certain group of pupils. Appealing to personal
experience is a common and useful method of acquiring knowledge. When it is not use
critically, however, it can lead to incorrect conclusions. A person may take errors when
observing or when reporting that he has seen or done. For example, observation and records of
what was experience or perform may be poorly made; generalisation may be drawn on
insufficient evidence or too few examples; incorrect conclusions may follow through prejudice;
and evidence may be left out because it was not consonant with earlier experience. Finally,
there is always the danger of failing to recognize which were the salient features of the situation
and which were irrelevant.

2) Scientific method: The scientific method is a process of systematically collecting and

evaluating evidence to test ideas and answer questions. While scientists may use intuition,
authority, rationalism, and empiricism to generate new ideas they don’t stop there.
Scientists go a step further by using systematic empiricism to make careful observations under
various controlled conditions in order to test their ideas and they use rationalism to arrive at
valid conclusions. While the scientific method is the most likely of all of the methods to produce
valid knowledge, like all methods of acquiring knowledge it also has its drawbacks. One major
problem is that it is not always feasible to use the scientific method; this method can require
considerable time and resources. Another problem with the scientific method is that it cannot
be used to answer all questions. As described in the following section, the scientific method
can only be used to address empirical questions. This book and your research methods course
are designed to provide you with an in-depth examination of how psychologists use the
scientific method to advance our understanding of human behaviour and the mind.

Importance of Science Education in schools

Why is science education important in our schools? We are surrounded by technology and the
products of science every day. Public policy decisions that affect every aspect of our lives are
based in scientific evidence. And, of course, the immensely complex natural world that
surrounds us illustrates infinite scientific concepts. As children grow up in an increasingly

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technologically and scientifically advanced world, they need to be scientifically literate to
succeed.

Ideally, teaching the scientific method to students is teaching them how to think, learn, solve
problems and make informed decisions. These skills are integral to every aspect of a student’s
education and life, from school to career. With a graduate degree in science education such as
our University, teachers can use what they learn about science instruction techniques and
curriculum design to advance science education and student learning as a whole.
How Is Science Involved in Students’ Everyday Lives?
Science is everywhere. A student rides to school on a bus, and in that instance alone, there are
many examples of technology based on the scientific method. The school bus is a product of
many areas of science and technology, including mechanical engineering and innovation. The
systems of roads, lights, sidewalks and other infrastructure are carefully designed by civil
engineers and planners. The smartphone in the student’s hand is a miracle of modern computer
engineering.

Outside the window, trees turn sunlight into stored energy and create the oxygen we need to
survive. Whether “natural” or human-derived, every aspect of a student’s life is filled with
science — from their own internal biology to the flat-screen TV in the living room.

Scientific Inquiry and Scientific Method

Perhaps even more important than specific examples of science in our lives are the ways we
use scientific thought, method and inquiry to come to our decisions. This is not necessarily a
conscious thing. The human need to solve problems can arise from curiosity or from necessity.
The process of inquiry is how we find answers and substantiate those answers.

In the fields of hard science, the process of inquiry is more direct and finite: Take a question;
use evidence to form an explanation; connect that explanation to existing knowledge; and
communicate that evidence-based explanation. Experimentation based on the scientific method
follows a similar course: Combine a scientific question with research to construct a hypothesis;
conduct experiments to test that hypothesis; evaluate the results to draw conclusions; and
communicate those conclusions.

Critical Thinking

Although inquiry and the scientific method are integral to science education and practice, every
decision we make is based on these processes. Natural human curiosity and necessity lead to
asking questions (What is the problem?), constructing a hypothesis (How do I solve it?), testing
it with evidence and evaluating the result (Did the solution work?), and making future decisions
based on that result.

This is problem-solving: using critical thinking and evidence to create solutions and make
decisions. Problem-solving and critical thinking are two of the most important skills students
learn in school. They are essential to making good decisions that lead to achievement and
success during and after school.

Yet, although they are nearly synonymous, scientific inquiry in schools is not always explicitly
tied to problem-solving and critical thinking. The process students learn when creating,
executing, evaluating and communicating the results of an experiment can be applied to any
challenge they face in school, from proving a point in a persuasive essay to developing a photo

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in the darkroom. In this way, science is one of the most important subjects students study,
because it gives them the critical thinking skills they need in every subject.

The Importance of Science in Early Education

Governmental guidelines and tests often focus on middle and high school-level STEM (science,
technology, engineering and math) education. Yet, many educators believe science education
should begin much earlier. Not only does science education teach young learners problem-
solving skills that will help them throughout their schooling, it also engages them in science
from the start.

Kids usually form a basic opinion about the sciences shortly after beginning school. If this is a
negative opinion, it can be hard to engage those students in science as they grow older.
Engaging young students with exciting material and experiences motivates them to learn and
pursue the sciences throughout school.

Science education is one of the most important subjects in school due to its relevance to
students’ lives and the universally applicable problem-solving and critical thinking skills it uses
and develops. These are lifelong skills that allow students to generate ideas, weigh decisions
intelligently and even understand the evidence behind public policy-making. Teaching
technological literacy, critical thinking and problem-solving through science education gives
students the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school and beyond.

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