The Scientific Method… before Kindergarten

When I think of science, I usually recall my attempts at chemistry, physics, and biology. While I did thoroughly enjoy the subject matter, to this day I still vividly remember how unbearably hard I had to work because it was so rigorous. Most likely because it require a whole other side of my brain that was dominated by the artistic conceptualizing side.

However, science isn’t about memorizing data or facts, it’s about learning how to use a method of inquiry. It is a way to organize curiosity. We do this at a very young age. Infancy, in fact. When babies come into the world, they learn through their senses. Touch, taste, smell, sounds are all data that helps infants organize their physical world around them. Children continue to learn through their senses in their lives, in fact, we as adults do too.  As early as toddlerhood, children begin showing that they receive data and organize it. It could be a child stacking lids, or arranging toys by color or by size.

That is science! In order to be scientific, one must do science! This is when we ask questions, conduct investigations, collect data, and look for answers.

With young children, the best way to conduct science is to use natural phenomena. Why? Because children learn best when they can use their own knowledge as a stepping stone to new knowledge. Children need to have a chance to ask questions, do investigations, and use problem-solving skills. As adults, the best way to make this happen is to create or use an environment that naturally creates problems we have to solve.

For example:
David: “What is swimming in there?”
Teacher: “That’s a tadpole! Someday it’ll be a frog”
David: “But how does it become a frog?” (asking questions)
Teacher: “Let’s find out together”

The teacher and David could take out a book that has information about how tadpoles grow legs and lose their tails and develop lungs. Or the teacher could take out models of tadpoles at different stages of development. As adults, we help children to gather the information. Then together, the teacher and David could make a chart of different stages of frog development to help organize the information and then draw conclusions.

Presto! That is using the scientific method. In fact, children use so many skills when they conduct science. One-to-One Correspondence is a good example. Children could be counting the number of tomato seeds they will plant and then record it on a chart. Classifying is another skill children use all the time such as classifying all the seeds, either by type (fruit or vegetable) or by size, or by color, etc.  Measuring happens at school and outside school all the time. We could be pouring and measuring in the sensory table with sand, or measuring rainfall outside over time.

Using an organized method of inquiry not only helps children to develop the basics of science, but helps them to learn how to process new information. When we learn something new, our brains must process the information to put it into long term memory and thus increase the retention rate. We can teach children how to do this by using naturalistic experiences, or experiences where children naturally use their senses to absorb and process new information.

-posted by Teacher Aaron, who was stung by a bee at preschool and turned it into a teachable moment for the children. (But it still hurt!)